Esteban e le misteriose città d'oro

I probably watched all of about two or three episodes in total of this French-Japanese animation as a child but thanks to the beautiful animation, stunning visuals and the beyond epic theme song it has stayed permanently embedded in my psyche ever since.

Now as I have the chance to watch every episode from the beginning, there are two things that stand out to me; (1) I was shocked to learn that it originally aired in it's entirety before I was even born and (2) I am only about eight episodes in and already I can see why this resonated so deeply with many eighties kids, like myself; not only is the animation beautiful, but the story, which centres around Spanish exploration of the Americas in the 16th century, is very mature and the characters incredibly engaging and complex for a children's show.

While the adult characters are driven by very 'adult' motivations of seeking fortune and notoriety in finding 'The Mysterious Cities of Gold', the children are driven by much 'purer' motivations; Esteban, a young Spanish boy who lived his whole life believing he was an orphan learns from a man named Mendosa that he is a 'Child of the Sun' and that he was rescued at sea by Mendosa himself and his real father may still be alive, somewhere in The New World, close to where he was rescued.

Zia, a young Incan girl, who was taken from her family and captured against her will by Spanish explorers, wants to reunite with her people but is conflicted because in doing so she will lead her captors straight to them.

And lastly, Tao, who joins the story a little later, is the last remaining member of a technologically advanced race who believes he will discover the secrets of his people in the Mysterious Cities of Gold.

If I had to nitpick anything, it would be that while Esteban, Zia and Tao are all implied to be around the same age, in the English dub, Esteban sounds notably younger than Zia and Tao, who both sound like the preteens they're supposed to be. Esteban sounds like he's about eight years old. But that's a really tiny nitpick.

I wish I could could say it's my age making me say 'they don't make them like this anymore', but they really don't.

This program is everything that represents my childhood and I dare say more so than my all time favorite The Transformers. The Transformers had the best toys, however The Mysterious Cities of Gold was special; it was animation magic.

This was a multinational effort by France, Japan and Canada where the English dub was recorded. Together they made something wonderful and unforgettable.

This story follows the adventures of three children who are in search of the Cities of Gold along with three Spanish sailors. Each is searching for these mysterious cities for their own reasons. There are many mysteries they have to solve along the way, including the mysterious circumstances of the main character's past.

I give thanks to my mother who encouraged me to sit down and watch this while it was airing on Nickelodeon in the late 1980's.

Few people here in North America are aware of this gem in animation. Kudos to you if you are a fellow MCoG fan; we are kindred spirits.

I watched this back in the early 90s when I was quite young and wow what a great series it was. An interesting storyline, it tells the story of a boy named Esteban who is renowned in Barcelona during the 1500s for being a child of the sun and having strange powers. He is then looking for the Mysterious Cities of Gold along with another child (an Inca girl named Zia) who also has the same medallion as him, both having a supernatural connection. Other characters include a boy from South America named Tao as well people from the old world Mendoza and co who are interested in seeking the cities.

The series was a great childhood anime as there are memorable characters and the storyline offers a philosophical and paranormal touch entwined with a balance of history. The MCOG is an anime that was very unique and it's a shame that there are no others like it today.

Children of the sun, see your time has just begun, searching for your

way through adventures everyday... I remember when I was 5 years old

watching every episode, enthralled by what I saw. Recently, I discovered

that a friend had taped every episode back in the late 80s and allowed

me to copy all of them - talk about a find! I hear that the series is

now available on VCD thanks to collectors (on eBay). Nickelodeon will

never re-air the show, as Saban, the company who owned the American

rights to it, had a fire which their episodes were lost in. My friend

also had a copy of the French soundtrack (!) which I copied. It's great

to relive memories when you can :-)

Ah, how I miss this series.

Yes, I have seen the French version of this series and I say, they did a great job (the creators of this also did Ulysse 31 and Spartakus). Though the story was based on a Scott O'Dell novel about a boy named Esteban and Pre-American history, there are also some mythic elements too, such as a flying condor made of pure gold and the allerged civilization of Mu as well.

I wish they would have this on again, instead of that teeny-bopping B.S. or sell-out shows claiming to be "educational" Like what are kids gonna learn from all that?

But hey, I heard this was released on DVD in Europe and French parts of the world. I might nail this too *L*

P.S. My favorites are Tao and his pet parrot. They were cute!