Villa Alegre

It's always amazing to me to find others have actually seen this show because, like the writer of the above comment, I never found anything on it on the web. Not even YouTube has any clips :( I loved this show and have very fond early childhood memories of the opening credits with the miniature amusement park/fair rides. The theme song still sticks in my head every time I say or type the show's title. I wonder why it's so hard to find footage of this show if other 70's shows were recorded. I just went on YouTube and found clips of every 70's children show I could think of. There are even multiple pages of clips from another favorite of mine, "Vegetable Soup" - also a diversity-themed children's show from that seemingly Utopian time of creativity in that arena.

My sister and I used to watch this show on our PBS station. It followed "The Electric Company" and had "ZOOM" (our favorite) right after it...so we kinda had to watch it. Odd how we actually sat through it, learning Spanish and all. I remember the beginning vividly. It had sort of a paper maché rotating carnival with a spinning ferris wheel, and then fireworks came shooting out of it. If I recall correctly, the first half of the show was in English, then it repeated the whole show in Spanish. I remember there being a village, where people interacted with each other, and little vignettes where the would explore different things. I remember one of them being where popcorn came from. This is an early memory, so it would have to be in the early 70's when we watched it. Would love to see a compilation on DVD.

My name is Kenia Hernandez Cueto, I played the role of Maria on Villa Alegre for five years. I was one of the oldest child actors on the show therefore, had a better understanding of the positive impact the show had on our society. The creator and producer, Rene Cardenas (may he rest in peace) was a pioneer who was beyond his years in regards to education, diversity, music and technology. Unfortunately, when he died, so did Villa Alegre. Even as a child, I felt his urgency to want to educate children. My dream has always been to revive the show because there has NEVER been anything like it. Sesame Street is a wonderful educational program however, lacks the depth that Villa Alegre had. The reason why Villa Alegre is no where to be found is because I believe, Dr. Cardenas solely owned the rights to the show. His family has not touched it since his passing. The plethora of shows are locked up in a vault never to see the light of day. All I can say is that Villa Alegre taught me the meaning of diversity and love for education. It was the reason for completing a Masters in Education. I found my calling as a child due to the show and my very first mentor, Dr. Rene Cardenas. Who knows, maybe before my passing, I can find some of the shows that meant so much to us all and share them with you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Funny to say but, Villa Alegre will always be a part of me. Adios Amigos.

I too, like David am amazed to see the affection for our little show Villa Alegre. I am Joaquin, and played Francisco on the show for 4 years.

After reading all of your posts, I now realize what a big influence our show had at the time. I cannot express to you how great that makes me feel.

I have read so many questions on your posts, and welcome the opportunity to answer them the best that I can (we are talking almost 30 years here!) I too think there is plenty of opportunity for shows like this, especially on newer networks like SiTV and such who really promote our ethnic cultures. I really believe that our show (among others) paved the way for popular "bilingual" shows such as Dora the Explorer, Diego, and Maya & Miguel. (I have a toddler, can you tell?) I actually wish that a show such as Villa Alegre was airing today, because my daughter is growing up bilingual, and this would be a great asset in her learning.

One post mentioned that there was no "actors of prominence" on the show. I can tell you that this statement is simply not true. We were kids then, and all grew up. If you look up all of the actors (including me), you will find many, many credits to their names. Most went on to do many other things, including blockbuster movies, and huge television hits.

Thank you all for remembering this show! Joaquin Garay III "Francisco"

For about 20 years no one I talked to could tell me the name of this spanish show that came on PBS untill I posted the question at The Toonarific Archive.Within a day ,a fellow user gave me a link to Yesterdayland that told about the show and how it was railroaded off the air by THE CHILDRENS TELEVISION WORK SHOP OF ALL COMPANIES!! Turns out,they didnt want ANY competition for the spanish speaking public so they sought to have their funding removed.Eventually they won in 1980 and the show was cancelled.There was also some bickering as to which of the spanish speaking comunities would have the greatest influence(Cuban,Mexican,S.American,Spanish,).It really bothered me to hear about the troubles behind the scenes that the show had.Shame on you Big Bird!