The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley is a series of musical mystery videos starring twin actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The series was also written as children's books, showing the twins on the cover. The video series was distributed by KidVision.
Each video begins with the girls singing the theme song. Following the theme song, the girls receive a phone call, informing them of some urgent mystery that needs to be solved. Their motto is "We'll solve any crime by dinnertime." Each video features the girls singing multiple songs about the mystery they are working on. They never fail to solve the mystery with their sidekick, Clue (a Basset Hound), and, indeed, the solution is usually something either very obvious or very trivial, to give the video a humorous ending. A set of books was written as a companion piece to the show.
Each episode is named "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley" followed by the name of the mystery.
1. The Case of Thorn Mansion (1994)
A ghost is supposedly haunting a mansion in Transylvania, and the girls must figure out who or what is actually behind it. The "ghost" ends up being the caretaker of the mansion who is also a beekeeper.
2. The Case of the Logical I Ranch (1994)
Pungent smells and weird noises plague the "Logical I Ranch". Some employees of the ranch think it is being caused by a dragon running loose.
3. The Case of the SeaWorld Adventure (1995)
The girls' parents work at SeaWorld as over-worked dolphin trainers. One day, the girls run into a dead body in the woods that eventually leads them and their parents to a cruise ship while trying to solve the rigged mystery. The boss of the girls' parents had planted evidence to get them all on the cruise, so they could take a much-needed family vacation.
4. The Case of the Mystery Cruise (1995)
The sequel to
The Case of the SeaWorld Adventure. The girls' father's laptop containing vital information gets stolen while on a cruise ship, and must be retrieved. They believe a friend of their father's was responsible, but it later turned out to be a staged occurrence.
5. The Case of the Fun House Mystery (1995)
Something is making scary noises inside the fun house at an amusement park, and the girls must figure out who or what it is. Using the clue of "Monster Mush" and "bananas", they find out the monster lurking inside the fun house is really an orangutan.
6. The Case of the Christmas Caper (1995)
Hackers break into Santa's computer to steal the "Spirit of Christmas", the plane Santa uses to fly to deliver all the presents to the children of the world on Christmas Eve. It is up to girls to show what the holiday is all about.
7. The Case of the U.S. Space Camp Mission (1996)
A space shuttle has been grounded, due to a mysterious tapping sound coming from its outer surface. Unless the girls can figure out what is going on, the space shuttle will be not be able to lift-off. To figure out the mystery, they get help learning about space travel through the U.S. Space Camp program.
8. The Case of the Shark Encounter (1996)
Three pirates claim that the sharks in a tank are singing, and the girls must figure out where the strange sounds are coming from.
9. The Case of the Hotel Who-Done-It (1996)
The girls travel to Hawaii, where they meet a hotel manager who has been dealing with a string of recent disappearances around the hotel.
10. The Case of the Volcano Mystery (1997)
The girls receive a call from some miners of marshmallows that a snowball-throwing monster has been "terrorizing" them. The girls eventually find out that the "snow" is really ash, and the "monster" is actually a geologist warning them that an active volcano is not a safe place to work.
11. The Case of the United States Navy Adventure (1997)
Unidentified flying objects have been seen flying overhead. In this case, the girls get help from the United States Navy to solve the mystery. The "UFOs" ended up being a satellite that was flying too low in orbit.
Other than the eleven episodes, there were two compilation videos made.
The Amazing Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley
Includes The Case of the SeaWorld Adventure, The Case of the U.S. Space Camp Mission, and The Case of the Hotel Who-Done-It.
The Favorite Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley
Includes The Case of the Volcano Mystery, The Case of the Fun House Mystery, and The Case of the Logical i Ranch.
