The Second Voyage of the Mimi
Encyclopedia
The Second Voyage of the Mimi is a twelve-episode American educational
television program
depicting a fictional crew of a sailboat
named the Mimi exploring Mayan
ruins in Southern Mexico
. Along the way, they learn a lot about ancient civilization and also attempt to foil the plans of looters who steal the artifacts from the ancient sites. This series is a sequel to The Voyage of the Mimi
, produced in 1984, in which the Granvilles rented their boat and services to zoologists studying the humpback whale
in the waters off Massachusetts
.
The series aired on PBS
and was created by the Bank Street College of Education
in 1988 to teach middle-schoolers about science
and social studies
in an interesting and interactive way.
In each episode, viewers are taught something scientific relating to plot events in the previous episode of the show. For example, an episode's plot would be about deciphering Mayan writing, and the viewer also receives information about how the Maya wrote various words and numbers.
Elementary school teachers will find more than just springboards for archeological lessons in The Second Voyage of the Mimi, but also springboards for lessons in writing techniques, social studies, linguistics and history.
return as C.T. Granville, and Peter G. Marston as his grandfather Captain Granville. Marston was a scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
during the production of the program and used to own the actual ship, the Mimi.
Main Cast Listing:
The first segment of each episode follows the serialized tale of scientists studying the ancient Maya and getting involved with thwarting site looters. The two scientists are Victor Cobos, a Mexican man of Mayan descent, and Terry Gibbs, an American woman. Terry's husband is revealed to have been killed by site looters. Terry's daughter Quiché has grown up with archeology and can already read Mayan writing. They hire the Granvilles in Quintana Roo
, Mexico
, near Tulum, to help them study the routes of ancient Mayan ships. The Granvilles in turn hire Pepper Thornton, the daughter of one of Captain Granville's old sailing buddies, because she is an expert diver. Previously, Pepper worked for Harvey Westerman, a skinflint tour operator, guiding tourists on dives through the reefs.
Each second segment is a standalone exploration of one of the scientific principles touched on in the serialized tale. In these second segments, one of the child actors (Ben Affleck or Carla Douglin) comes out of character and interviews real, in many cases well-known, scientists about their work. These scientists include archeologists Bill Fash and David Stuart
, and rain forest ecologist
Nalini Nadkarni
. In addition, Martha Hill, a competitive athlete in Special Olympics contests, comes out of character in an interview with Ben Affleck.
Episode List:
, Massachusetts
. Besides its appearances on the TV show, it went from city to city and acted as a tourist attraction in places such as Salem, Massachusetts, Boston
, and other cities.
Marston retained ownership of the vessel until 1999, when the boat was sold to new owners; Captain George G. Story of Gloucester, Massachusetts, his brother Captain Alan M. Story of Deltona, Florida and Spiro "Steve" Cocotas, also from Gloucester. They operated the vessel as Three Mates Inc. for several years, bringing the boat to as many as 28 cities along the east coast. The Mimi eventually fell into disrepair, and was scrapped in 2011.
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
depicting a fictional crew of a sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
named the Mimi exploring Mayan
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
ruins in Southern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Along the way, they learn a lot about ancient civilization and also attempt to foil the plans of looters who steal the artifacts from the ancient sites. This series is a sequel to The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi was a thirteen-episode American educational television program depicting the crew of the Mimi exploring the ocean and taking a census of humpback whales...
, produced in 1984, in which the Granvilles rented their boat and services to zoologists studying the humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
in the waters off Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
The series aired on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
and was created by the Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education
Bank Street College of Education is located in Manhattan, New York City.-History:Bank Street was founded in 1916 by Lucy Sprague Mitchell as the "Bureau of Educational Experiments"....
in 1988 to teach middle-schoolers about science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
in an interesting and interactive way.
In each episode, viewers are taught something scientific relating to plot events in the previous episode of the show. For example, an episode's plot would be about deciphering Mayan writing, and the viewer also receives information about how the Maya wrote various words and numbers.
Elementary school teachers will find more than just springboards for archeological lessons in The Second Voyage of the Mimi, but also springboards for lessons in writing techniques, social studies, linguistics and history.
Cast
The Second Voyage of the Mimi saw a young Ben AffleckBen Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
return as C.T. Granville, and Peter G. Marston as his grandfather Captain Granville. Marston was a scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
during the production of the program and used to own the actual ship, the Mimi.
Main Cast Listing:
- Ben AffleckBen AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
as Clement Tyler (C.T.) Granville - Peter G. Marston as Captain Clement Tyler Granville
- Martha Hill as Pepper Thornton, who is an expert scuba diver
- Roger Cudney as Pepper's former employer, Harvey Westerman.
- Hector Tellez as Pedro, an employee of Westerman's.
- Inaki Carrion as Victor Cobos, an archeologist
- Cheryl Lynn Bruce as Terry Gibbs, another archeologist who works with Victor.
- Carla Douglin as Quiché Gibbs, Terry Gibb's daughter.
- Enrique Lucero as Tomás Segovia, the man in charge of archeological sites in that part of Mexico.
- Patricia Ancira as Rosa Segovia, Tomas Segovia's daughter, also a skilled diver.
- Philip Guilmont as George Andrews, an archeobotanist who studies how the ancient Maya used plants.
- Barbara Turner Hubp as Jean Andrews, George's wife, an archeologist who studies Mayan villages.
Episodes
Each episode consists of two fifteen-minute segments.The first segment of each episode follows the serialized tale of scientists studying the ancient Maya and getting involved with thwarting site looters. The two scientists are Victor Cobos, a Mexican man of Mayan descent, and Terry Gibbs, an American woman. Terry's husband is revealed to have been killed by site looters. Terry's daughter Quiché has grown up with archeology and can already read Mayan writing. They hire the Granvilles in Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, near Tulum, to help them study the routes of ancient Mayan ships. The Granvilles in turn hire Pepper Thornton, the daughter of one of Captain Granville's old sailing buddies, because she is an expert diver. Previously, Pepper worked for Harvey Westerman, a skinflint tour operator, guiding tourists on dives through the reefs.
Each second segment is a standalone exploration of one of the scientific principles touched on in the serialized tale. In these second segments, one of the child actors (Ben Affleck or Carla Douglin) comes out of character and interviews real, in many cases well-known, scientists about their work. These scientists include archeologists Bill Fash and David Stuart
David Stuart (Mayanist)
David Stuart is a Mayanist scholar and professor of Mesoamerican art and writing at the University of Texas at Austin.-Early life:He is the son of Mayanist scholars George Stuart and Gene S. Stuart...
, and rain forest ecologist
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
Nalini Nadkarni
Nalini Nadkarni
Nalini Nadkarni is an American ecologist who pioneered the study of Costa Rican rain forest canopies. Using mountain climbing equipment to make her ascent, Nadkarni first took an inventory of the canopy in 1981, followed by two more inventories in 1984.-Career:Nadkarni's interest was first drawn...
. In addition, Martha Hill, a competitive athlete in Special Olympics contests, comes out of character in an interview with Ben Affleck.
Episode List:
- A Charter To the Past ------ If I Can Do This!
- A Tomb In the Jungle ------ Sweating It Out...
- A Light In the Dark ------ As the Earth Turns...
- The Underworld ------ The Incredible Shrinking Head!
- A Stone Puzzle ------ Feeling The Pressure
- Cracking the Code ------ Written in Stone
- The Quest Begins ------ The Ancient Farm
- A Road To Danger ------ Venom: A Scorpion Tale
- A Friendly Village ------ Curandera
- Discoveries ------ Up a Tree
- Found and Lost ------ In the Canopy
- The Fate of a King ------ One Stone at a Time
The real vessel Mimi
The Mimi is a French-built sailboat, originally constructed in 1931 as a small cargo and fishing vessel. It was purchased in the early 1980s by Peter Marston and was kept moored in GloucesterGloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Besides its appearances on the TV show, it went from city to city and acted as a tourist attraction in places such as Salem, Massachusetts, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and other cities.
Marston retained ownership of the vessel until 1999, when the boat was sold to new owners; Captain George G. Story of Gloucester, Massachusetts, his brother Captain Alan M. Story of Deltona, Florida and Spiro "Steve" Cocotas, also from Gloucester. They operated the vessel as Three Mates Inc. for several years, bringing the boat to as many as 28 cities along the east coast. The Mimi eventually fell into disrepair, and was scrapped in 2011.