Sun-Maid Raisin Girl Joins Dora the Explorer in Receiving Sexy Makeover

The Sun-Maid girl -- just like Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth - is an icon of American advertising and wholesome goodness. Yet just like the children's cartoon character Dora the Explorer, she received a sexy makeover. Was it too much?

A Brief History of the Sun-Maid Girl

The original Sun-Maid girl depiction actually relied on a real life model: Lorraine Collett Petersen. In 1915 she was discovered and posed for a painting that would become the face and image of Sun-Maid raisins. As outlined by the Sun-Maid website, Ms. Petersen became the voice and face of Sun-Maid raisins on television and during events; her bonnet is now a treasure at the Smithsonian Institution.

The Sun-Maid Girl Modernizes

You may be surprised to learn that - thus far - the Sun-Maid girl underwent only three noticeable changes: in 1923, 1956 and 1970. At that time another model, Delia von Meyer, helped provide the artistic assistance required. It is the current computer animated version of the Sun-Maid girl that is stirring up some controversy.

Used in television commercials, the figure with the trademark white blouse and red bonnet extols the virtue of raisins, but does so with a noticeably grown up figure. Indeed, the Sun-Maid girl appears to be so well endowed that the inimitable Jezebel suggests she might have gotten some implants.

Sun-Maid Girl Joins Dora the Explorer

Since 2000, Dora the Explorer is a staple on Nickelodeon. After five seasons and 111 episodes (and counting), the bilingual preschool TV character has taught innumerable little girls to count in Spanish, entice a gate to open or a car to speed up merely by repeating the instruction in a foreign language, and always extols the virtues of friendship and helpfulness.

Early this year - as reported by ABC -- Mattel announced that Dora would grow up a bit (and recapture the middle school market share of girls) by featuring longer hair, leaving her chubby childhood figure behind and essentially becoming a lot more attractive. Unfortunately, the company at first only revealed a silhouette of the new figure, which did look a tat racy. After the initial hubbub, Mattel quickly revealed the whole concept, and it was a lot tamer than initially assumed. The Mommy Files presents both side by side.

Is the Sun-Maid Girl Makeover Another Tempest in the Teapot?

Even as it is true that the animated Sun-Maid girl looks like a mix between a Sims character and computer animated Barbie doll, she is not falling outside the realm of reasonable. A close look at the 1916 original trademark reveals that the flat chest look was not ushered in until the icon's 1923 makeover, when the boyish figures of the 1920s became all the rage.

Sources
http://www.Sun-Maid.com/en/about/Sun-Maid_girl.html
http://www.sun-maid.com/en/about/play_animation.html#
http://jezebel.com/5416403/truth-in-advertising
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=7033295&page=1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfmoms/detail?entry_id=37198