This show is a gripping psychological survival horror series about the dangers of child neglect. It follows a young girl who suffers from frequent abandonment, often left to wander the surroundings of her town and nearby jungle alone. As a result of her parent’s frequent neglect, it appears the poor girl has begun to suffer from schizophrenia. She exhibits negative symptoms, identifying the presence of companionship that is not there, and continues to talk to them and ask for guidance.
Throughout the show the girl is accompanied by a number of talking animal companions. Whether this too is a result of her untreated schizophrenia or a product of some radiation mutation that has befallen many animals in this jungle is not made clear. In this group is a monkey with an affinity for footwear, an iguana who loves flowers, and a squirrel and bull who both enjoy accessorising. It seems the radiation much like in Spiderman’s origin story, the radiation has given the animals powers, except theirs is being extremely fashion forward.
The pros of this show is it is extremely educational. Not only does it teach other languages, but important life skills. These life skills include how to hype your friend up when they aren’t feeling confident about something, such as turning the wheel of a pirate ship. Additionally, it teaches that life isn’t fair, such as when two parents who are already guilty of child neglect and abandonment end up having twins. Another aspect of the show is the vision impaired representation. The girl, despite often seeing things that aren’t there, seems to have impaired sight so relies on the non-existent figures to direct her towards the objects she is looking for. In hindsight, this may not be the best representation however and instead a guide dog would have worked better.
My main issue with the show is its portrayal of family dynamics. Her cousin and her are close in age and get along well. There’s nothing wrong with this I’m just jealous cause none of my cousins are close in age to me. Additionally, the young girl has a puppy that despite also being an animal, cannot talk. This begs the question of why he is unable to talk yet the other animals in the jungle can? The best answer I can come up with is he was from another area that was not affected by the same radiation poisoning.
All in all, this is a gripping a show filled with family drama, mental health representation, and Spanish. It takes learning to new heights and tests the bounds of educational television, while discussing important themes. Dora The Explorer is an excellent tv show.
