DVD Review: Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure

Review by Carol McBee and her daughter, Madelyn, age 3.

I think most parents would agree that anything “Dora” is a hit with our kids – especially little girls!  As a self proclaimed anti-tv person, we don’t watch a lot of TV in my household, or as little as I can get away with due to a sports fanatic husband!  When I told my 3 year old daughter, Madelyn, that someone was going to be sending her a Dora movie, she was over the moon.  Of course, even in our house, Dora is on several times a week.  I don’t think she realized there were Dora ‘movies,’ so when the package arrived – she tore into it!

We were asked to participate in a Nick Jr. Review program, and I was honestly wondering what the heck I was going to write about.  Who am I to review a kids program?  Luckily, I have a rather chatty toddler, so most of my questions were answered by the target market!

Here is the lowdown on the movie: Swiper the fox tries to swipe the Christmas Star from Dora’s Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) Party and ends up on Santa’s naughty list. To get back on the nice list, Dora must help Swiper travel to the past, the present, and the future to discover the real spirit of Christmas, in true “A Christmas Carol” fashion.  Just like all Dora episodes, it is filled with original songs that the kids that can sing and dance along to.  This is an exclusive to DVD movie that you won’t see on TV.  

I did sit down and watch most of it with Madelyn and I found that it wasn’t as annoyingly repetitive as usual.  I do like the repetition from an education standpoint as it certainly helps Madelyn follow the story line as well as know where the next stop on the adventure is.  This might sound strange, but I also like that there is only one episode on the DVD and nothing more.  Obviously the usual Dora DVD’s (we received our first 2 yesterday at Madelyn’s 3rd birthday party and have watched them already!) have more than one episode.  I find it hard for her to watch just one without getting upset when it is time to turn it off.  The Christmas DVD is just the right around of time at just under an hour long.  It is something we can pop in before bedtime, or in place of some quiet time and not have her sitting in front of the TV for so long.

When I asked Madelyn what she really liked about it, she told me two three things.  She liked the Christmas Countdown Calendar that is in the case (they really push calendar/months/weeks/days learning at her pre-school!) the fact that Dora was in a pretty Christmas dress (instead of her usual outfit!) and the idea of the time travel cape.  She has a princess cape that she has been wearing again constantly after watching Dora.  I love how one of the positives of TV can be imaginative play afterwards!  For the first time, the DVD also allowed her to understand the idea of Santa’s naughty and nice list; just in time for Christmas!  Big points for this holiday lesson from a mom’s perspective.  I found it interesting to note that she asked why Dora looked ‘old’ – I didn’t understand what she meant by this and then figured out she thought the resolution and clarity of the program was different that the other 2 movies she just got for her birthday.  I compared the two and would have to agree.

Other than the resolution point, which I am sure you would be hard pressed to find someone else that came to the same conclusion, this DVD is a winner! Not too long, a great message for little ones on good behaviour around the holidays, and pretty painless for the whole family to watch because of the nearly non-existence repetition.  It is a sweet little movie based on A Christmas Carol that is great for holiday relaxation time, especially if your kids are too little to enjoy the usual holiday classics!  This would make an excellent stocking stuffer or early Christmas gift for the little ones in your life.

Another opinion by Claire Weese and her son, Parker, age 5.

My five year old son absolutely loved Dora’s Christmas Carol! He was engaged right from the start with the great music, bright colors and cheerful characters.

The storyline is great. It’s easy for a child to follow and I loved how the movie kept my son involved in the story through interactive songs and questions.

Two thumbs up from us!

Disclosure – Carol and Claire are directors for Mommy Connections. They were selected to participate in a Nick Jr. review campaign on behalf of ParentsCanada.  They each received compensation as a thank you for their participation.  The opinions expressed are their own.