Carmen Sandiego - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[Twilight Man]

Obviously this thread has surfaced due to the big news - REBOOT!!!

I loved the cartoon.

I loved the gameshow - DO IT ROCKAPELLA!!!  (I even watched the other gameshow.)

I even had several of the computer games (the original, the USA version (with special guest Lynne Thigpen), some weird grammar game).

I am so pumped that Carmen Sandiego is returning.  Now how about a live-action kids' movie already??

Edited April 26, 2017 by Twilight Man

[Kromm]

On 4/25/2017 at 5:24 PM, Twilight Man said:

Obviously this thread has surfaced due to the big news - REBOOT!!!

I loved the cartoon.

I loved the gameshow - DO IT ROCKAPELLA!!!  (I even watched the other gameshow.)

I even had several of the computer games (the original, the USA version (with special guest Lynne Thigpen), some weird grammar game).

I am so pumped that Carmen Sandiego is returning.  Now how about a live-action kids' movie already??

I'm ambivalent about the idea of a show from Carmen's point of view. I liked her mysterious and evil. Who wants to see her as a protagonist?

[Aethera]

On 4/30/2017 at 6:29 AM, Kromm said:

I'm ambivalent about the idea of a show from Carmen's point of view. I liked her mysterious and evil. Who wants to see her as a protagonist?

I tend to agree, Kromm, but I'll take a look and see how it goes.

[SVNBob]

On 4/30/2017 at 5:29 AM, Kromm said:

I'm ambivalent about the idea of a show from Carmen's point of view. I liked her mysterious and evil. Who wants to see her as a protagonist?

Way late on the subject, but...

In every version of Carmen's backstory that I've seen, she was originally on the side of the law.  She was The ACME Detective; the absolute best, catching every criminal that came across her path.  She only turned to crime herself once she caught "everyone" and there was no more challenge or adventure for her in her detective work.   Becoming the master criminal and avoiding her old peers became her new challenge, and she rose to the top of that profession too.  That's where the player steps in.

So, a series about Carmen back in her ACME days would feature her as the protagonist.  And could be interesting.  It could be rather Holmesian, but with a female lead.  And this quote from the original Hollywood Reporter article about the reboot:

Quote

The fresh take is set to present an intimate look into Carmen's past to follow her escapades and also answer who in the world Carmen Sandiego is and why she became a super thief.

indicates that they may be going that route somewhat, likely with flashbacks.  Or possibly in the live-action movie linked with the new series.

[SVNBob]

Premiere date of January 18th officially announced.

Along with some preview stills of the animation.

[BetterButter]

[SVNBob]

On 5/15/2018 at 5:39 AM, SVNBob said:

In every version of Carmen's backstory that I've seen, she was originally on the side of the law.  She was The ACME Detective; the absolute best, catching every criminal that came across her path.  She only turned to crime herself once she caught "everyone" and there was no more challenge or adventure for her in her detective work.   Becoming the master criminal and avoiding her old peers became her new challenge, and she rose to the top of that profession too.  That's where the player steps in.

So, a series about Carmen back in her ACME days would feature her as the protagonist.

Quoting myself here after watching the preview.

 

Looks like they're doing a variation on what I described as Carmen's backstory, with a little bit of a reversal.  Her starting out with VILE instead, then switching to ACME and the side of the angels when her better nature takes over.  This could indeed be the story of how Carmen became The ACME Detective.

[SnoGirl]

I was obsessed with Carmen Sandiego as a kid, so you better believe I binged it this weekend. I absolutely loved it. Carmen is still badass. I wish I had children bc I would love for them to see this.

Still talks about culture and geography facts which I absolutely adored. I really felt like it was a love letter to those who loved it before. The art in it is BEAUTIFUL. All around, I cant wait for the next season!

[starri]

I'll do you one better:  WHY in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

[The Kings Foot]

Just watched season 1.  I absolutely love this show and wish it were live action.

Edited January 23, 2019 by The Kings Foot

[SVNBob]

On 1/22/2019 at 6:44 PM, The Kings Foot said:

Just watched season 1.  I absolutely love this show and wish it were live action.

You'll be excited when the movie drops eventually.

I'm only 2/3 of the way through this season (been pacing myself), and I've been loving all the nods to all the other Carmen shows and the games.  Most of the recurring cast is some reference to another element somewhere in the world of Carmen Sandiego.  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)  I think I'll make another spoiler-tagged post later after I've watched the rest of the episodes with all the references I caught, or found after the fact.

[Chris24601]

I think they’ve gone and done a rather clever twist with “the real story.”

What does VILE believe? That Carmen is working with ACME and Chase is her partner. i.e. Carmen’s traditional backstory.

Conversely, thanks to an impromptu check-in by the Chief, ACME now completely buys Chase’s theory that Carmen is the leader of VILE. i.e. Carmen’s traditional present occupation.

One could almost say the show has made Carmen’s traditional set-up a case of “the elephant” where each party has part of the puzzle and so completely misinterpreted what they’re seeing.

[Dandesun]

So I had this game back in the day, my younger sisters played it as it was more for their age than mine. And the sister who lives with me, in particular, loved the cartoon. So when I told her Netflix was doing a reboot she was stoked. Then we had a niece and nephew over (aged 12 and 10) when it dropped so we watched it with them and they both loved it. They then went home and showed it to their little brother (who was visiting Granny that weekend) -- suffice to say, Carmen has still got it.

I like how we are following her but I also like that neither VILE and ACME are allied with her. ACME, in particular, still isn't quite up to speed as to her motivations so that's kind of fun. Plus, are we going to see others from VILE switch over? It seems ripe for at least one of them now...

[andipandi]

Kid and I are enjoying it, although she's never seen the original game or show... she does know the old theme song somehow.

Who ever is doing the voice of the chief is doing a great job, I wondered if it was the original, until I saw she had passed on. 😞

[Kromm]

On 2/10/2019 at 6:35 PM, Chris24601 said:

I think they’ve gone and done a rather clever twist with “the real story.”

What does VILE believe? That Carmen is working with ACME and Chase is her partner. i.e. Carmen’s traditional backstory.

Conversely, thanks to an impromptu check-in by the Chief, ACME now completely buys Chase’s theory that Carmen is the leader of VILE. i.e. Carmen’s traditional present occupation.

One could almost say the show has made Carmen’s traditional set-up a case of “the elephant” where each party has part of the puzzle and so completely misinterpreted what they’re seeing.

It's reasonably clever, because they wanted a show where Carmen is the hero. But also to include traditional elements like Acme. Carmen working for Acme would totally go against the elements in EVERY game show episode and computer game, where you the player needs to chase Carmen. So this three sided conflict is a clever way around that. 

[The Kings Foot]

And Carmen Sandiego is back.

Gotta says it more like  James Bond  complete with hat throwing henchmen.

[SVNBob]

Coming up in less than 2 weeks, something a little different.

 

 

[SVNBob]

So I finally got around to watching/playing the interactive episode.

Not too bad, considering this had to appeal to a wide audience.   It almost felt like an OG Carmen PC game at a couple of moments, primarily if you hit a bad ending and had to go back a little.  I didn't find all the 8 endings, but I hit enough to be satisfied (until I looked at a flowchart of how to get the endings and realized I missed the worst ending.  Now I'm gonna have to go back and get that one.)  Definitely worth a playthrough or two, if you haven't done so already.

But speaking of endings, if you get one of the good ones, The Chief gives you the option of getting a bonus scene.  And it's the greatest Easter Egg they could have done.  It's so good, I'm not going to spoil it.

Spoiler

 

The fact that they updated the lyrics to accurately reflect present-day geography ("the Czech Republic" instead of "Czechoslovakia" as in the original) is such a sweet touch and nod to the original intent of the Carmen series. 

 

[The Kings Foot]

So this version of Carmen Sandiego seems to have reached its conclusion with the end of Season 4.  I really liked it. 

[SVNBob]

From YouTube, DefunctTV tells the story of the original Carmen TV series.   A mention of this incarnation is included.