The answer to the puzzling question “where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” appears to be — on Netflix. The streaming site is rebooting the franchise by picking up an animated series called Carmen Sandiego, which will be based on the popular ’80s computer games and ’90s children’s game shows.
Set to debut in 2019, Gina Rodriguez, who currently stars in The CW comedy-drama telenovela Jane the Virgin, will voice the title character, while Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler in the Netflix original science fiction-horror series, will provide the voice for Player, Carmen’s chief accomplice and friend.
Carmen Sandiego originated in the ’80s as a series of educational computer games about a woman who leads a criminal organization. A game show called Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? aired on PBS from 1992 through to 1996, and featured contestants who were between 10 and 14 years old answering geography questions to help determine the location of Carmen Sandiego’s henchmen. Two additional shows also aired following that one: Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? and Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?
The upcoming Netflix series is called a “fresh take” on the original, providing a more intimate look into Carmen’s past, learning more both about her as a person, and about what drove her to become a super thief.
There will still be a learning component, of course — Carmen Sandiego will be produced by global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Duane Capizza (The Batman) will serve as co-executive producer and showrunner, while CJ Kettler (The Tick) will be co-executive producer, and Caroline Fraser executive in charge of production. Visual design will be by Kevin Dart (Mr. Peabody & Sherman) and Chromosphere, and the animation studio is DHX Media.
The series’ first season will consist of 20 episodes, each of 22 minutes in length. There’s no word on whether a capella group Rockapella will return to sing that catchy theme song.
