Review By JENNIFER KALI
Dora’s cousin Diego is also an adventurer, but Diego is a boy with a mission. At the beginning of each episode, Diego announces, “Hi! I am Diego and I am an animal rescuer!” Then he goes on to exclaim, “I love animals!” With his team, made up of his sister Alicia and Click the camera, each episode revolves around Diego rescuing a wild animal in need. The animals are in somewhat dangerous situations (such as stuck in a tree in a flood), but the show is fun and not too scary. Since each show is about a different animal, each show focuses on learning traits specific to each animal, and at the end of the episode, Alicia reviews the traits we learned and records them in her animal science journal.
My daughter, age 2.5, loves this show. She received a three-episode DVD for Christmas from Grandma and she begs to watch it every day. I think I know those three episodes by heart now. All seasons of the show are available on Netflix instant viewing, so thankfully, we don’t have to only watch those three episodes.
She’s also a big Dora fan. I enjoy Dora for her because she is a great female role model. She goes on outdoor adventures and there is nothing she can’t do. But I also really like Diego because it’s all about helping animals. Diego seems to be aimed at a slightly older demographic than Dora and teaches different skills. While both shows focus on problem solving and Spanish language skills, Dora seems more focused on lists and ordering while Diego is more focused on learning about animals. My favorite thing about both shows is that the main characters are non-white. Like my daughter, the characters have brown skin and big brown eyes, such a rarity in children’s TV and books.
Overall I think this is a great show, especially for families with concerns about animal welfare.
Ages 2-7.
Jessica // Jan 14, 2012 at 6:40 pm
We just checked this out for the first time, and I liked the animal rescue/ wildlife facts aspects of it too. I was a little disappointed, however, by how little Spanish was used. Is Dora similar, or is more Spanish spoken?
Jenn Kali // Jan 17, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Yeah, they are about the same. I think it’s great for a 2 year old like my daughter but maybe someone like your daughter could use more. They are probably trying to balance the other skills that are being taught, which would not be as easy to pick up for a child unfamiliar with Spanish if more Spanish were used.
Sara MM // Jan 20, 2012 at 9:55 pm
My daughter has been obsessed with Diego for about 6 months now. Whenever she wakes up from the night or her nap you can’t talk to her until she watches one episode and has her green smoothie. haha.
I love it though because now she calls herself an animal rescuer and she’s learned about so many animals. Animals are not just penguins and turtles but instead macaroni penguins and leatherback sea turtles.
Also in either season 3 or 4 at the end of one of the episodes Diego does a PSA about how exotic animals aren’t pets. I think that’s huge for a mainstream show to talk about considering some states don’t even feel that way!
Jenn Kali // Mar 6, 2012 at 3:07 pm
Having been through many of these episodes now, I have to say that I like season 4 the most. It’s got the strongest environmental message. Diego leaves the rain forest and travels the world rescuing animals from human-caused problems – an oil spill, deforestation, climate change, litter. And the end of each episode reminds viewers that we can all help animals each day by planting trees, saving energy, picking up litter, recycling.