Mysterious gold Cities

televised series of Animation free is a - nippo - Luxembourg in 39 28 minutes episodes, created according to the novel The King' S Fifth ( the road of gold ) of Scott O' Dell. In France, the series was diffused starting from the September 28th 1983 on Antenne 2 and was repeated starting from the February 6th 2007 on Gulli. With the Canada, the series was diffused starting from 1983, then repeated on several occasions, in particular in 2005, on Radio-Canada.

Synopsis

In 1532, with Barcelona, Esteban , a young orphan of a dozen years which seems to be able to call the Sun, accepts the offer of a mysterious sailor, Mendoza , to leave towards the Nouveau World in order to discover legendary the Cités of Gold. It accepts, cherishing the hope to find there his father, missing at the time of a shipwreck twelve years before…

During this voyage, the young boy binds friendship with Zia , a young person INCA, and CAT , last going down from the people of Mu, living on the islands Galápagos. Esteban and Zia discover that they have each one pendentive, the medallions of the sun , supposed being the keys of these Mystérieuses Cities of Gold .

French voices

Main characters

Recurring characters

Voice-over

Episodes

1. Esteban, wire of the sun

Barcelona, 1532, Esteban, 12 years, learns that he is a child found at sea by certain Mendoza. Following the death of the father Rodriguez, her tutor, it decides to leave to research its origins.

2. By sailing

Esteban is assembled on board Esperanza. It becomes acquainted with Zia then, an INCA young person, able to read the Quipu. But the children are quickly discovered.

3. The Magellan Strait

Esperanza prepares to face terrible the Magellan Strait. Mendoza is the only one with being able to direct the ship during this long and difficult test.

4. By deriving

The boat does not resist an enormous storm. While the commander and the crew flee, Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro try to release Esteban and Zia locked up at the bottom of the hold.

5. CAT, the son of the empire of Driven

Esteban, Zia, Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro failed on the island of the Galapagos. But they are not alone and a mysterious creature seems to observe them…

6. Solaris, the solar nave of the empire of Driven

Our friends become acquainted with CAT, a young boy who claims to go down from the very former people of Mù. This last knew that they would come one day on its island.

7. The secrecy of Solaris'

It is on board fabulous boat Solaris, that the small group leaves to join the New Continent. But they are continued by the Spaniards of Gum.

8. The new continent

While Pizarro forces Zia to decipher a quipu, Esteban, CAT, Sancho and Pedro are made prisoners. As for Mendoza, it is charged to make speak Zia…

9. End of Solaris

Our heroes succeeded in escaping and find Solaris. To be avenged, the Spaniards decide to attack the village of Tohaka. In same time, the Galion of Gum approaches dangerously.

10. The secrecy of the temple

Zia wants to find the way of its village. The single means of reaching that point is to find a secrete way hidden inside even of the fort kept by the Spaniards.

11. Messengers of the area

The three friends arrive at the village of Zia unfortunately deserted by its inhabitants. They are captured by Gomez and Gaspard which lock up them in a temple.

12. The secrecy of pendentive the

Gum and the Spanish army leave to the continuation Esteban, CAT and Zia which have flees the INCA village and took refuge at the height of the Black Eagle. Gum then decides to attack it.

13. The mystery of the parents

With the Old Peak, our friends discover a Sundial and a celestial Globe which have a mysterious significance. Esteban finds there also a surprise: it meets somebody who knows his father…

14. Both pendentifs'

Esteban turns over Black Eagle at the height to recover the missing part of sound Pendentif held by Mendoza. The medallion is indeed the Clé which will open the Gold Cities.

15. The Fort of the Black Eagle

To recover the gun that their Mendoza flew, Gomez and its soldiers attack the fort again. Esteban and its friends succeed in fleeing towards the Old Peak.

16. Urubus'

Our heroes continue to walk on the plate of the the Andes. But suddenly, they are attacked by the giants of the tribe of the Urubu S of the Lac Titicaca…

17. The Large gold Condor

To be avenged, Urubus seek to capture Zia. The only means of escaping to them is to cross the Vallée of Dead the in order to join the mountain Pachamama where the first Gold City would be.

18. First flight of the Condor

Esteban and its companions have just discovered the Large Condor. On the quipu that it carries in its nozzle, they decipher a message announcing a great danger…

19. The secrecy of the Condor

The Large Condor takes along our friends towards the West, while following the sun. With fallen the night, the Condor attérit. But the Spanish army of Pizarro emerges then…

20. The dragon thunder

Our heroes turn over to the Old Peak to obtain information on the Maya country. On the spot, they discover that Gomez and its men try to take by storm of the old city.

21. Amazones'

The Large Condor crosses a storm and must be suddenly posed into full Amazonian jungle. Our friends take again their walk when suddenly, two women appear. They are then taken along in a village…

22. The mirror of the Moon

Morka, small warlike the the Amazon, request with Esteban to help it. It must be offered in Sacrifice to God of the Rain by Omuro, the large Priestess.

23. The jade mask

The control stick of the Large Condor ceases functioning and our friends make an emergency landing in a cave. They find a mysterious Masque there Jade.

24. The manuscript

Esteban and its friends try to finally find the key of the mystery using an old man Parchemin. But they are captured by the Doctor and Marinché, two people who are also with the research of the Gold Cities.

25. The gold lake

Esteban and its companions could sow Fernando and Marinché, but they are again captured by Indians who want to offer them in sacrifice. They have until the rising of the day to find a solution.

26.Le marsh of God of the rain

Our heroes leave to research another city whose the manuscript speaks located at the east about the marsh of God of the Rain. But they are attacked by Alligator S.

27. The door of the night

Our friends finally found the old capital of the Mayas. But Marinché and the Doctor waits there already. They capture Zia and claim the parchment.

28. The forest of the stone statues

The voyage continues. It is now a question of finding a forest of stone statues. As they arrive for a river, Mendoza suggests building a Radeau to go more quickly…

29. The mountain of the Shield Smoking

By seeking a mountain in form of " shield fumant" , our companions discover a completely strange universe and new: that of the Olmèques, whose science defies imagination. But which is?

30. The évasion'

In order to stop their ageing, Olmèques captured Esteban and its friends in order to transplant their young cells on the members of their people. But the children are able to escape thanks to Mendoza.

31. The village of the New Sun

Hardly Esteban and its friends succeeded in escaping that Olmèques launch out to their continuation. But Viracocha, a Maya young person, comes to their help…

32. The attack of Olmèques

While Esteban, CAT and Zia leave to recover the large Condor, Olmèques attack the village of Viracocha.

33. The meeting again

Esteban, Zia and CAT return to the village of the New Sun with the Large-Condor. The chief of the village was seriously wounded by the attack of Olmèques and Zia discovers that he is his father. Before dying, this one delivers the site of the Gold City and reveals the plans of Olmèques. The villagers gather their neighbors and prepare to pass to the attack…

34. The rising of the Mayas

The attack of the Maya tribes against the Mountain of the Smoking Shield beats full sound while Esteban, CAT and Zia are on the point of lending strong hand thanks to the condor to them. Unfortunately it is without counting on the intervention of Gaspard and Gomez which makes irruption at the Village of the New Sun.

35. The machine of Olmèques

Trained by Gum and Gaspard in the middle of the Mountain of the Smoking Shield, Esteban sees itself constrained to reveal the site of the Gold City has Ménator, the chief of Olmèques which captured Zia and has a frightening weapon.

36. Air duel

A fantastic air duel opposes the Large Condor to the machine of war of Olmèques. Esteban and CAT precipitate in the vacuum to penetrate inside the machine in order to save Zia retained captive.

37. The Gold City

Esteban and Zia finally arrived at the door of the Gold City where the Large Priest reveals the existence of the Large Heritage to them, source of phenomenal solar energy. But Olmèques which captured CAT oblige Esteban and Zia to open the doors of the city to them.

38. The large heritage

Olmèques arrived in the middle of the Gold City seize the Large Heritage but by doing this start the mechanism of self-defense of the City.

39. End of the Gold City

Olmèques start the operation of the Large Heritage but an incident occurs during the experiment. The Large Priest of the Gold City wants to stop the process. But it is not already too late?

Comments

This animated series free-Japanese woman (the second historically, just after Ulysses 31, three years earlier) has for the first time diffused on Wednesday, September 28, 1983, on Antenne 2, in the famous emission for youth Récré A2.

From a narrative point of view, the Mysterious Cities of gold is a very traditional work of invoice, which puts in scene an initiatory search on a model tested by the literature or the cinema. The series forms integral part, since her very first diffusion, of the televisual and cultural inheritance French. Its very rich scenario for a program general public, its musics of quality, its exemplary animation, with the point of the techniques of the time, and the representation of an initiatory voyage, are used still today as reference. For proof, this series is the French cartoon most popular over Internet, several decades after its diffusion.

Each episode is followed of mini-documentary (in real catches of sight) on the culture précolombienne, giving a historical and geographical lighting on the context of the fiction. The cordial and immediately identifiable stamp of Jean Topart, which speaks on behalf of the comments, contributed to the fascination which the series exerted.

In the French team, one finds Bernard Deyriès with the realization, and Jean Chalopin which signs the scenarios, both already at the origin of the series Ulysses 31 , and which will carry out then other successful series like Inspecteur Gadget , Minipouss , MASK or Jayce and the Conquerors of the Light , to quote only them.

The series is built on its own scenario, which in common does not have almost anything with the novel Scott O' Dell which, according to the credits, inspired it. One finds there only the names of certain characters, and the general topic of the research of the gold Cities and Eldorado. As much the novel is dark and realistic, the cartoon put as much on the escape and the onirism, not hesitating to introduce an amount of fantastic.

This series will have been one of those which will have the most marked the children and teenagers of the years 1980, so much by the search for its scenario, the beauty of its drawings and the representation of a largely disappeared world, that by the facility for the spectator to be identified with the heroes. Its construction and its narration finally rather linear (flashbacks being generally presented like imaginary dreams or visions) make this series a true epopee comparable with large literary works and cinematographic.

Jean Chalopin wrote a continuation, which one is unaware of if it will be one day realized. Even if the series were an enormous success in Europe (which followed success to France), it passed, like Ulysses 31, rather unperceived in Japan. Today the Japanese producers gave their agreement to take part in 51% to the financing of a new series, but all the French chains refuse coproduire under pretext which the public changed, and which success has few chances to republish itself. At the time of Japan Expo 2003, the images of the new series, presented by the realizer Bernard Deyriès, were however accommodated very favorably by the public present.

Repeat broadcasts

In France, the series was multidiffusée on several chains. However, until 2001, it had been diffused only on Antenne 2/France 2, which had coproduit the series. In March 2001, the series was diffused on Télétoon, the chain youth of TPS. Thereafter, France 5 diffused the series starting from January 6th, 2003 in its emission '' Midi Zouzous ''. The series also profited from repeat broadcasts on the chain in 2004 and 2005. In February 2004, it is TV Breizh which takes again the diffusion of the series which for the occasion profits from a diffusion in VM (Multilingual Version) in French and Breton. A Breton version is created for the occasion by Dizale association, under the title Bugel year Heol . In January 2006, it is the chain of Canal Sat, My Planet which took again the diffusion of the series. Since February 6th, 2007, the chain youth of the TNT, Gulli diffuses in its turn the series.

Esteban and Zia: with the research of the 7 gold cities

December 16th, 2006, AK Video and BenJ Productions left another version animated the original novel The King' S Fifth of Scott O' Dell, named Esteban and Zia: with the research of the 7 gold cities . Much nearer to the novel, this series IS NOT a continuation of the Mystérieuses Cities of Gold . In this new version, one finds Esteban and Zia (without CAT nor Large Condor) in discovered new world, on the traces of the legend of the El Dorado . Esteban is 17 years old, he is cartographer and jeté in prison not to have transferred with the King the fifth of the treasures which he discovered. It morfond, separated from his/her Zia friend. Despite everything, it keeps in him a secret hope. One day they will be left there and they will leave then in search the seven Cities gold. Beyond gold, it is not the pecuniary enrichment which justifies them, but rather a search of their origins, and to include/understand why and how the people INCA disappeared vis-a-vis the threat from the disease and the conquistadors. This new adaptation, although very discussed by the amateurs of the series, evokes topics like the integrity, the respect of the environment, to become to it civilizations vis-a-vis the epidemics, and the friendship.

External bonds

  • Card IMDb
  • semi-official Site on the Gold Cities, current events and many files
  • Another semi-official site of the series (more up to date since 2003)
  • Images of all the places met in the Generic series
  • audio and video

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