''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'', originally released in Japan as and released in France as ''Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or'', is an

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

which was co-produced by

DiC Audiovisuel DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

and

Studio Pierrot is a Japanese animation studio established in May 1979 by former employees of both Tatsunoko Production and Mushi Production. Its headquarters are located in Mitaka, Tokyo. Pierrot is renowned for several worldwide popular anime series, such as ...

. Set in 1532, the series follows the adventures of a young Spanish boy named Esteban who joins a voyage to the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

in search of the lost

Seven Cities of Gold The myth of the Seven Cities of Gold, also known as the Seven Cities of Cibola (), was popular in the 16th century and later featured in several works of popular culture. According to legend, the seven cities of gold referred to Aztec mythology r ...

and his father. The series was originally broadcast in Japan and the French version, edited with different characterization and music, was subsequently redubbed and distributed in many countries. It is currently licensed for English-language home video release in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

by Fabulous Films.

Opening narration

''It is the
16th century The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582). The 16th cent ...
. From all over
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, great ships sail west to conquer the
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
. The men, eager to seek their fortune, to find new adventures in new lands. They long to cross uncharted seas and discover unknown countries, to find secret gold on a mountain trail high in the
Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
. They dream of following the path of the setting sun that leads to
El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
and the Mysterious Cities of Gold.''

Plot

In 1532, a Spanish orphan named Esteban joins Mendoza, a navigator, and his associates Sancho and Pedro, in their search for one of the

in the

, hoping to find his father. They are joined on their quest by Zia, an

Incan The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

girl (who was kidnapped by Gomez, Gaspard, Perez and Mendoza), and Tao, the last descendant of the sunken

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

of Mu ( Hiva in the English dub). The series is a mix of

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

South American history,

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

. During their journey, the travelers encounter the

Mayas The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived within that historical reg ...

Incas The Inca Empire (also Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift, known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechuan languages, Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) wa ...

, and

Olmecs The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that t ...

. They discover many lost technological wonders of the Mu Empire, including a

solar-powered Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...

ship (the ''Solaris'') and The Golden Condor, a huge solar-powered

ornithopter An ornithopter (from Greek ''ornis, ornith-'' "bird" and ''pteron'' "wing") is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers sought to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, th ...

(mechanical bird), capable of traveling considerable distances under the sun's power alone. They are constantly pursued by antagonists Gomez and Gaspard, who are also in search of the Cities of Gold. The Seven Cities of Gold were built by the Emperor of Hiva out of fear that a global war would destroy all

civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...

s. Such a war actually broke out, destroying the Empires of Mu and

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

when they used the "Weapons of the Sun". The Seven Cities of Gold hold copies of books in their "Universal Libraries" as well as powerful artefacts, including the "Great Legacy", a portable

fusion reactor Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices ...

. Other elements of this technology turn up in unexpected places, like the ''Solaris'' on Tao's home island, Esteban's and Zia's medallions as keys to the Cities, and Tao's jar as an important piece of the Great Legacy. Reminiscences of this ancient story are present in Inca legends written on golden

quipu ''Quipu'' (also spelled ''khipu'') are recording devices fashioned from strings historically used by a number of cultures in the region of Andean South America. A ''quipu'' usually consisted of cotton or camelid fiber strings. The Inca people u ...

, which only Zia can read. This triggers an obsessive quest for the Cities of Gold on the part of the Spaniards Mendoza, Gomez, Gaspard and

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru. Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...

. Esteban seeks his long-lost father and he is also tied to Mendoza, who rescued Esteban from a sinking ship when he was a baby. Esteban seems to have a magical ability to make the sun appear, which proves to be an invaluable asset throughout the series. Zia also seeks her father, from whom she was taken and was brought to Spain as a gift for the princess Margarita when she was seven years old. She has a medallion just like the one which Esteban carries. Tao seeks signs of his ancestors. He possesses an encyclopedia which contains information about their lost technology as well as a mysterious jar which according to the legend, only the High Priest of the City of Gold can open, and it proves to be the Great Legacy's cooling or control rod system. Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro are motivated by their search for gold, but Mendoza genuinely appears to be fond of the three children. The Olmecs are the descendants of survivors of the global war who hid under their mountain. Only their elite were able to survive, suspended in

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

hibernation. The Olmecs do not appear to be human—or if they were once human, it is implied that they were horribly

mutated In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitos ...

by the fallout of the nuclear war that destroyed their ancestors. They are short and thin and they also have pointed ears and enlarged frontal bones. They are highly intelligent but they are devious and selfish. Led by their king, Menator, the Olmecs seek an artefact called the "Great Legacy" in order to power their cryogenic systems, as well as samples of healthy cells from the children in order to combat their mutations and their sterility. Their

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

is generally inferior to modern technology, and they use weapons such as

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

s and

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

s. They maintain some elements of their advanced technological heritage, such as the stasis and medical technology which is used to keep the elite of the Olmecs in suspended animation until an opportunity to revive them arises, technology which is powered by what appears to be a geothermal power system. This power system is destroyed during an escape by the children and Mendoza, causing the Olmecs to conduct a frantic search for the fusion reactor core (the Great Treasure) which is hidden inside the City of Gold. They also possess a flying machine which appears to have been constructed with the same type of advanced technology which the Golden Condor was constructed with. It is armed with a particle beam or a focused heat weapon which is very powerful. Eventually, the Olmecs succeed, at great cost, in taking control of the Great Legacy. It begins to melt down without the moderation which is supposed to be provided by Tao's jar. The resulting earthquakes and

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called ...

destroy the City of Gold. A world-threatening meltdown is avoided by the personal sacrifice of Esteban's father who, acting as the High Priest of the Cities, is presumed to be dead after he replaces the jar. At the end of the series, Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro, who have salvaged some gold before the city's destruction, return to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, while Esteban and his friends set out across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on the golden condor in search of the remaining Cities of Gold.

Characters

The main cast of the series dubbed into American English, includes: * () – An orphan who was rescued at sea as a baby ten years ago by the Spanish navigator Mendoza. He wears one of the two sun medallions. He dreams of adventure and is extremely impulsive. Esteban has a

fear of heights Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for ...

which is exacerbated by the people of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

who believe that he is the "Child of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

" and hoist him up high at the port to call out the sun to aid the departing ships. He joins the Spaniards on their search for one of The Seven Cities of Gold in the New World, hoping to find his father. * () – The daughter of an Inca high priest. She was kidnapped from

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

five years ago, when she was seven, by the Spanish invaders and given as a present to the

Queen of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

for her daughter, Princess Margarita. She met Esteban when she was kidnapped by Mendoza for Governor Pizarro who wanted her to read the golden

. Zia wears a sun medallion like Esteban's, with an interlocking sun and moon disc. * () – The last living descendant of the sunken empire of Mu ( Hiva in the English dub). He lived alone on the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

following the death of his father. Initially he is evasive of the others' company when they wash up on his island, but when the ship ''Solaris'' was revealed he joined them on their journey. He carries with him an encyclopedia handed down to him by his Hiva ancestors. Being the most intelligent of the children, he often takes a more studious approach to problem solving with Esteban sometimes becoming irritated due to his own impulsive nature. * () – A

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ind ...

and

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

for the Spanish fleet. He rescued a young Esteban from a shipwreck during one of his voyages. An experienced sailor, proficient navigator and master swordsman, Mendoza places himself in the role of a leader. It is not always clear, however, where his loyalties lie and he is often at odds with the other characters. He is accompanied by fellow sailors Sancho and Pedro. Mendoza has spent many years searching for information about the cities of gold, following his theft of a piece of Esteban's medallion when he rescued the latter as an infant. His full name is revealed to be Juan Carlos Mendoza in season three. * () and () are comical, bumbling sailors who, motivated by their greed for gold, join Mendoza and the children on their search for the Mysterious Cities of Gold. They get into a lot of scrapes, and make several attempts to escape from Mendoza's watchful eye, once they realize how tiring the quest is.

Production

The story was written by

Jean Chalopin Jean Chalopin (born 31 May 1950) is a French bank executive. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he produced a range of successful animated series, first as the founder and president of the production company DIC, then at his newly created compa ...

and Bernard Deyriès, and is very loosely based on the novel ''

The King's Fifth ''The King's Fifth'' (1966) is a children's historical novel by Scott O'Dell that was the inspiration for the cartoon TV series ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold''. It describes, from the point of view of a teenage Spanish Conquistador, how the ...

'' by

Scott O'Dell Scott O'Dell (May 23, 1898 – October 15, 1989) was an American writer of 26 novels for young people, along with three novels for adults and four nonfiction books. He wrote historical fiction, primarily, including several children's novels ...

. The series' chief director was Hisayuki Toriumi. The

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

were Max Saldinger and Atsumi Yajima (

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

). The musical score was composed by

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...

and

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

in the Western version (Nobuyoshi Koshibe in the Japanese version).

Shingo Araki was a Japanese animation artist and character designer. Career He developed an interest for drawing at age five. He graduated in Aichi Prefecture. In 1955, at age sixteen, he debuted as a cartoonist in the "Machi" magazine. He then joined Mushi ...

was involved with the series as an animator and some episodes were directed by

Toyoo Ashida was an anime character designer, animation director and director. He was most notable for directing the original ''Vampire Hunter D'' anime, as well as for providing character designs for '' Vifam'', ''Mashin Hero Wataru'', '' Minky Momo'' and '' ...

and Mizuho Nishikubo. Originally Koshibe's score was to be used for the Western version as well. In contrast, Bernard Deyriès recalled his reaction to the proposed music he heard from ''

Ulysses 31 (french: link=no, Ulysse 31) is an anime series (1981) that updates the Greek mythology of Odysseus (known as "Ulixes" or "Ulysses" in Latin) to the 31st century. The show comprises 26 half-hour episodes as a co-production between DIC Audiovis ...

'' in that he felt that the score was rather understated as he was expecting a more adventurous feel, something akin to films like ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...

''. At that point Haim Saban and Shuki Levy had met Deyriès, and became involved with the soundtracks of ''Ulysses 31'' and ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold''. The theme song to the Western version was performed by

Noam Kaniel Noam Kaniel, also known as Noam, ( he, נועם קניאל; born August 18, 1962) is an Israeli musician, singer and composer, who has sold over 8 million records, and is known for composing or performing the theme songs of many animated series ...

, an associate of Levy's.

Media

Broadcast

The series originally aired in Japan on

(the national

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

) and premiered on June 29, 1982, running weekly for 39 episodes until its conclusion on June 7, 1983. The French version first aired on

Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 Ap ...

from September 1983 to July 1984. All non-Japanese versions of the series originate from the French version. The series first aired in English in the United States on the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

cable network from June 30, 1986, to June 29, 1990. in the United Kingdom, twice on

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

in 1986/87The Journal Nos. 43572 to 43820, September 1, 1986 to June 22, 1987. and 1989 and on

The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat ...

in 1994/1995;The Journal Nos. 44378 to 44528, April 5, 1989 to September 28, 1989. in Ireland on

Network 2 Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

in 1988/1989; and in Australia, on the public broadcaster

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in the early to mid-1980s. The series also aired in Turkey on TRT; in East Germany on DFF and later in unified Germany on ORB, MDR and Your Family Entertainment; in Italy on

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting ''TG2'' news bulletins, tal ...

; in Sweden on TV3; in Spain on

ETB 1 ETB 1 is the first television channel from the Euskal Irrati Telebista group in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and the French Basque Country. The channel broadcasts entirely in the Basque language. History In 1979 the Statute of Aut ...

; in Bulgaria on

BNT 2 BNT 2 () is a Bulgarian-language public television station, operated by the Bulgarian National Television. It is the successor to the defunct second program of the national television - Efir 2. Launched on October 16, 2011, the channel replace ...

and

Diema 2 DIEMA ( bg, Диема) is a Bulgarian television channel, part of Nova Broadcasting Group, owned by United Group. The channel airs mainly films, action series. Along with Nova Sport and Diema Sport airs sports, including matches from the Englis ...

; in Israel on

IETV Inspirational Exciting Television (shortened to ieTV or internationally as ieTVTT; formerly Indian Entertainment Television) is a cable television station in Trinidad and Tobago and was the first Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian cable station ...

and

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

; in Hungary (translated as "The Kingdom of Inca" - "Az Inka Királyság"); in Portugal on RTP; in New Zealand on TV One and TV2; in South Africa on TV1 and

SABC1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels. SABC 1 ...

; in Belgium

BRT BRT may refer to: Transportation * Block register territory, a method for dispatching trains * British Rail Telecommunications * Brookhaven Rail Terminal * Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, a former transit holding company in New York City * Bro ...

; in Russia; in Namibia on both SWABC and NBC; in Gibraltar on GBC TV; in Zambia on

ZNBC The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) is a Zambian television and radio station, formerly state owned, now technically a statutory body but still essentially under government control. It is the oldest, widest, and largest radio and ...

; in Luxembourg on

RTL Télévision RTL9 is a French-language Luxembourgish television channel shown in Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Africa and the French-speaking regions of Switzerland. History of the channel Télé-Luxembourg On 1 July 1954, CLR (Compagnie Luxembourgeoise ...

and in several Arab nations. Beginning in 2015, the English version is shown in Australia on SBS channel

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

. The English version was also available via streaming for a limited time on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

and

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. In 2017, the French version was repeated on

Unis UNIS or Unis may refer to: *Union of Nigerien Independents and Sympathisers, a defunct political party in Niger *Unis, a new religious movement founded in the 1960s, based on the teachings of George Gurdjieff *UniS, the corporate logo of the Univer ...

in Canada.

DVD and digital releases

''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'' was released on both VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in France, Belgium, Japan, Portugal, Canada (in French) and Germany. In 2007, Fabulous Films acquired the licence to release the series in Region 2 (Europe), Region 1, and Region 4. All 39 episodes of the series were released in the United Kingdom on June 23, 2008, as a six-disc DVD set with the picture and sound restored. The DVD was released in Australia in August 2008. It was released in North America on April 7, 2009. The show is also available to purchase and stream via digital retailers.

Sequel

Three new seasons of 26 episodes each have been produced, picking up the storyline where the 1982 series left off. Unlike the original series, this sequel is produced entirely in France, as a co-joint venture between the French television channel TF1, the Belgian channel La Trois, the French animation company Blue Spirit and Jean Chalopin's company Movie-Plus Group. The new seasons see the series move to China and subsequently Japan. The design of the characters are more or less the same, although some subtle changes have been made to their physical appearances. Jean Chalopin and Bernard Deyriès act as creative consultants on the new series, with Chalopin concentrating particularly on the scripts (which are written by Hadrian Soulez-Lariviere from Chalopin's own draft for the sequel) and Deyriès focusing particularly on the graphical aspects. New background music is composed by the original theme song's singer

. A 45-minute special, consisting of the first two episodes of the new series, was released on December 9, 2012, on TF1. The series started its regular airing during the first half of 2013. Like the 1982 series, each episode has a summary of the previous episode, a teaser to the next and a small documentary at the end. The voices for the English-language version were recorded in Paris under the direction of voice director, Matthew Géczy. The sequel received a premiere on the

Kix (UK and Ireland) Pop Max (formerly Kix! and then Kix) is a British free-to-air children's television channel in the United Kingdom, owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. As of June 2014, it broadcasts cartoons, sci-fi, action and adventure series and ani ...

channel in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2013, before a daily airing due to start on November 11. In 2016, the third season of the show started production, followed by a fourth in 2020.

Soundtrack releases

Score by Nobuyoshi Koshibe and Katsuo Ohno

* 1982, Starchild Records, ''Taiyou no Ko Esteban BGM Collection Vol.1''. LP containing 17 tracks from the Japanese score. * 1983, Starchild Records, ''Taiyou no Ko Esteban BGM Collection Vol.2''. LP containing a further 13 tracks from the Japanese score. * 1983, Starchild Records, ''Ougon no Condor/Sorezore no Utopia''. EP containing two tracks from the Japanese score. * 1983, Starchild Records, ''Boukenshatachi/Itsuka Dokoka de Anata ni Atta''. EP containing two tracks from the Japanese score.

Score by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy

* 1983, Saban Records, ''Les Mysterieuses Cités D'Or''. Seven-inch of the title music with Zia's theme as the B side. * 1983, Saban Records, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or (Bande Originale De La Série Télévisée)''. LP containing 16 unedited tracks. * 1998, RYM Musique, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or''. CD reissue, sourced from vinyl, of the LP with two bonus tracks from the series ''Inspector Gadget''. * 1998, Animusik, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or (Bande Originale Du Dessin Animé)''. CD/VCD reissue, sourced from vinyl, of the LP with 13 bonus tracks in mono, sourced from video tape as the original masters are in a decrepit state. The VCD section contains several video clips. * 2002, Loga-Rythme, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or (La Bande Originale Du Dessin Animé Réorchestrée)''. Two-CD reorchestration of the full soundtrack by Boub (Yannick Rault). * 2002, Airplay Records, ''Zia''. CD single containing 4 remixes of the title music. * 2008, Fabulous Films, ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold – Original Soundtrack Album''. Twelve-track album, including 10 tracks of music restored and edited from video tape masters by Chris Watson. The album also contains the TV version of the English theme song in stereo, both with and without narration (tracks 1 and 12). This CD was made available as a limited-edition extra with Fabulous Films' DVD release of the series in the UK and Australia. * 2012, XIII Bis Records, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or''. CD reissue containing 15 tracks from the original LP plus the American/English version of the title theme as a bonus track. * 2013, XIII Bis Records, ''Les Mystérieuses Cités D'Or – New Edition''. CD reissue containing 15 tracks from the original LP plus the American/English version of the title theme and the "Hand Remix" of the title theme as bonus tracks. * 2017, Wagram Music, ''Les mystérieuses cités d'or (Bande originale de la série télévisée)''. Thirty-track digital reissue containing all 16 tracks from the original LP, the 13 bonus tracks from the 1998 Animusik release and the English version of the title theme.

Computer games

Two games have been produced by Ynnis Interactive. The first, ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Flight of the Condor'', was released in 2013 only for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

users on

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

devices. The second was titled '' The Mysterious Cities of Gold: Secret Paths'' and was made in 2013 for PC after a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign. The game was released in 2014 for iOS,

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

and

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

References

External links

* *
Real precolombians cities in the show
* *
Unofficial French ''The Mysterious Cities of Gold'' website
*

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