 Today, we're going to be taking a look at the origin and history of Carmen Sandiego, so stay tuned Gum Shoes. The original game idea started in 1983 from Broadband Programmer Dane Bigam wanting to take the idea of text adventure games, but create a menu driven interface to be played on the Apple II computer. Work was done creating a game where the player would chase down various crooks. Broadband co-founder Gary Carlston suggested changing the concept to be focused on geography, anticipating shipping copies of the World Almanac to let players research clues and find the right answers for geography questions. Carlston hired David Seifkin to write the game's story. Seifkin came up with the idea of the player tracking down numerous criminals and developed several criminal personas including Carmen Sandiego. The other staff found this name to be mysterious and exotic, in addition to being a female character they could use to attract younger women to the game. The crew expanded upon Seifkin's idea with the name of the criminal organization Vile, also known as Villains International League of Evil and the ACME Detective Agency. ACME has generally been humorously known as an anachronism for a company that makes everything. The core gameplay was then established having the player as an ACME recruit to chase down underlings within Vile, following geography-based clues to complete their search and working up their ranks in ACME until they were tasked to go after Carmen herself. In 1985 the computer game Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was released. It was followed in 1986 by the game Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego, then in 1988 by Where in Europe is Carmen Sandiego, and so on. The character of Carmen Sandiego has been seen in multiple works since. Carmen Sandiego was loosely based on Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda, who saw success in show business between the 1930s and 1950s. The game franchise led to three television shows with a fourth set to premiere on Netflix in 2019. The first was a game show entitled Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. This incarnation featured Lynn Thigpin, who starred as a radio DJ in the film The Warriors, who would eventually go on to play the moon in Eureka's Castle, and her final role as Ella Farmer in the crime drama The District. During her time on the game show she played the chief, comically no-nonsense figure with a strong sense of justice, who spoke with dialogue that was riddled with puns, alliteration, and other forms of wordplay. The chief's great-grandmother was Agnes Acme, the founder of Acme, who was also played by Thigpin. The host of the game show was Greg Lee. According to the show he was a special senior agent in charge of training new recruits. The standouts of the show, however, was the comedy acapella group, Rocka Pella. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego aired on PBS from September 30th, 1991 until December 22nd, 1995. It was followed with another game show also starring Thigpin as the chief, entitled Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego. The in time game show aired from October 7th, 1996 until December 12th, 1997. In 1998, Brotterbund was acquired by The Learning Company, and thus the series itself became redesigned. In 1994, Fox Kids Network premiered Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego on Saturday mornings. This series was an animated format similar to other shows Fox Kids broadcasts at the time. The lead characters of the animated series were junior detectives of the Acme Detective Agency, Zach and Ivy, a brother-sister duo who were voiced by Scott Menville and Jennifer Hale, under the guidance of the chief, a disembodied floating computer-generated head which resembled Egon Spangler from the real Ghostbusters animated series. The chief was voiced by Roger Bumpus, who eventually went on to voice Squidward in SpongeBob Squarepants. In this version of the series, Carmen was a former agent of Acme who left when she saw a greater challenge and has a strong code of ethics when stealing items. Carmen was voiced by Rita Moreno. Carmen's full name is Carmen Isabella Sandiego and is a Hispanic woman who always wears a red trench coat and matching fedora. Carmen was once a brilliant agent of the Acme Detective Agency until she left and formed a vial. Her organization seeks to commit incredible thefts and cause chaos while Acme tries to thwart and capture their agents. In the computer games, the henchmen are meant to keep Acme occupied so that Carmen can pull off the real crime. The Where on Earth series revealed a unique backstory for the title character. She was an orphan raised at the Golden Gate Girls School in San Francisco. The chief gave her a home at the Acme Detective Agency. By age 17, she solved more cases than any other Acme agent. However, she then disappeared and turned to a life of crime. Her partner when she was at Acme was a Japanese man named Sahura who left Acme after she did and appears to now be retired. Unlike in most of the rest of the series, the reason for Carmen leaving Acme is not specifically stated, although it is speculated by Sahura. In the latter seasons of the show, Carmen began to be portrayed as more of an anti-hero than a proper villainous, even teaming up with the show's protagonist to defeat criminals more unscrupulous than herself on several occasions. Additionally, it is made clear that she makes a point of refusing to steal something if the theft will cause anybody harm. A vow she frequently breaks outside this canon. Carmen was born March 1, 1968 and joined Acme in 1985. Carmen breaks the law at every turn, but her thefts are somehow forgivable in light of the fact that she does it more for the challenge and the thrill of it all than for any personal gain. And her main concern is always the preservation In fact, she even concerns herself with the kid detective's well-being and is known to step in on their behalf when there's danger. According to the episode Hot Ice, Carmen has been gone from Acme for 10 years, 3 months, and 7 days. In the Carmen San Diego Treasures of Knowledge canon, Carmen Isabella San Diego was a child prodigy who won a substantial amount of money on a game show called It's a Wise Child when she was only 10 years old. She used the money to travel extensively around the world until she was 12. Her partner when she was at Acme was Jules Argent, who still works at Acme and appears to be in her early 20s. Jules specifically notes that Carmen never talked about her childhood and aside from the mention of her winning the aforementioned game show, no details of it are given. According to Where in the Universe is Carmen San Diego, her favorite writer is Ursula K. Le Guin and her favorite astronomer is Nicholas Copernicus. Lynn Thigpen's final appearance as the chief was in the 1999 game show movie Where in the Universe is Carmen San Diego. The film was made to be shown in planetariums across the US, Canada, and Japan. In 2006, Sandra Bullock was lined up to possibly star as the title character in a Carmen San Diego movie which would have been produced by the Walt Disney Pictures Company. Jennifer Lopez was later in talks to play the character for a 2011 movie produced by Walden Media. It has recently been announced that Netflix will reboot the series with a 20 episode 22 minute order made and will premiere in 2019. Netflix's series will take an intimate look into Carmen's past where viewers will not only follow her escapades but also learn who Carmen is and why she became a super thief. Gina Rodriguez the star of Jane the Virgin will voice the title character. Lynn Thigpen succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage on March 12, 2003 at the age of 54. She has been entombed next to her parents at the Elmhurst Cemetery in her hometown of Joliet Illinois where the Lynn Thigpen Elementary School was named in her honor. So there you have it guys the history and origins of that notorious criminal and master thief Carmen San Diego. I hope you guys enjoyed this video and if you did go ahead and hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on future videos. I'm Shannon for Comic Gettin' TV. The only place on YouTube where all key culture collides. Take care my friends.