mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
As much as I love the Wii, it’s lacking a game I have been craving for a couple of years now: Carmen Sandiego. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the old computer at the public library playing Carmen Sandiego on floppy disk until we finally got it for our home computer. And when the T.V. show came out? Amazing. Anyway, until Nintendo satiates my Carmen Sandiego needs, I’m going to have to make do with this list of Carmen Sandiego trivia.
1. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was first released in 1985 for the Apple II.
2. An early version of the computer game had Henry VII running around England collecting treasures.
3. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I didn’t know it: Carmen used to be an ACME agent before defecting to V.I.L.E. (the Villains’ International League of Evil).
4. The list of improbable things stolen by Carmen and her V.I.L.E. Henchmen included the Ngorongoro Crater, the La Brea Tar Pits, the entire Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, the Dead Sea, Paris’ Fall Fashion Collection, the Great Barrier Reef, all of Idaho’s potatoes, Old Faithful, all of the George Washington faces from $1 bills, the Vienna Boys Choir’s voices, the Trojan Horse, the wigs of London’s judges and barristers, the sun, Mardi Gras, the Internet and the Spanish letter ñ. Busy crooks!!
5. Carmen’s middle name is Isabela.
6. The animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego featured legendary actress Rita Moreno as the voice of Carmen.
7. One episode of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was never aired, because the contestant fell down in the bonus round and broke her arm.
8. If you watched the show, surely you remember the phrase that kicked off the theme song at the end: “Do it, Rockapella!” In addition to Carmen Sandiego, Rockapella “did it” for lots of commercials, including Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Doritos and Folgers.
9. The eleven members of Carmen’s posse on the original show included Vic the Slick, The Contessa, Eartha Brute, Top Grunge, Robocrook, Patty Larceny, Double Trouble (twins), Kneemoi, Wonder Rat and Sarah Nade.
10. At one point, there were plans for a Carmen Sandiego movie. Sandra Bullock was going to star.
And, because I want you guys to have this stuck in your head for the rest of the day like I do, here are the lyrics to the song. You can thank me later.
Well, she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina
She’s a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize
She’ll take you for a ride on a slowboat to China
Tell me: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
Steal their Seoul in South Korea, make Antarctica cry “uncle”
From the Red Sea to Greenland they’ll be singing the blues
Well they never Arkansas her steal the Mekong from the jungle
Tell me: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
She goes from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe,
Chicago to Czechoslovakia, and back!
Well she’ll ransack Pakistan and run a scam in Scandinavia
Then she’ll stick ‘em up Down Under and go pickpocket Perth
She put the “Miss” in “misdemeanor” when she stole the beans from Lima
Tell me: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
Tell me: where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (x6)
Watch your back
Comments (35)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
And the best line from one of the Rockapella versions of the song, “Monday through friday at five!”
posted by Aaron on 8-12-2008 at 3:28 pm
i always was baffled at how those kids knew so much and could locate the countries on the giant map. i wonder what they’re up to these days.
i suck at geography.
posted by susan on 8-12-2008 at 3:47 pm
Aw, you missed one of my favorite parts of the song (being from Ohio, I was so excited when I was a kid hearing ‘Ohio’)
…Ooh, Botswana to Thailand, Milan via Amsterdam, Mali to Bali, Ohio, Oahu…!
Well she glides around the globe and she’ll flimflam every nation,
She’s a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery,
Her itinerary’s loaded up with moving violations,
Tell me where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?…
posted by Rachel on 8-12-2008 at 3:57 pm
wow, thanks, what a trip down memory lane! we played in in the old school library, i loved the television show…
i too would love it if they put it out on the wii :)
posted by sara on 8-12-2008 at 4:03 pm
Susan, I was always baffled by the kids who couldn’t even find Brazil on a map of South America.
But I loved this show, and the computer game. I learned how to use my Fodor’s book at the ripe old age of 9 because of it. I need to go find a version of this game and play it now.. anyone know where?
This show also opened my eyes to the wonders of a cappella music. (Yes Rockapella is still touring, although not all members are original.)
posted by catherine ann on 8-12-2008 at 4:14 pm
I remember the game for the Apple II, show (of course!) AND the game on… Nintendo? It was either Nintendo or Super NES (I think the orig). It was sweet too!
I loved Rockapella and GOT good at geography in hopes that one day I might be on the show (not that I ever tried, but…)
posted by PointSpecial on 8-12-2008 at 4:38 pm
Hey,
you left out maybe the most difficult game to beat on the original NES ever … Where in Time is Carmen SanDiego? It came with a pocket encyclopedia and you had to capture all of Carmen’s gang by “interviewing” bystanders and informants. Very hard!! (You got to pick your own name and I was always Investigator Ditka!!)
posted by Gary on 8-12-2008 at 4:39 pm
For all of you who want VIDEO to go with the words, and I know you all do! -
Here is one of pretty good quality video of 2007 Rockapella:
Stay tuned, I’ll post one of the guys back in the day, though video quality is stinky!
posted by Amy on 8-12-2008 at 4:48 pm
Do it, Rockapella!
posted by Amy on 8-12-2008 at 4:52 pm
Thank you so much for the Carmen Sandiego blast from the past! I loved the show and had all the games (which we had on floppy discs for the pc). Yes, Where in Time was the hardest and I often did badly at it, but I liked the little coffee lounge built into it :).
I used to spend hours trying to memorize the countries of South America, because I knew that one day I’d be on the show and that I would end up with South America instead of an “easy” continent during the bonus round :).
Oooh…know what the world needs? Carmen Sandiego DS! I would soooo play that. :)
posted by Fruppi on 8-12-2008 at 4:52 pm
Stealing the internet? I knew she was no good!
posted by Kinglink on 8-12-2008 at 4:59 pm
11. After her popularity died down, Carmen Dandiego married Waldo, from the “Where’s Waldo” books, and nobody has been able to find either of them ever since.
posted by gmsc on 8-12-2008 at 5:33 pm
Totally just made my day. How about a Quick 10 on Square One Television? (Mathman, mathman.)
posted by Megan on 8-12-2008 at 5:53 pm
How bad is it that I still have the pocket encyclopedia from Where in Time…and I use is occassionally for quick, off-line answers?
Recaptcha: Rettling Island
posted by Christi on 8-12-2008 at 6:11 pm
One of the best computer games of all times! We had it when it was on a 3.5 disk and played it for many years. It was the only reason I had a Farmers Almanac from 1994 in the early 2000’s. Thank goodness for the glossy, illustrated booklet of nation’s flags in the middle. I find that arcane flag knowledge is helping me during the Olympics.
posted by Lindsey on 8-12-2008 at 6:20 pm
“She goes from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe,
Chicago to Czechoslovakia, and back!”
I always sang it “Zaire to Zimbabwe” which makes more sense due to the alliteration… anybody else with me?
posted by erin on 8-12-2008 at 6:52 pm
I would like to second the Square One TV…as much as I love Carmen I have a very special place for Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade as well as Mathnet.
posted by Amauriel on 8-12-2008 at 6:57 pm
Oh yes! We didn’t have the early computer game – because we owned the stylin’ TI-99-4A instead of an Apple. But I loved the show and – damn you, I will be singing the theme song for the rest of the night!
@Megan, above – yes, please, hook us up with Square One action. There are a paltry few MathMan clips on YouTube, but my 6 yo son is already a fan. I loved MathNet… Sigh. For the good ol’ days of PBS!
posted by Piseco on 8-12-2008 at 7:01 pm
I could have sworn it was “Kick it Rockapella”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 8-12-2008 at 7:50 pm
I was at Target last week, they have new versions (for Windows XP/Vista) of the PC games: Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail
posted by Reggie on 8-12-2008 at 8:00 pm
OOOOHHH!!! I loved Carmen San Diego. I used to play it on my old PC. Apparently I could never get that far… I think my mom jipped a copy from her co-workers. It always said to proceed… something about insert next disk. I never had that disk.
Square one, Math Net, does anyone remember ghostwriters (super old with little kids solving mysteries).
PBS had soooo much. What happened?
posted by Miss Nae on 8-12-2008 at 9:30 pm
Reggie: No fricken way. I wonder if you can put those on a wedding registry…?
I spent practically my whole childhood playing Where in the World, Where in the USA, and Where in SPACE is Carmen Sandiego?!
Those and Oregon Trail and Oregon Trail 2. And Ancient Empires.
Yes, I was a big nerd. But I’m posting on mental floss, so I guess that’s a given.
posted by Leah on 8-12-2008 at 11:26 pm
I used to LOVE this show, though I’d only get about a third of the questions. I think I used to have a crush on one of the Rockapella guys, I don’t remember which one.
If I remember correctly Kneemoi was simply a floating eye…or something like that, but he was definitely my favorite because I’d start giggling after Rockapella did the introductory soundbite
“Kneeeeeeeemoi!”
Thanks for the chance to reminisce!
posted by heather on 8-13-2008 at 2:24 am
I, too, loved Carmen Sandiego as a kid. And, in a show of ultimate nerdiness, my old college roommate and I use the Carmen Sandiego theme song as our theme song. Every time we get together, it’s played at least once.
OH, and I loved Ghostwriters! Almost as good as my Encyclopedia Brown books.
posted by Steph on 8-13-2008 at 7:23 am
You have NO IDEA how many memories this brings back for me- I didn’t know how much of this I remembered!!!! I also loved Oregon Trail and Ghostwriter.
@erin- I agree, Zaire to Zimbabwe!!
@rachel- Thanks for the rest of the lyrics, I knew something was missing. I remember hearing Ohio and wishing they said New Jersey. Oh well.
Anyone remember the whole “the warrant” part??? HAHAHA.
reCAPTCHA- threats rected.
posted by Kelly J on 8-13-2008 at 8:13 am
My life ambition at age 10 was to be a contestant on that show. I would have taken my trip to Seattle. And, not only did I buy the Rockapella album (on cassette) I definitely made my mom take me to see them in concert. Pretty sure I remember all of their names to this day and I was in love with the blonde one (Scott). It was my geeky “boy band” obsession that I was too afraid to tell anyone at school.
Did anyone else play the Carmen Sandiego board game? It was weak.
posted by Caroline on 8-13-2008 at 8:35 am
Ah, good times. Thanks for the great article, and thanks to Amy for digging up the clip! I was just bopping side to side at my desk with my headphones on – now the coworkers think I’m even weirder than before. They’re probably on to something.
I, too, will throw in a vote for Square One. Remember the Angle Dance music video?
posted by Roger on 8-13-2008 at 8:38 am
Square One! Holy crap, I thought I was the only one who watched that.
posted by Joanna on 8-13-2008 at 10:15 am
I never got to win any of my Carmen Sandiego PC games, because to get to the next level, you needed to identify some random fact on a random page in your almanac or your encyclopedia, and I always lost the books.
Saw Rockapella live last year. In the middle of the show they did a medley of the jingles they’d done, and of course, ended their set with Carmen Sandiego. Even though there’s only one guy in the group now that was around then.
posted by Liz on 8-13-2008 at 10:28 am
I got hooked on Carmen Sandiego & Oregon Trail on the computers at my Middle School. I too spent ridiculous amount of time playing Where in the: World, America’s Past, and Space (loved that one, it was the easiest and all the villains were weird aliens).
I saw a new version of OT @ Target the other day and had to resist the temptation to grab it! But I haven’t seen Carmen yet.
posted by Nerak on 8-13-2008 at 10:54 am
Lynne Thigpen, who played The Chief, was also the DJ who’s lips were only seen on camera in The Warriors. Very distinctive voice.
posted by Mike H. on 8-13-2008 at 11:13 am
I third the request for Square One or Mathnet! There’s actually a fansite for Mathnet with scenes from all of the old eppisodes. And I also put a request in for Oregon Trail…
Does anyone remember the “space invaders” like typing game? You were on a spaceship, and the letters would come toward you across the screen, and you had to press them on the keyboard before they got too close to you – otherwise they would blow you up!
posted by Amy on 8-13-2008 at 2:49 pm
Hey, thanks, Mike H for reminding me of that!
posted by Amy on 8-13-2008 at 3:21 pm
In the kind of coincidence that seems to run rampant in my life, just as I clicked next on my RSS feed reader, my iPod spun up track 17 of the Live in Japan CD by Rockapella. Which is, of course, the them to “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”
Yes, I totally bought the CD just for that song. It’s a good CD, though.
posted by Mary Sue on 8-13-2008 at 5:03 pm
I used to LOVE this show, but I never really knew why we were searching for Carmen Sandiego. Ha.
posted by sarah on 8-17-2008 at 12:05 am