The Mysterious Cities of Gold, which aired on Nickelodeon in the 80's and into the early 90's as I recall, was an animated series taking place in 1532. Although drawing from history and using real historical figures, the series was a fictional account of the time period. The show centers around Esteban, child of the sun, and his comrades Zia and Tao. They are also joined by three adults: Mendoza, Sancho, and Pedro who have mostly selfish reasons for helping the children. This made for an interesting dynamic in which the child characters could really only trust one another.
This is a show I grew up on and was always one of my favorites. Until the dawn of the internet however, this series had almost completely gotten lost in my memory bank. I remembered the characters, but the storyline was extremely fuzzy (I think a lot of the historical references went over my head as a child). At one point I managed to find and rewatch all the episodes online, and I was amazed to discover that even much older, the show was still appealing and fun to watch. This is truly one of those children's shows that adults can get into as well. There's a lot of action which will better hold a child's attention, and yet the deeper plots and the suffering of the various people the main characters come across, makes this much more than a lighthearted romp, which makes it very engaging for adults.
A few years back, The Mysterious Cities of Gold was released on DVD for the first time, and about six months ago I finally had the time to really sit down and enjoy the series again for the first time in several years. The DVD set is exquisite, with tons of extras, including interviews with the original cast. If someone would've told me 15-20 years ago that this obscure little children's show that I adored would someday have a proper video release including information (let alone interviews) about the cast, I would've never believed them. It was genuinely thrilling to see all the behind the scenes stuff and find out so much more about this childhood favorite of mine. Unfortunately, the DVD set has gone out of print, but I have to believe they will reissue it again at some point.
This show stands out as one of the defining parts of my childhood. I remember my sister and I would "play" Cities of Gold, but since there was only one female character in main cast, we would pretend to be "Big Zia" and "Little Zia". Clever, right? I also remember having the biggest crush on Esteban, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. He made a great hero, genuinely cared about his friends and anyone in need, and was very brave. He was very much a moral compass to those around him, especially Mendoza, Sancho, and Pedro. I believe he was a good role model for kids to have.
Before I wrap this up, I have to talk about one of the most brilliant aspects of the series and that was its theme song. It stands the test of time as being one of the catchiest, most nostalgic musical representations of children's TV in the 80's. You can hear it below:
It remains one of my all time favorite TV theme songs, and I always catch myself singing it at the most random moments. The lyrics are below:
Children of the sun
See your time has just begun
Searching for your ways
Through adventures everyday
Every day and night
With the condor in flight
With all your friends in tow
You'll search for the Cities of Gold
Ahhhh, wishing for the Cities of Gold
Ahhhh, someday we will find the Cities of Gold
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, ahhhh
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, Cities of Gold
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, Cities of Gold
Children of the sun,
Someday soon you're gonna find
That your destiny
Holds the secret, holds the key
Ahhhh, someday we will find the Cities of Gold
Ahh, memories.
But wait! There's more!
Today I discovered that a season 2 of The Mysterious Cities of Gold is in the works! Woohoo! Don't believe me? Well, check this out:
Courtesy of FlicksNews.net.
Yes, I know it's in French, but as with the original series, I assume it will be dubbed into English. I'm going to refrain from making an assessment about it until I actually see the show, but for the most part it seems to have stayed pretty true to the original. The characters look slightly "off" to me, but I think that's just a side effect of continuing an animated series from so long ago. Overall though I'm super excited to see it!
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