The Mysterious Cities of Gold
Three children search for the Seven Cities of Gold in the New World.
The Mysterious Cities of Gold, known in Japan as Esteban: Child of the Sun, is a French-Japanese animated fantasy series produced by MK Company, NHK, DiC Audiovisuel, CLT and animated by Studio Pierrot. It is notable for its blend of historical adventure, science fiction, and mythology, and for being the first season of a franchise that later received a three-season sequel beginning in 2012. The series has been distributed internationally with different music and characterization, and is currently licensed for English-language home video by Fabulous Films.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Historical
- Fantasy
- Adventure
Facts from the source article.
Plot
A Spanish orphan named Esteban sets out in 1532 hoping to track down his father. He signs on with a navigator called Mendoza, the man who saved Esteban as a baby from a shipwreck, for a journey to locate one of the Seven Cities of Gold in the New World. The crew of the Esperanza, a Spanish galleon built after the model of the Golden Hind, welcomes Esteban because he has a strange ability to control the Sun. Also on board is Zia, an Inca girl who was taken from her home at age seven by Pizarro and brought to Spain. She is recaptured by Gomez, Perez, and Mendoza so they can force her to interpret a golden quipu that supposedly holds a clue to the Cities of Gold. Zia too wants to find her father, and she and Esteban realize they each wear a matching golden medallion. After sailing through the Straits of Magellan, the Esperanza breaks apart. The villains Gomez, Gaspard, and Perez flee in a lifeboat, while the two children, Mendoza, and his greedy sidekicks Sancho and Pedro wash up on the Galapagos islands. There they meet Tao, the last living member of the Empire of Hiva. He joins their quest to keep the Cities of Gold from being destroyed as a prophecy foretells, and to search for leftover traces of his ancestors’ achievements. He carries a golden jar and a parakeet named Kokapetl. The story blends South American history, mythology, archaeology, and science fiction. The group meets the Incas, Olmecs, Mayas, Urus, Amazons, and historical figures like Francisco Pizarro and Malinche. They uncover remarkable Hiva inventions, including the Solaris, a huge ship driven by sunlight, and the Golden Condor, a flying machine shaped like a giant bird that runs forever as long as the sun is out, plus a barometer. Tao’s Hiva encyclopedia explains how these devices work. It later comes out that the Emperor of Hiva built the Seven Cities of Gold to preserve his advanced technology for future generations. Esteban and Zia’s medallions were made as keys to keep that power out of dangerous hands. Right after the cities were finished, a massive war erupted when the empires of Hiva and Atlantis used the Weapons of the Sun, leading to their destruction.
Characters
Esteban is an orphan rescued at sea as a baby ten years earlier by the Spanish navigator Mendoza. He wears one of the two sun medallions, dreams of adventure, and is extremely impulsive. He has a fear of heights, exacerbated by people in Barcelona who believe he is the Child of the Sun and hoist him high at the port to call out the sun for departing ships. He joins the Spaniards searching for the Seven Cities of Gold in the New World, hoping to find his father. Zia is the daughter of an Inca high priest, kidnapped from Peru five years earlier at age seven by Spanish invaders and given to the Queen of Spain for her daughter Princess Margarita. She met Esteban when Mendoza kidnapped her for Governor Pizarro to read the golden quipu. Zia wears a sun medallion like Esteban's, with an interlocking sun and moon disc. Tao is the last living descendant of the sunken empire of Mu (Hiva in the English version), who lived alone on the Galapagos Islands after his father's death. Initially evasive when the others wash up on his island, he joins them after the ship Solaris is revealed, carrying an encyclopedia handed down by his Hiva ancestors. The most intelligent of the children, he takes a studious approach to problem solving, sometimes irritating the impulsive Esteban. Mendoza is a Spaniard and navigator for the Spanish fleet who rescued Esteban from a shipwreck. An experienced sailor, proficient navigator and master swordsman, he places himself as a leader, though his loyalties are not always clear and he is often at odds with others. He is accompanied by fellow sailors Sancho and Pedro. His full name is revealed as Juan Carlos Mendoza in season three. Sancho and Pedro are comical, bumbling sailors motivated by greed for gold, who join Mendoza and the children on the quest. They get into many scrapes and attempt to escape Mendoza's watchful eye once they realize how tiring the quest is.
Production
The creation of The Mysterious Cities of Gold is credited to Jean Chalopin and Bernard Deyriès. A common belief links it to Scott O'Dell's novel The King's Fifth, but Chalopin has denied this, explaining that only the names of the three lead characters came from that book. Hisayuki Toriumi served as the chief director, with Max Saldinger and Atsumi Yajima of NHK as producers. The Western version's music was composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, while Nobuyoshi Koshibe handled the Japanese score. Animator Shingo Araki contributed to the series, and Toyoo Ashida and Mizuho Nishikubo directed some episodes. Koshibe's score was originally intended for the Western release, but Deyriès found it too subdued for the adventurous tone he wanted, similar to Indiana Jones. After meeting Deyriès, Saban and Levy took over the soundtracks for both Ulysses 31 and this series. Noam Kaniel, an associate of Levy's, performed the Western theme song. The Western version made several changes: the male lead was more well-behaved, some lines from the female lead were reassigned to male characters, names were often mistranslated (such as Malinche to Marinche and Chimu to Chimon), new concepts were introduced that conflicted with the plot, cliffhangers were removed through re-editing, and brief scenes were either cut or added.
Releases
The Mysterious Cities of Gold was released on VHS and DVD 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 were released in the United Kingdom in June 2008 as a six-disc DVD set with restored picture and sound, followed by Australia in August 2008 and North America in April 2009. The show is also available to purchase and stream via digital retailers. Several soundtrack releases exist. For the Japanese score by Nobuyoshi Koshibe and Katsuo Ohno, Starchild Records released two LP collections in 1982 and 1983, and two EPs in 1983. For the Western score by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, Saban Records released a seven-inch single and an LP in 1983. Subsequent reissues include a 1998 CD from RYM Musique with two bonus tracks from Inspector Gadget, a 1998 CD/VCD from Animusik sourced from vinyl with 13 mono bonus tracks from video tape, a 2002 two-CD reorchestration by Boub (Yannick Rault) on Loga-Rythme, and a 2002 CD single on Airplay Records with four remixes of the title music. In 2008, Fabulous Films released a limited-edition soundtrack album with the UK and Australian DVD set, containing ten tracks restored from video tape masters plus the English theme song in stereo.
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