A lot of work goes into creating a non-white television character! Creating everyone's favorite little Spanish-speaking explorer, Dora, took a year of planning with research, consulting and rounds of screenings with "tough" preschoolers. Not only that, the non-Latino creators have to be careful not to, you know, make any accidentally racist characters. When conceiving of Tico, Dora's friend, the creators were going to make him chronically fatigued until the show's "cultural consultants" told them that a lazy, sleepy-eyed Latino character was probably not best stereotype to be promoting. Also: the marketers were worried that a shorts-wearing, backpack-slinging (ethnic) girl would not appeal to a mass audience. Glad to see they were proven wrong! [NPR]