Netflix Announces ‘Carmen Sandiego’ January Premiere Date

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? She’s coming to Netflix sooner than you think.

Netflix recently announced on Twitter that the reboot of the popular ’90s animated show Carmen Sandiego will be debuting on Friday, January 18th. The iconic Lady in Red and her chief accomplice Player are voiced by Jane the Virgin lead actress Gina Rodriguez and Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard.

WHEN in the world is Carmen Sandiego coming to Netflix? *hacks database* January 18! Who’s ready to go on an adventure with @HereIsGina and @FinnSkata? #NetflixNewsWeek pic.twitter.com/d4UC2kb5vZ

— Queue (@netflixqueue) December 10, 2018

The reboot will be produced by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt with CJ Kettler as executive producer and Duane Capizzi as co-executive producer and showrunner. Carmen Sandiego debuts with 20 episodes that will feature new international capers and will highlight Carmen’s backstory of how and why she became the world’s greatest thief.

The new Netflix animated series is based on the story of the popular character of the 1980s educational mystery video game franchise Where is Carmen Sandiego? Carmen is described as a thief who steals only for the fun of it more than for personal gain. She was a former detective of the ACME agency who left her it in order to form the Villains’ International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.), which aims to commit incredible thefts and stir up chaos in the world.

The video game’s primary objective was to capture Carmen’s henchmen until the player would have to catch Carmen herself. The franchise was first owned by Broderbund Software but was later given to The Learning Company, who produced the latest video game installment Carmen Sandiego Returns in 2015.

The franchise also spawned a PBS children’s educational game show also titled Where is Carmen Sandiego? In 1991 hosted by Greg Lee. The game show invited middle-school-aged children to answer geography-related questions. Just like the video game, the objective was to find the crooks until you find Carmen. The show ran for about four years with about 296 episodes and even won seven Daytime Emmys.