The Voyage of the Mimi

Okay, time for an informal survey. How many people know what The Voyage of the Mimi -- the classic 1980s-vintage educational series starring a young Ben Affleck -- is? I and many acquaintances regard it as a critical Generation Y cultural landmark, like Thundercats or the Oregon Trail, but a frighteningly large number of people don't seem to know anything about it and think it's weird that I know the theme song.

We watched it in my school in, I think, fourth grade and while I'm not sure I recall any of the core whale-related knowledge it was seeking to impart, I'm fairly certain that to this day I understand the basic principles underlying the construction of a solar still to collect condensation and provide drinking water in case you're ever stranded in the wilderness.

Comments

Thundercats I remember, but not Mimi or the Oregon Trail.

Looking back, whoever came up with the idea for Thundercats must have been completely stoned.

Posted by JP | January 22, 2007 10:25 AM

I completely remember all of those. I also remember a class a few years behind me basing their year's curriculum on The Voyage of The Mimi - talking about geography, the history of their destinations, science, etc.

And Oregon Trail rocked almost as hard as Dig Dug.

Posted by ptm | January 22, 2007 10:28 AM

Oh god.

WHALES ARE PEOPLE TOO!

Posted by Glenn | January 22, 2007 10:28 AM

Oh, memories...

Not only do I remember the Voyage of the Mimi, but I actually watched the Second Voyage of the Mimi -- the one about finding a Mayan City and Scuba diving -- though my teacher had us watch the series out of order.

I actually had to make a Mimi-themed sign for my class, IIRC.

Posted by John | January 22, 2007 10:30 AM

I went to a school run by a tecahing college and my class was asked to preview the Voyage of the Mimi to assess whether we liked the music score. All I remember was that and the solar still. I have no idea if they used our advice on the music or not.

Posted by Josh Ellsworth | January 22, 2007 10:35 AM

Okay, this is weird. These things are Generation Y? We had Oregon Trail on Apple ][ computers at school before Mr. Yglesias was born. Likewise, "Thundercats" premiered in 1985. Certain disturbed individuals would shout, "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!" in the halls of my high school. Between dressing like you raided a 1970's Salvation Army, and relying on pop culture from Generation X, have you GenY whippersnappers ever come up with any of your own stuff? Now get off my lawn!

And Oregon Trail rocked almost as hard as Dig Dug.

Now that was a quality Pac Man elaboration. Pump-pump-pump-pump-pop. Heh heh heh.

Posted by mds | January 22, 2007 10:36 AM

Let me ask you this, though, did you ever play the Voyage of the Mimi Apple game? That rocked hard.

Posted by Cain | January 22, 2007 10:38 AM

Weird. The Voyage of the Mimi came up just last night as the answer to one of the trivia questions during the horrible pre-movie ad reel they now subject you to before the previews start. I also learned that Telly Savales was Jennifer Aniston's godfather.

I admit that I had never heard of the show, but at 33 I'm definitely not Gen Y. We had Thundercats, though, so I'm pretty sure that's officially a Gen X phenomenon.

Posted by Adam | January 22, 2007 10:38 AM

Oregon Trail was a GenX touchstone. I played that game on an Apple ][ (that's an Apple ][, none of your fancy ][es or ][cs, mister) back in 1980 at Edward D. Neill Elementary in lovely Burnsville, MN.

By the way, it's my tax dollars that made that program. Well, my parents', anyhow--MECC was a public venture of the State of Minnesota.

And I've never heard of Voyage of the Mimi. Sorry, you're just weird.

Posted by Jeff Fecke | January 22, 2007 10:39 AM

I'm pretty sure I (b. 1978, I've never bothered to figure out which letter I belong to)) never heard of "Voyage of the Mimi" until Ben Affleck became famous.

I would have thought Matt Y. was too young for Oregon Trail. We were playing that in about 1986 or 87, as I recall.

I knew "Thundercats" a little, but I couldn't watch it because it wasn't on either of the two channels we got. And we had to walk uphill both ways to the TV.

Posted by witless chum | January 22, 2007 10:43 AM

Watched it in (I'm fairly sure) 5th grade, also went on a school organized field trip for a whale watch as part of the same overarching project. The still part is really memorable, as was the lesson about hypothermia. I'd remember other stuff if people mentioned it, I think.

Posted by washerdreyer | January 22, 2007 10:44 AM

You have died of dysentery.

Posted by Nate | January 22, 2007 10:44 AM

I loved the Mimi, it was epic! PBS was my idol back in the days of the Mimi.

Posted by MNPundit | January 22, 2007 10:45 AM

It's OK Matt, a lot of people get blank stares when they want to commiserate with someone about Playhouse 90.

Posted by steve duncan | January 22, 2007 10:45 AM

Voyage of the Mimi was defintely the high point of 5th grade for me (b 1975) but I had no idea until this day that Affleck was in it...

Posted by Ben | January 22, 2007 10:46 AM

"I'm fairly certain that to this day I understand the basic principles underlying the construction of a solar still to collect condensation and provide drinking water in case you're ever stranded in the wilderness."

That's funny because they taught us xers that when you're stuck in the mountains without food or water and your hippie parents have abandoned you you should find a remote cabin with a lone trapper inside then wait until he's not looking at which time you should kill him, cook him, and eat him.

Posted by Linus | January 22, 2007 10:46 AM

HOW MANY TIMES HAS THIS HAPPENED TO YOU?:

YOU: Damn, it's cold and wet out here. Shortly, we'll all have to strip down and cuddle in a sleeping bag, like in Voyage of the Mimi.

SOON TO BE FORMER FRIENDS: You, sir, are insane; to retroactively create a childhood memory for the express purpose of naked cuddling is beyond the pale.

We also watched the second one prior to the first--I think the hypothermia episode, and the knowleedge that boys would shamelessly mock the deaf character until graduation, raised the viewing age of the second.

As a cautionary tale, if you're driving cross-country, DON''T TAKE THE OREGON TRAIL. I'm a banker from Ohio, and I had to go like 6 hours out of my way just to start the damn thing. I don't know why they didn't just take I-90.

Posted by Luke | January 22, 2007 10:49 AM

Wow, I didn't have any idea what you were talking about until you brought up the solar still! I still think back on that now and then, just in case I find myself stranded in the Pacific. I didn't know Ben Affleck was on that. For some reason (I think this is season 2), the part where they demonstrate how to get the deaf girls attention on the boat (hitting the rails to cause vibrations, which she responds to) has been ingrained in my memory permanently.

And MDS, gen x/y are not only unpleasant names, they aren't very descriptive either. According to wikipedia, gen x includes people born up to either '61 or '63 to '78 or '81, but I don't think many people would agree with the latter part of that date. I have little in common with someone born in '63. I for one was born in 1980, grew up with all the pop culture mentioned by Yglesias, and would never consider myself "gen x" (and refuse to use the even worse term "generation y"). Gen Xers are like Chuck Palahniuk or Jonathon Lethem, and those guys are way too old for Thundercats.

If I'm not mistaken, Yglesias is just old enough to have watched new Thundercats episodes and still have memories of it. Oh, and the 70s sucked!

Posted by Matthew C | January 22, 2007 10:50 AM

I'm with you on Thundercats and Oregon Trail (Carmen Sandiego anyone?), but have no idea what you're talking about here. So, I'm afraid it's not a landmark of generation Y.

Posted by a | January 22, 2007 10:52 AM

I'm fairly certain that to this day I understand the basic principles underlying the construction of a solar still to collect condensation and provide drinking water in case you're ever stranded in the wilderness.

Which is more than can be said for the writers of Waterworld...

Posted by Anon | January 22, 2007 10:52 AM

i agree with luke.

the hypothermia scene in which C.T. Granville (Affleck) cuddled with his Grandpa in his underwear in a sleeping bag was ripe for 5th grade humor.

And Sally Ruth impersonations lasted well into Middle School.

Posted by b.schac | January 22, 2007 10:52 AM

Oregon Trail is further-reaching than a single generation. I was born in late 1982, which I think puts me either one or two years behind Matt Y. (I was college class of 2005), and remember the game clearly. Thundercats is within my memories also - I had at least one comic, and watched the show - but the memories are hazy; both He-Man and especially Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are clearer memories. We watched ...Mimi in school, but I don't remember a great deal of it.

Posted by Quarterican | January 22, 2007 10:56 AM

Oregon Trail went through many iterations. The one on the apple ][ was one of the early ones. It had that space-bar 1 shot hunting screen. It was cool if you hadn't seen anything else on a computer. The version I believe the Gen Y's are claiming is the one with the dude who walks around and has a pseudo machine gun (the reload time was awesome) and various critters would come by from like rabbits to bears.

These versions were still pre-MECC spinoff. After that who knows.

Posted by crack | January 22, 2007 10:56 AM

I'm too old (mid GenX) to have any knowledge of it. Zoom and The Electric Company are my PBS shows.

Posted by Al | January 22, 2007 11:00 AM

As usual, Al is right. I'm 35 and never heard of it. Never played Oregon Trail either, so I guess I'm just deprived.

Posted by Matt Weiner | January 22, 2007 11:03 AM

I loved Voyage of the Mimi. And yeah, hardly anyone has heard of it. And the thing I remember most about it is the solar still to make drinkable water from seawater. That and when the grown men had to lay mostly nude together in the sleeping bag to save the grandpa from hypothermia. A bit disturbing. Great show though and a highlight of both my 5th grade and my 8th grade science classes (I moved a lot). Also a highlight was witnessing what was probably the peak of Ben Affleck's acting skills.

Posted by adam | January 22, 2007 11:11 AM

We watched the second voyage of the Mimi in class. For some reason all that stands out in my mind was Affleck exclaiming "Holy chickens!" I also think we went on a field trip at some point to meet the guy who played the boat captain.

I'm young enough that Mimi was still fresh in our minds when Ben Affleck became big in Good Will Hunting. Good times.

Posted by right | January 22, 2007 11:14 AM

I loved the hypothermia episode of the Voyage of the Mimi! The Oregon Trail was kind of a lame game, though.

Posted by Jackmormon | January 22, 2007 11:15 AM

Gen Xers are like Chuck Palahniuk or Jonathon Lethem, and those guys are way too old for Thundercats.

Um, the Gen Xers median is approximately around 1971, which is not unreasonable for viewing an action cartoon in 1985. Back in my generation, we understood that a range was not completely defined by its extreme leftmost limit. Indeed, if anything, I'd take issue with extending it so far into the sixties. Most colloquial usage seemed to be "in one's twenties in the 1990's," which makes 1961 a bit of a stretch. Pepsi wasn't pushing its "Generation Next" campaign at Jonathan Lethem, and presumably the advertisers knew what category they had invented. And I think my original (rather tongue-in-cheek) point still stands: Mr. Yglesias was quite young when "Thundercats" premiered and the second release of Oregon Trail came out. So stop driving your hot-rods so fast, you hoodlums.

I'm too old (mid GenX) to have any knowledge of it. Zoom and The Electric Company are my PBS shows.

Yup. Although, according to Matthew C, nobody could have watched the Electric Company, as he wasn't born yet, and Chuck Palahniuk would have already considered it "kids' stuff." And ZOOM ran from 1999 to 2005, so what are you talking about? :-P

Posted by mds | January 22, 2007 11:16 AM

and just think...it seems weird to me that some people don't remember the vietnam war...

Posted by supersaurus | January 22, 2007 11:17 AM

No thread including the Thundercats is complete without a link to the Thundercats outtakes!

Posted by Killjoy | January 22, 2007 11:27 AM

I distinctly remember Oregon Trial & Thundercats.

I have never heard of this mimi thing before.

Posted by MDtoMN | January 22, 2007 11:27 AM

I remember learning that if I'm ever stranded on an island I can make salt water drinkable by having it evaporate onto plastic and then drip off, leaving the salt on the plastic. Life lessons for my future of whaling and pirating.

Posted by ahg | January 22, 2007 11:29 AM

Mimi? Of course. Remember the theme song? Obvously. It's playing my head now.

Posted by Mike | January 22, 2007 11:35 AM

Hm, while repeatedly shaking my cane at hooligans in diapers, I neglected to note that I've never heard of this "Voyage of the Mimi" before. Must be a Generation Y thing.

Posted by mds | January 22, 2007 11:36 AM

The real question here is who wakes up on a Monday morning full of thoughts of Voyage of the Mimi? And thanks, Matt, for putting that damn theme song in my head.

Oregon Trail kicks ass. I still remember playing an early PC version on a 286 computer. It was all text based and your hunting skill was based on how fast you could retype whichever gun noise ("pow", "bang", etc.) flashed on the screen. Good times.

Posted by Eric | January 22, 2007 11:39 AM

Did Oregon Trail have anything about killing Indians as you made your way west? I forget.

Posted by Bill | January 22, 2007 11:40 AM

I don't know what kind of deprived, cholera-ridden, dysenteric sap hasn't heard of Oregon Trail, but distribution of Mimi memories might skew Northeastern. It was made by Boston folks for WGBH--I know they send stuff all over the country, but still...

Posted by Max | January 22, 2007 11:47 AM

A girl who I used to work with -- my age (25) -- had never heard of Oregon Trail, and I was utterly floored. But I'd bet I only know about twelve people who remember the Voyage of the Mimi. I am reassured about humanity that there are others of you. Remember when the one guy was getting seasick, so someone else made him some sort of disgusting sandwich to get him to throw up so he'd feel better? A classic moment, indeed. Or when they were stranded and the deaf girl used Morse Code to send a signal, but she entered "Mama" instead of "Mimi"? Anyone? Actually, now that I'm typing these, I can't help but wonder if I know the second one instead of the first. I hope not; it would totally destroy my perspective on life.

Posted by jhupp | January 22, 2007 11:48 AM

By the way, did anyone else ever give their Oregon Trail characters horrible (and possibly offensive) names just so the death notices would make you laugh? Or were my friends and I just weird?

Posted by jhupp | January 22, 2007 11:50 AM

The salt didn't stay on the plastic, it stays in the original pot of seawater.
The Indians weren't killed, but you had to pay them to guide your raft across rivers, and sometimes your wagon still sank. And you had to give characters offensive names because later players could look at the tombstones as they went along.
I'm familiar with all these references. I've heard gen X up to '75 and gen Y '80 and later, leaving a gap that I'm in. Gen X is supposed to be disaffected thirtysomethings, while a Gen Y description I heard is that they can't imagine ever living without computers. I'm old enough to still remember looking up phone numbers in a phone book and movie times in the newspaper.
I believe what you're looking for is child of the '80s.

Posted by SP | January 22, 2007 11:52 AM

I know I can die of the consumption, and that I can haul only 100 pounds of bufallo meat at a time. I also know and respect Shnarf...But i have nary a clue about Mimi's voyage.

Posted by mark leon | January 22, 2007 12:16 PM

Born in 1966 and do remember Thundercats and Voyage of the Mimi. (That was Ben Affleck? Weird.)

Never heard of Oregon Trail though...

Posted by tiparillo | January 22, 2007 12:16 PM

Oh wait, now I remember Oregon Trail. But not Mimi.

Posted by JP | January 22, 2007 12:27 PM

We didn't have any of your fancy schmancy "movin' pictures" when I was in school...and WE LIKED IT that way!!

(That is to say that 1) I'm old, a whole month over 50, and 2)never heard of any of the three. But I can reference 15 year old SNL bits!)

Posted by Robert Earle | January 22, 2007 12:30 PM

They indoctrinated you guys with Ben Affleck as kids back in the 80s??? God, that explains so much...

Posted by Ethel-to-Tilly | January 22, 2007 12:35 PM

Owned the book, dubbed the movie off of the TV, and ended up doing it together with my class in fourth grade. (I'm 25)

Posted by Freddie | January 22, 2007 12:38 PM

I watched it in 5th grade, back in... uh... 1997-98. Yaaaay!

Posted by themann1086 | January 22, 2007 12:39 PM

Born 77, grew up in Northern California and definitely remember Mimi, Thundercats and Oregon Trail.

I don't know why, but this post is making me think of the smell of Rubber Cement.

Posted by KT | January 22, 2007 12:40 PM

Oh, and my favorite character was Sally Ruth, the deaf scientist.

Posted by Freddie | January 22, 2007 12:40 PM

Big Mimi fan! In fact, I just joined a Facebook group to that effect. The Mayan season was better than the Whale season, except for that solar still. And, too, I can whistle the theme song--and do from time to time.

I'm in educational media now, and it's considered kind of a landmark show. But the fact that I watched it as a student really makes me seem young to my colleagues.

Posted by Rob | January 22, 2007 12:41 PM

Never heard of it.

Posted by Devin Carpenter | January 22, 2007 12:44 PM

My fifth grade class got to meet the captain guy at some sort of festival on Long Island. He had a guitar and sang. It was the first time I'd ever heard "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?"

Posted by Cain | January 22, 2007 12:46 PM

"Holy chicken! Look at all that peanut butter!"

Posted by joanne mcneil | January 22, 2007 12:46 PM

I was born in '74 and consider myself to be in the tail end of GenX. In my last two years in high school, it was talked about a lot in the media, which to me generally means a phenomenon is pretty much over.

I remember Thundercats, but I don't remember this Mimi thing. Of course I do remember young Jason Bateman and The Dregs of Humanity.

Posted by Royko | January 22, 2007 12:57 PM

I think you've got your generations mixed-up. I'm part of what they call "Generation X," and stuff like "Thundercats" and "Oregon Trail" are more in the X than the Y generation.

At the very least, they're cross-generational.

Posted by Matt | January 22, 2007 1:28 PM

Voyage of the Mimi, baby! I totally remember that, although I had completely forgotten about it until Matt brought it up, and didn't know Ben Affleck was in it. I too remember the solar still. I also remember Oregon Trail and, of course, Thundercats. (Born 1980, I)

Oregon Trail used to be the game we played in school when we had "computer time"...probably the computers were several years behind the curve in terms of quality games. By the time I was in high school there was the next generation Oregon Trail game, which we also played occasionally in the library before school. Other games played in elementary school were "Odell Lake" and "Word/Number Munchers."

Posted by John | January 22, 2007 1:34 PM

I not only remember Voyage of the Mimi, I played the computer game as part of my 6th grade curriculum. I learned triangulation skills that have lasted a lifetime.

Also, fun fact: you could hit control+A and get to the teachers' menu in most MECC games. You know, in case Number Munchers was too tough.

Posted by tom | January 22, 2007 1:44 PM

Remember it. I mostly remember the later stuff being a bit more disturbing.

Posted by Greg Sanders | January 22, 2007 1:45 PM

"Of course I do remember young Jason Bateman and The Dregs of Humanity."

That's quite funny. That guy (and his princess of a sister) went to my school. I didn't know them. They were older. In tacky LA fashion they used his picture on the title page of the school brochure.

Posted by Linus | January 22, 2007 2:03 PM

I saw both the first and second Voyages of the Mimi, but only 'cause I was in the "gifted" class in elementary school. Don't think the mainstream classes were shown it. (Born in '83)

Posted by Senescent | January 22, 2007 2:09 PM

We watched Mimi in 5th grade (1995-6) in California. The real question for all you so-called Mimi-ites isn't just whether you watched the series, but whether you still remember the themesong and can hum it from memory 10-15 years later.

Posted by Gabriel | January 22, 2007 2:22 PM

I am familiar with the Voyage of the Mimi. I believe I also saw it in 4th grade. I also retained little to no information from it, except basic care for hypothermia and how to condense potable water.

Posted by Patrick | January 22, 2007 2:29 PM

I did the "VotM" in 6th or 7th grade - 1992, maybe. Whales were pretty big back then. Neil Postman very wisely assailed it in Amusing Ourselves to Death.

did anyone else ever give their Oregon Trail characters horrible (and possibly offensive) names just so the death notices would make you laugh?
Actually, we tended to name them after people we knew, for the same reason.

Posted by Seth D. | January 22, 2007 2:30 PM

Mimi was great. Coming from Maine I was so excited that there was a TV show that took place somewhere near me. I even wrote a fan letter to young Ben telling him I wanted to be a TV star.

And then in 5th grade, when we did a Mimi unit at school, we took a fieldtrip to somewhere in coastal MA where we actually got to tour the Mimi and meet Cpt. Granville. Who I think was an MIT researcher in real life.

An who doesn't know that song?

Posted by Peter G | January 22, 2007 2:45 PM

I was born in 1948 and have heard of Voyage of Mimi and was an Oregon Trail fanatic with my son for a while (2nd ed.)

Got so carried away we actually went to Fort Bridger -- I mean the one in Wyoming, on a 3500 mile trip. You really can still see the wagon ruts. And "Michael has been bitten by a rattlesnake" is still a bad family joke.

One of the most appealing aspects of Oregon Trail is that emphasized the three big dangers on the Western trails -- cholera, drowning, and accidental gunshot wounds, as opposed to hostile Indians, who killed almost no one in the 1842 - 1860 time frame. One of the more interesting Mormon diaries of the movement to SLC describes a young kid sneaking past an Indian, who of course was watching him all the way, and turning around to see the Indian bent double over his horse laughing.

Don't remember Thundercats, though.

Posted by Gene O'Grady | January 22, 2007 2:50 PM

Born in 1979:

Thundercats - emphatically, yes. I would have been ages 6-10 when they were airing according to Wikipedia and therefore right in the heart of the action-figures-with-TV-shows demographic. Even seeing the logo brings back a flood of memories of smashing crap in my friend's backyard and arguing about whether GI Joe would beat Optimus Prime in a fight.

Oregon Trail - I remember similar games, but I don't think we had that one specifically in Canada.

Mimi - I have no frigging idea what you're talking about. I was all Square One / Electric Company / Edison Twins for my young-childhood science shows.

Posted by Andrew Edwards | January 22, 2007 2:56 PM

Voyage of the Mimi waqs a big hit with me, around 3rd or 4th grade (who watched it in 7th grade?!?). I remember that hypothermia episode clearly, although I ahd no idea that was Ben Affleck. Did anyone else have to watch the flip side of the Mimi adventure videos - the scienc-y ones that were supposed to explain what they were doing in the story? I remember one of those where they dipped a dummy filled with thermocouples into a pool to see how fast heat escaped.

DsminteX

Posted by dsmintex | January 22, 2007 3:02 PM

Memory of Voyage was buried deep in the recesses of my brain until reading that post, but I did watch it in elementary school science class. It didn't have the impact on me that it apparently did on you. Ben Affleck's particiation is news to me.

Posted by djw | January 22, 2007 3:03 PM

Mimi kicked ass, we got to try orienteering at school, which meant fuck around outside while the teacher who was regretting ever seeing that video kept shouting about how measuring tapes are tools not toys

Posted by sam | January 22, 2007 3:05 PM

I was born in 1982, and watched The Voyage of the Mimi and its sequel in my 5th and 6th grade gifted classes. I also played Oregon Trail and watched some ThunderCats. The cartoon show that I remember that no one else does is DinoSaucers, which had a brillant premise: dinosaurs in space ships.

Posted by Bryan | January 22, 2007 3:16 PM

Yes, the solar still is one of my enduring memories from childhood. Also, the aforementioned hypothermia episode, and the deaf crewmember who could "hear" knocks on the railing. I believe there was one where they built a radio telegraph to call for help, but I could be confusing Mimi with Gilligan's Isle.

Posted by Ezra 1 | January 22, 2007 4:09 PM

Bryan -

heh. I vaguely recalled DinoSaucers, but had to go to Wikipedia to remember anything about it. The really funny thing is that I *do* vividly remember Dino-Riders, which apparently only ran on TV for a few months, whereas DinoSaucers had a few years. Why? Because I had Dino-Riders toys (indeed, like He-Man, the show was conceived as a promotional venue *for* the toys), and there were apparently never any DinoSaucers toys. I also probably didn't watch that many episodes of the Transformers TV show, but I feel like I did because I spent so much time playing with the toys. (The cartoons I definitely watched a lot of were He-Man and Ninja Turtles.)

Posted by Quarterican | January 22, 2007 4:18 PM

By the way, did anyone else ever give their Oregon Trail characters horrible (and possibly offensive) names just so the death notices would make you laugh? Or were my friends and I just weird?

I would always name my characters after the diseases and conditions you could suffer in the game.

Cholera has died of dysentery.

-- ACS

Posted by ACS | January 22, 2007 4:20 PM

Oregon Trail, Taipan and Bird vs Dr. J

Posted by I heart the 80's | January 22, 2007 5:11 PM

Gforce kicks Thundercats ass
3 2 1 Contact far superior to Mimi
Oregon Trail not as good as Oregon Trail II

Gen X 2 Spawn of Satan 1

Posted by Millenials must die | January 22, 2007 5:15 PM

votm always seems to remind me (apparently it was the second voyage) of the mayans. did they go to palenque or was it another of the ruins. i do also remember thundercats.

however, i never played oregon trail for whatever reason.

Posted by looj | January 22, 2007 5:20 PM

Yes, I recall being a 4th grader in landlocked, whaleless Minnesota and spending a particularly excessive amount of time learning about fluke patterns so I could recognize the same whale twice. It was one of the more practical aspects of my education, I think.

Posted by buermann | January 22, 2007 7:20 PM

I was born in 1980. I know I watched the Voyage of the Mimi, but I don't remember many details about it, let alone the theme song. I remember the Oregon Trail better and Thundercats the best of the three.
I remember DinoSaucers but not DinoRiders.
When does Generation X end and the next generation (which I refuse to call by the stupid name Generation Y) begin? If the Baby Boomers lasted 18 years (1946 to 1964), then the next generation should be 18 years as well, I would think (1964 to 1982). That jives with those who call the next generation after that "Millenials" (since they turn 18 in or after 2000, although on the whole that name is almost as bad as "Generation Y."). That makes me and Matt Yglesias (born in 1981, right?) late Generation Xers. Personally, I think I do have more in common with those seven or eight years older than I am than with those seven or eight years younger. I still have memories, albeit sometimes vague ones, of vinyl records, not having cable TV, not having a VCR, the Reagan Administration, hair metal bands, filmstrips, extremely primitive computers, and even typewriters - things that are generally foreign to to the post-Generation X experience.
Maybe a Generation Xer is anyone who knew who Kurt Cobain was when he was still alive.

Posted by James Kabala | January 22, 2007 7:48 PM

After reading this my memories of seeing "The Voyage of the Mimi" In computer class and playing a computer game on it came back to me.

Posted by EricP | January 22, 2007 7:48 PM

Hmm, born '78, and I remember playing Oregon Trail on an Apple II. Don't really remember VotM, I probably slept through it in class. Never watched much Thundercats, I was bigger on Voltron (later in the 80s) and G.I. Joe.

I'm also old enough to remember that "channel changer" used to the nickname for the kid closest to the TV.

Posted by Kurt Montandon | January 22, 2007 7:56 PM

Not only did I watch the Voyage of the Mimi in sixth grade, I watched it on Laserdisc. Hell yeah.

Posted by PMC | January 22, 2007 8:58 PM

Voyage of the Mimi, baby! I totally remember that, although I had completely forgotten about it until Matt brought it up, and didn't know Ben Affleck was in it. I too remember the solar still.

This is my reaction exactly. What's up with everyone remembering the solar still/plastic tent? That's the only part of the show that I remember but I've never forgotten it. Why is there such identification with it? Was the episode made exceptionally well or was the subject matter really that important?

Posted by Just Karl | January 22, 2007 9:43 PM

"What's up with everyone remembering the solar still/plastic tent?"

Probably the combination of the climax of the rising action, such as it was, and the MacGyveriness of it. Premiered around the same time. They were dying from dehydration, saved by a little duct tape and some garbage bags. And that Ben Affleck could act, hoo boy, he looked so thirsty. :p

There was an earlier bit where they demonstrated how to triangulate your position, and I vaguely remember thinking the pre-trig exercise for that was kinda neat.

Posted by buermann | January 22, 2007 10:10 PM

I am 24, vaguely remember Thundercats (pre-me), absolutely cherish Oregon Trail, and have no idea about this mimi business.

Posted by Drew Miller | January 22, 2007 11:46 PM

Silly part: So I'm in high school, we'll say '96, and my friends and I are playing Oregon Trail on a relic IIgs. There are 4 guys, and my girlfriend. We get to the first river, ford the bitch, and my girlfriend drowns, and we lose all of our clothing. From there on out, we go to trade with people, who apparently approach 4 naked men and are like "we'll give you an axle for some clothes." We wind up all surviving, naked, to get to Oregon and ostensibly start a gay nudist colony.

Serious part: I was born in 1980, both of my parents in 1949. I always figured I was GenX, because my parents were full-on Boomers, and being raised by Boomers struck me as the defining feature. Now I feel like GenY is the first fully postmodern generation, suckled and weaned on Reagan-era propaganda. Beginning 5 months after my birth, "meaning" no longer meant anything.

Posted by Luke | January 23, 2007 12:17 AM

We watched mimi in 7th grade. It was an honors science class. Everyone giggled hard when naked men in the sleeping bag part came. My teacher was quite dissapointed, noting that some 3rd graders took it a lot more maturely. The middle school canceled honors science classes after that year.

Posted by scottynx | January 23, 2007 12:43 AM

In our Massachusetts town, this crappy movie was still being shown as recently as four years ago, when my children had to watch it in 5th grade for what seemed like weeks. And to top it off, I had to help them make a model of the damn ship that was 3-dimensional in some way. This project was the bane of every parent in the town. I have a memory of making the hull out of lasagna.

Posted by Lawyer Bob | January 23, 2007 4:48 PM

A very badly written but occasionally informative article at Wikipedia claims that Matt, Luke, the rest of late 70s/early 80s posters here, and I are part of the "MTV Generation" or "XY cusp."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV_Generation

Posted by James Kabala | January 23, 2007 9:07 PM

Well, I wrote the Voyage of the Mimi (both seasons) and directed what one commentator termed the �science-y flip sides.� I have to say I am shocked that the solar still seems to have been the stickiest of the many �lessons� embedded in the story. That the hypothermia scene stayed with a lot of you does not surprise me. We had to change the illustration that accompanied that chapter in the book after the first printing, because it showed the Captain and his grandson in their skivvies. I worked with Ben Affleck from the time he was 10 until he was 16 and more interested in GQ than science or traveling the world to do another episode. He was a good kid and should be proud of his work on the series. I have heard from a lot of people who ended up in Marine Biology or Archeology after watching it.

Posted by Richard Hendrick | January 24, 2007 4:06 PM

does anyone have a copy of mimi to sell?

Posted by mark dennid | January 27, 2007 11:33 AM