Jedi's Paradise - Childrens TV - The Mysterious Cities of Gold

The Mysterious Cities of Gold DVDs | Episode Guide

History

Mitsuro Kaneko (MK Productions) wanted to make an animated series which was based on a book by Scott O'Dell, called 'The King's Fifth'. It was a book that detailed how the Spanish stripped the 'New World' of all its riches.

Mitsuro approached Jean Chapolin (DIC Audiovisuel) to help write and produce the show, which was one of the first French / Japanese Co-Productions. They secured financial backing from NHK (a large Japanese Public Television Company) and DIC Audiovisuel, but they still needed more funding for the show. So a small outfit in Luxemburg, called 'CLT', stepped in and became the third partner.

NHK weren't known for animation series, but instead educational shows. Therefore NHK wanted to put a documentary at the end of each episode detailing real events in history to fulfil this criteria.

This had an affect on the show, as they tried to tie in each episode with a historical event. The show evolved, and the 'The King's Fifth' was used more as reference guide.

The production team had decided that the show must be a work of quality which would enable it to be easily exported overseas. They used a European style of animation to help to export the show (rather than using the traditional style of Japanese animation).

Bernard Deyries was hired as the French Director, who stamped his mark on the show with the use of vibrant colours and detailed backgrounds.

He was also involved in the creation and style of music with Shuki Levy and Haim Saban, who composed the music for the show. Shuki has been involved in creating the music of many famous animated shows (eg. Ulysses 31 and Inspector Gadget).

Studio Pierrot was hired to do the animation, as they could create good action scenes with less cells. The team concentrated on character design and artwork. The Incas and Mayans were chosen as they wanted to base the story on an ancient civilisation. Japanese history wasn't chosen as most children in Japan already knew the stories surrounding that era.

It was decided that 3 main characters would be needed, otherwise the story would be too balanced with 2 characters and there would be no conflict to engage the viewers. On top of this, it was decided that each of the 3 main characters should come from different civilisations to each other.

The civilisation that Tao came from varied from language to language. In the English Language version, Tao came from Hiva, but in the French/Japanese versions he came from Mu.

But the Japanese felt something was missing so requested that an ambiguous character was added to the show, who was both good and bad. That character was Mendoza. Also Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro were added to give the story more depth and realism.

The production wanted to concentrate on the view of the world from the eyes of children, which was the quest to find the fathers of 2 of the children, rather than finding the Mysterious Cities of Gold. The Japanese initially based the mechanical machines on designs of the 17th Century, but the French team decided that it would catch children imaginations more if they were based on machines of the future.

39 episodes of MCoG were created, which tied in with the length of the Japanese schools term. It was initially broadcast by NHK in Japan where it attracted moderate viewing figures. This has been attributed to NHK not being known for animated series and that the Japanese scripts lacked depth (unlike the French and English versions).

But CLT found it difficult to get anyone else to buy the show. This was due to the fact that the show was 1 big story, rather than 39 individual episodes. Eventually it was forced onto French TV and it was welcomed with critical acclaim.

They had planned further series of the show. The 2nd series would have seen the children fly north past Alaska and onto Northern Japan, where they would find the 2nd City of Gold. Also we would have found out that Esteban's father had survived and his body had been badly burnt. For the 3rd series they had planned to take the series to Indonesia and Thailand. From here they would have ended up in Europe and North Africa. But the issue with funding and the take up of the show affected its future and any further series were shelved.

Eventually the show caught the attention of the BBC & Nickelodeon, who commissioned an English Language version of the show. Howard Ryshpan was hired to be the director and it was decided that the voice actors should come from Canada, as this was a neutral accent for both the USA and the UK (understood by both).

Howard had in his mind that the three main characters of the show (Esteban, Zia and Tao) should be voiced by children, as he felt that adults pretending to sound like children sounded false. But at that time it was unusual to hire children and most parts were voiced by adults. So pupils at the Montreal Children's Theatre School were invited to audition for the parts.

It took approximately a day to voice a single episode. The crew decided that they didn't want the voice actors to memorise their lines. The reason was they didn't want their voice coaches (their parents) putting their own spin on the how they should pronounce their lines. So they were shown the original version in French (as they were French Canadians) and then have a trial run reading it in English.

When recording an episode they would show the episode (on a 16mm magnetic track) with the script scrolling across the top of the screen, which was trying to match the lip sync of the original animation.

The scripts for the show were adapted from the French version, by Kelly Rickard and Howard Ryshpan. Kelly was better known as the voice on the opening and closing credits. However, Howard may have been the Director of the English Language version, but became more famous for supplying the voice of Mendoza.

This wasn't intentional and instead happened by pure accident. Howard and Doug Parry (Recording Engineer) had to put forward 4 auditions for each voice to the producers in France. Their first choice, and 3 other possibilities (no names were given, just the audio).

After another late night the both found that they were short of one of the voices for Mendoza (one of the 3 other possibilities). So Howard recorded the missing audition to make up the numbers and sent the dialogue off. But instead of choosing their recommendation the French producers chose Howard to voice Mendoza.

Shiraz Adam was chosen as the voice of Esteban, which surprised him as he was thought that Adrian Knight (who played Tao) would get the part of Esteban, as he believed that he was the better actor. Shiraz had played a number of small parts previously, such as Belle and Sebastian and at the time of recording the show he was 10 years old.

His inexperience showed when he found it difficult keeping up with the lines as they scrolled across the screen and they had to keep re-recording the lines.

Shiraz did very little preparation for the part and instead based his performance on the French version he knew and watched. He tried to ad lib in a few places, but was told to stick to the script.

It was only years later when he stumbled across a discussion group, about the MCoG, that he discovered how popular the show was still today.

Janice Chaiklson was chosen as the voice of Zia and was 12/13 years old at the time. She had worked with Howard Ryshpan in the past (and did in the future).

She was surprised that they were given no time to learn their lines and that they had to read the script that scrolled across the screen with the video of the show. It scrolled so fast that Janice found that she had trouble trying to get much emotion into the voice of Zia.

Janice used to get frustrated with Shiraz keep fluffing his lines as they kept having to re-record them over and over again.

Adrian Knight was chosen as the voice of Tao, who had been involved in the Ulysses 31 and 'Belle and Sebastian'. He originally went for the part of Esteban, but was offered Tao.

He found it was a lot of work for him at the time, 08:30 start and only 30 minutes for lunch. He had no idea that MCoG would become so big. He still does voice work today.

For the DVD release Shiraz, Janice, Adrian and Howard teamed up to recreate a scene from the show.

The show has become one of the most successful cartoons of the 1980's and seems to be just as popular today. But that isn't the end of the story. For years there have been legal wrangling on who owns the rights of the show and eventually Jean Chalopin secured the rights.

This has meant that in 2008 the entire MCoG series (English Language version) could be released on DVD by Fabulous Films. Not only that, his company has started producing a new 3D animated feature film based on the events of the 39 episodes. Also they have been talking about creating the 2nd series of the MCoG.

Story

The Year is 1532. Esteban is a young boy who lives in Barcelona. He is an orphan who has been under the guidance of Father Rodriguez. But there is something special about Esteban.

Each time the the city is threatened by storms, the inhabitants parade Esteban though the streets to a flag pole with a crows nest. Once in the crows nest, the storm seems to dissipate and the sun shines through. This is the reason why they call him 'The Child of the Sun'.

This gift is brought to the attention of a the navigator called Mendoza, who realises that this is the boy that he rescued from the ocean years ago. He proves this to Esteban when he shows him the second part of Esteban's medallion that he has been carrying for all those years.

He tells Esteban that the medallion comes from one of the 7 Mysterious Cities of Gold and that he must go with him and his colleagues Sancho and Pedro and help find them, and his real father. Esteban agrees and stows away on board Mendoza's ship, who's employer knows nothing of Esteban.

Here Esteban finds a girl of a similar age tied up, called Zia, who he helps to escape from her bonds. It is then that Esteban finds out that Mendoza had kidnapped her on the orders of Commander Gomez.

It seems that Gomez has been sent on a mission by Governor Pizarro to retrieve Zia who he believes she comes from one of the Mysterious Cities of Gold and that she will lead him to them.

But Commander Gomez and Gaspard, the Captain of the Guard, don't trust Mendoza and believe he has his sights firmly on the gold for himself. So they plan Mendoza's downfall. But on the journey back to the Governor, the ship enters a great storm, which rips the ship apart.

Luckily Esteban brings out the sun and Mendoza, Esteban, Zia, Sancho and Pedro escape with their lives on a home made raft. All others seem to be lost at sea. After days of drifting, they come across an island that is home to some huge turtles.

But this island also houses a monster that carries off Zia and takes her by boat to a nearby island. But Esteban isn't going to give up on his new friend and swims to the other island in pursuit, leaving Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho behind.

Once he reaches the island, he finds a number of houses way up in the trees. It is here that he discovers that the monster is in fact a young boy named Tao, who had been wearing a mask.

It seems that Tao only had Zia's best interests at heart and wanted to save her from the Spanish, but Esteban insists that he can be trusted. Tao is eventually convinced to join the quest of Mendoza's, who catches up with them. But they find a ship called the Solaris which had been hidden underground for many years. It seems that this ship was built by Tao's ancestors, the people of Hiva, and it has the power to harness the suns rays.

They sail the ship to the New World and it was here that they were surrounded by Pizarro's men. Mendoza claimed that he was bringing the children to the Governor, so they were taken to his Fort, where Pizarro believed the story.

It became clear that Governor Pizarro wanted Zia to read a Quipu (an Incan way of recording information with knots), which would tell him where the Mysterious Cities of Gold were hidden.

Mendoza said that he could get the girl to tell him before the next day, but it was a ruse, and instead he set fire to Pizarro's Fort and escaped. They escaped back to the Solaris, only to find that Gomez had caught them up in another ship and starts to fire on them.

Esteban accidentally pulls a lever on the Solaris which activates a weapon that concentrates the suns energy into a beam of light that sets Gomez's ship on fire. After this the group moor the Solaris and help an Inca Village that was under attack from the Spanish. While on land Gomez regroups and his men capture the Solaris. He then threatened to destroy the nearby Inca village, using the Solaris, unless Zia hands herself in. Gomez got his way and Zia surrenders herself to him (on board the other ship). But he didn't count on Zia escaping to the Solaris where Tao had smuggled himself and where they blew up the Solaris, taking the other ship with it.

The group try to find their way to Zia's home village, but it is the other side of Pizarro's Fort. But they find a hidden temple underneath Pizarro's Fort. Here they found a priest that Pizarro had imprisoned years ago.

But Pizarro knew where they had gone and tried to capture them. Luckily the priest helped them escape by melting an ice pillar which brought the temple crashing down. During this time the children escaped and were separated from Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro.

At last Zia returned to her home village, only to find out that it is deserted. But not for long, as Pizarro had guessed where they were heading and sent Gomez after them. It is here that Gomez threatened to throw the children into a giant ants nest if Zia didn't translate the Quipa. The thought of this horrified the children and so Zia reluctantly translated it. It said "Go to the High Peak, to the north of the village of Puna".

But Gomez didn't hold the children captive for very long, as they escaped with the help of Weyna and Ketcha, who were two warriors sent by Kraka, the Great Chief of the High Peak, to free them. Once free, they were taken to the Fort of the Black Eagle, which defends the path into the hidden city of Machu Picchu.

At Machu Picchu, the children spoke to Kraka, who informed them that their medallions are in fact the keys to the Cities of Gold. In the city they find further clues on how to get to the Cities of Gold and find out details of Esteban's father.

Meanwhile Mendoza had formed an alliance with Gomez after he was separated from the children. He promises to help Gomez and his army through the Forbidden Zone to the Fort of the Black Eagle, to where the children were.

But Mendoza was desperate to join up with the children and to follow them on their journey to the Mysterious Cities of Gold. So he stole Gomez's cannon and took it to the Inca's to convince them (and the children) that his intensions were honourable. It was only Esteban's intervention that saved his life, by saying that Mendoza had risked his life to return the missing part of his medallion. Begrudgingly Mendoza return the missing part.

Gomez and his army eventually broke through the gates of the Fort of the Black Eagle and the children fled to Machu Picchu. The children tell Kraka that they have found a clue in Machu Picchu that points the towards the Cities of Gold ('Where the Sun meets the Star). Mendoza offers his services as an excellent navigator to help them get there. Kraka agrees and insists that Weyna and some of his men escorts them too (as he still doesn't trust Mendoza 100%).

On the journey, they are attacked by the Urubus Tribe, who are race of giant men. They fire huge arrows at the group and in the confusion Weyna and his men are separated from the children, Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro.

Luckily they escape from the Urubus Tribe and continue on their journey where they find a mountain that has two peaks near the very top. When the sun set, it shone a beam of light across the valley into another mountainside. They climb the mountain to where the beam shone, where they find a statue of Pacha Mama (the Earth Goddess), which has 2 holes in it, one in each breast of the statue. Esteban and Zia try putting their medallions in the holes and to their surprise, the mountain splits in two and reveals a hidden city.

Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro think they have found the first city of gold, but are disappointed when they find none. The city has been abandoned, but the children continue to explore. Esteban come across a room with a large medallion set into the wall. Carefully he removes it and a light shines through the hole, which bounces around the room to a point on the floor where a huge Golden Condor emerges.

Sancho and Pedro are in seventh heaven when they see the Condor and start to squabble over who owns it. But something more important is found, a Quipu in the Condor's mouth, which informs them that the inhabitants fled the city because the city was in danger and that they had headed for the land of the Mayas. They soon find out that the city was built in a volcanic crater and it is about to erupt!

But it seems that the Urubus Tribe hasn't given up chasing them and try to attack. Mendoza has a plan and removes the medallions from the statue of Pacha Mama and the mountain starts to close again. Mendoza makes sure everyone is inside the city before the Urubus can reach them.

But it seems that the volcano has decided its time to erupt and the group has nowhere to run. So they retreat back to the Golden Condor and climb onto its back, where they find a cockpit near the top of its head. They all climb into the seats hoping that they can survive. The larva erupts beneath the condor and projects them into the sky. It looks like its the end of their quest.

It is only as they are hurtling to the ground that they find that the large medallion they found earlier fits into a panel in the cockpit of the Condor. Amazingly the Golden Condor comes to life and starts flying on a pre-determined flight path.

But the condor is powered by the sun and as the sun starts to set it starts to lose power. It flies over the Nazca Plato which seems to have huge pictures carved into the earth. As it descends it flies over an outpost of Pizarro's. Immediately they send word of this Golden Condor back to Pizarro.

Meanwhile the condor lands exactly on one of these huge pictures, a picture of a condor. It seems that these pictures aren't carved into the earth, but are instead made from stones that have been piled up. As usual Pedro and Sancho are looking at acquiring things and try to remove the gold medallion from the cockpit. But instead of removing it, it activates manual control of the Golden Condor. Eventually they decide to get some sleep before setting off in the morning, when they can take off on their journey again.

But before they can take off in the morning Pizarro arrives and has his men surround them. There is nowhere to run to, so Mendoza tells the others that they must surrender or die. Pizarro is curious about the Golden Condor and want to see it fly. So he asks Esteban for a demonstration, but makes sure he keeps his friends as hostages.

But as usual, Mendoza has a plan. He wants Esteban to start the condor exactly when the sun comes up, and that the rest of them will run to the condor at the same time, with their eyes shut. You see, Mendoza had worked out that the condor gleams when first turned on and that it will temporarily blind Pizarro and his men.

The plan works perfectly and they are able to get onboard the Golden Condor and fly off, leaving a fuming Pizarro. Now that they have manual control of the Golden Condor, Esteban becomes the pilot of the bird. To the shock of Pedro and Sancho, Esteban announces that they are returning to the High Peak, so that he can speak to Chief Kraka and find out more about the land of the Mayas.

On the flight back, they see that Gomez's men have broken through the Fort of the Black eagle and have constructed a bridge across the ravine to get to Machu Picchu. Esteban uses the golden condor to destroy the bridge and the cannon that was being transported across it. But Gomez has already reached the other site and gets Gaspard to blast open the last defence of Machu Picchu (a cave sealed full of rocks). But this blast causes a land slide and they are all washed away. Machu Picchu is safe, as the way into the city has now been sealed forever.

Esteban lands the Goldon Condor in the city and asks Kraka the way to the land of the Mayas. But Kraka doesn't know and instead says that the only person that knew this was the Papacamayo of Puna, who went on a quest to find the secret fountain of the Mayas. Zia is shocked to here this name, as she informs everyone that the Papacamayo of Puna is in fact her father.

But the whereabouts of the fountain is unknown and they head off in the condor towards the last place he was seen. Mid flight, the condor's control panel starts to light up and they can no longer control the condor. Suddenly the condor dives out of control and it looks like it will crash, but glides into a huge hole in the earth and lands at the bottom.

They find the condor's controls are dead and it lowers its head automatically and cuts into the rock, which reveals a hidden passageway which leads them to the heart of an ancient city (which is deserted as usual). This city is in the middle of nowhere and is surrounded by jungle. The children explore a number of rooms in the city and find a stone statue that looks like a snake with wings (a snake god). Behind this statue they find a passageway to a room that is covered in Mayan hieroglyphics and a strange Jade mask is set into the wall. Tao becomes engrossed trying to decipher them and works out that the Mayas had left the city to find the Cities of Gold.

In the mean time Mendoza, Pedro and Sancho catch up with the children and when Pedro and Sancho try to pry the jade mask off the wall, they set off a defence mechanism and blocks of stone keep coming in and out of the walls trying to hit them. Luckily they all escape down a passageway that the blocks have revealed.

Later the children return and find out the blocks have stopped moving and that some of the hieroglyphics have been destroyed and are unreadable. But Tao decides to look through the eyes of the mask and reads an inscription that points them to the symbols on the walls. They press them and another chamber is revealed with a sarcophagus which contains a section of manuscript.

When they exit the temple, they are captured by Dr Leguerra and Marinche, who are also looking for the Mysterious Cites of Gold. They take manuscript and Tao's jar off them. It seem that they have the second half of the manuscript. The children are taken prisoner. Luckily Mendoza turns up an threatens to strangle the doctor if he doesn't release the children. Reluctantly they release them and the children escape on their own with both parts of the manuscript and Tao's Jar.

Eventually the children come across a lake that has a golden shimmer. Esteban decides to swim to the bottom of the lake to investigate and finds gold sand at the bottom of it. But when he resurfaces the local Indians start shouting at him and saying that he has desecrated the sacred fountain. Also Dr Leguerra and Marinche reappear, as it seem that they are friends of these Indians. The locals say that they will have to have a purifying ceremony for the sun god, where they pour gold sand onto the body of a priest who walks into the lake. Also the locals throw their gold valuables in and the children find out that they will be sacrificed to the sun god tomorrow morning.

When Dr Leguerra and Marinche see the ceremony, they are already trying to work out how they could get their hands on the gold in the lake and know that it would be certain death if they were captured.

But three other people see this ceremony, Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro. They discover that the lake has been man made and that they could dig a hole into the side of the lake that would flood the locals village and allow them to steal the gold. They work through the night trying to dig the hole, but eventually dawn starts to break. Its at this time they are discovered by Marinche who raises the alarm to the visitor. Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro frantically dig for their lives as the Indians swarm towards them. Luckily they break through the side of the lake just in time and the lake's water surges out into the village. But the three are upset that they don't have any time to collect any of the gold.

The flood helps the children escape and kokopetal brings the manuscripts to them, which talks about a prairie. But they are chased by the Indians, Dr Leguerra and Marinche. But they come across a swamp an it looks like there will be no escape for the children, as they are surrounded by alligators. Mendoza turns up and helps to beat off the alligators.

But it seems that the prairie is the swamp and the group come across a statue of the rain god. They turn east from this point and come across a gap in the mountainside that the wind blows down making a howling noise. As per usual Sancho and Pedro aren't too interested in going through the gap, but as usual the others ignore them and venture in. After a rock fall, a hidden tunnel is revealed and they find the second city that was mentioned in the manuscript.

But someone else has reached the city first, Dr Leguerra and Marinche. They threaten Zia's life if Tao doesn't help them decipher some writing on a statue of a jaguar. He reluctantly agrees, and the other children go with them inside a temple. Tao deciphers the writing, but it is Esteban that works out what it means and he uses his medallion to shine a light onto the statue, which reveals another hidden room. Inside is a golden statue with another manuscript. The Dr tries to get to the manuscript, but the floor starts to lower are he crosses the room, as the other look on. Tao pushes Marinche into the hole with the Dr and the children escape.

The manuscript tells the children that they need the 3 manuscripts to tell them where the Cities of Gold are, which are each in a different city. The last manuscript is supposed to be in the forest of statues. Eventually they find the statues and find themselves in an underground city. There are huge doors that lead further into the city, but they are impassable.

So the children try the same trick as before and shine light into the door, which crumbles and they find the final manuscript. But the manuscript doesn't make sense and Tao becomes frustrated. But Esteban notices that some of the writing on some of the manuscripts is faded. This gives Tao an idea and he soaks the manuscripts in water. It seems that some of the text is written in different ink and when soaked in water spells out a different message.

It tells them to the west of the land of the Mayas is the burning shield. They make their way towards the west and come across a strange looking mountain that gives off light from the very top of it. As they get closer, Tao's jar starts to glow and beep. They follow a river that comes from the mountain and find a secret passage. This leads them further into the mountain and they find the Olmec city inside. At the centre of the city is a huge crystal that the Olmecs have learnt to use it to convert geothermic energy into mechanical energy.

Mendoza tells the children to hide, while he explores the temple. But the children are eventually discovered by the Master Menator, who is the leader of the Olmecs. They try to escape from him, but he bombards them with light and sound and they collapse. When they wake up they are told by Menator that they will use cells from them to stop the Olmec population from ageing.

But Mendoza frees the children and they are chased to the top of the mountain top, where they are all captured. Master Menator decides that the children should be put in suspended animation as they are more trouble when awake. But a Mayan girl called Mayena who has been enslaved by the Olmecs for years cannot stand by and see the children frozen. So she frees Mendoza, Sancho and Pedro, to get them to rescue the children. They grab the children and escape through the tunnels and underground river they first entered the mountain.

But the Olmecs pursue them to the outside and surround them. Just when they think its all over, Wynacocha and his 'Mayans of the New Sun' attack the Olmecs and drive them back. Mayena is so glad to see Wynacocha, as he is her intended and they are to marry when she is older. When he sees Mendoza, he sees him as a Spanish enemy, but Mayena explains that it was Mendoza that had freed her from the Olmecs. He thanks Mendoza, but says that he can never accept him as an ally.

They are all taken back to their town where they are locked up, as they are still not trusted. They don't allow foreigners near to their sick chief, but Sancho and Pedro escape from the hut while the others are asleep and try to ask him about the cities of gold. But they fall through the roof and land in front of the chief called Papacamayo. They are all imprisoned again and they trust them less this time.

In the mean time the Olmecs have captured Dr Leguerra and Marinche. They tell Master Menator about that they have a present for them, the Golden Condor. The Olmecs send an expedition to retrieve the Condor. The villagers hear that the Olmecs are excited about a Golden Condor that they have found. Mendoza agrees with the children that it would be disastrous if the Olmecs get hold of the condor. So they set fire to the house they are imprisoned in. Mendoza agrees to hold off the villagers while the children escape and retrieve the condor. Just as the children flee, Papacamayo finds out about Zia from Mayena and suddenly realises that she is his daughter. But he finds out that he's too late and has missed her.

Luckily the Olmecs don't know that the Condor can fly and they try to lift it out of the hole that it was left in. On the way to the condor, the children bump into Gomez and Gaspard, who the children thought they were dead. They explain that they are going to get the Condor from the Olmecs and they agree to help them (as Mendoza does nothing unless its to get gold). The children get to the condor and fly it out of the hole, but don't let Gomez and Gaspard into the cockpit and fly off with them still holding on. Esteban eventually shakes them off over a forest.

They then fly the Condor back to the village to find it is under attack from the Olmecs. Esteban uses the condor to swoop down towards the Olmecs and sweep them off their feet. The sight of the great bird scares them and they scatter in every direction, not before they stab the CHief of the village. The condor lands and it is then that Zia finds out that the Chief is infact her father. A dying Papacamayo tries to tell her about the secrets of the Cities of Gold.

He tells her that - Pizarro found the golden quipu and he commanded his troops to attacked a village to find the chief who knew how to read the quipu. Here a soldier found Zia and was taken to Pizarro. He decreed that Zia must be taken back to Spain as a present for Princess Marguerita. No one knew that Zia was the daughter of the chief.

He chased after them trying to get his daughter back, but they were too quick for him and had already set sail for Spain. His heart was broken, so he decided to set out to find the Cities of Gold before Pizarro did. He went on and on through countless countries until he found the Cities of Gold. He tells her that the cities of gold are found on the intersection between the 3 cities with the manuscripts and the mountain of the burning shield.

He tells them that the priceless treasure that is in the City of Gold should not fall into the hands of the Olmecs, as the world will be in great danger if they do. So he decided to take up residence in a village next to the Olmecs to keep an eye on them. At this point Papacamayo died. Zia was understandably heart broken.

Wynacocha knows that the Olmecs will be back to wipe them out, so he tries to persuade the chiefs from other villages to help in the war against them. But the other villages are too scared of the Olmecs and they all refuse. A dejected Wynacocha returns and faces up to the fact that it is only his village that will stand up to them and it will mean certain death for his village.

Now that Mendoza knows where the first City of Gold his, he wrestles with his conscience on whether to help the children and the villagers defend the village. It is when he finds Pedro and Sancho stealing food from the village before they head to the City of Gold, that he makes up his mind. He is furious with the pair for stealing and orders them to help him fight against the Olmecs. Understandably they are confused why he would want to help them.

But it seems that the the local tribes have had a change of heart and decide to help Wynacocha's tribe against the Olmecs. So Mendoza gets the Mayans to start building a couple of wooden battle towers. While this is happening, Tao has had an idea to attach a weapon to the golden condor and fix baskets full of rocks onto it, to drop on the enemy.

While this is happening, the rest of the Mayans go to attack the Olmecs and only the children and the women are left in the city. Little did they realise that Gomez and Gaspard had found them and tried to Zia hostage, but the rest of the children and the villagers fight back and overpower them.

When the Golden Condor takes off to help in the fight against the villagers, Gomez and Gaspard escape and hitch a lift on the Condor by holding onto the baskets underneath it. The condor then swoops towards the Olmec troops who are currently winning the battle against the Mayas and starts to drop rocks onto the Olmecs. At the same time Mendoza's battle towers are ready and the Mayans now have a way of effectively storming the mountain. The condor lands further up the mountain and waits for the outcome of the battle.

But it seems that Gomez and Gaspard have caught up with the children again and force them into the centre of the mountain, as there must be gold there. Here they come across a Master Menator who lures them further into the mountain (he keeps appearing and disappearing to the annoyance of Gaspard). The children keep telling them that it is a trap, but they don't listen to them.

When Mendoza goes in search for the children he finds out the Mayas saw Gomez and Gaspard take the children into the mountain. Sancho and Pedro want to leave the children, as they have no responsibility to them. But Mendoza says that he has grown fond of the children and would miss them if they were gone, so they will go into the mountain and find them.

Gomez and Gaspard eventually come across a room full of Olmecs, which Gomez and Gaspard think are dead. But Master Menator explains that they aren't dead but are frozen, they are the Chosen Ones. He continues to explain that long ago there was a great war and his people were decimated. The atmosphere was poisoned and their bodies changed and they could no longer have children, so the nobles (The Chosen Ones) were frozen for the future.

Menator then orders the remaining Olmecs to kill Gomez and Gaspard, and try force Esteban to tell him where the city of gold is, as they want the mysterious treasure it has. At that moment Mendoza turns up and stops them killing Gomez and Gaspard. But in the confusion Zia is taken hostage and will not be released until Esteban tells him where to find the city of gold. Reluctantly Esteban tells him what he knows. As you can probably guess Zia isn't released and the whole mountain starts to shake as an Olmec spaceship carrying Menator and Zia blasts itself out of the mountainside.

Esteban, Tao and Mendoza give chase in the Golden Condor. But the Olmec ship turns the tables and heads after the condor. It takes all the skill of Esteban to dodge the ship, until he comes up with an idea. He positions the condor on top of the Olmecs machine, which allow Tao and himself to drop onto the roof of it. Poor Mendoza is left controlling the condor, but he is a navigator not a pilot and crashes the condor (he thinks that Esteban makes it look easy).

Once Esteban and Tao are inside they make their way to the control room of the ship and cause a diversion. This allows Esteban to attempt a rescue of Zia while Tao continues to try and pilot the ship. Esteban reaches the same room as Master Menator and Zia and seals them in. But the Olmecs are already trying to cut open the door to get to them, so Esteban smashes the glass and throws Zia and himself out of it. You see, Esteban knew that they were passing over a great lake and that they would be safe. Esteban and Zia are then washed ashore on an island in the middle of the lake. Here they are found by some native Indians, who take them to meet the Guardian of the Cities of Gold.

He tells them that they have been waiting for them, as the prophecies had foretold. He shows them a great library that has all books that man has ever created. Next he shows them an indestructible door, which is the gateway to the first City of Gold and the only way to open it is to use their medallions in 2 holes set into the door.

Just before they can decide what to do the Olmecs arrive in their ship. They are greeted by the High Priest. But they aren't interested in pleasantries and instead want to force Esteban and Zia to open the doors to the City of Gold. To try to do this they dangle Tao from a rope, from their spaceship and start to smash him into the side of the island.

But the High Priest wants them to understand what is at stake before they think of opening the doors. He tells them that the doors were closed by the people of Hiva. The Emperor of Hiva proclaimed that the only holders of the medallions should choose whether to open the doors or not.

The Empire of Hiva had learnt to harness the power of the sun, lead peaceful lives and prospered.

The people of Atlantis were similar and had harnessed the power of the sun too, and built their own empire.

But war broke out between these two empires, over such a trivial thing that it is too small to mention. The war went on for years until both their armies used weapons of the sun on each other. Both civilisations sank to the bottom of the ocean.

The Emperor of Hiva had foretold this calamity and so built 7 Cities of Gold around the world, each with a great treasure, each with indestructible doors.

The stories of the Cities of Gold gradually vanished over the years, till 2 gold medallions materialised. They were handed down through generations until they came into the hands of 2 innocents - Children. Those innocents were Zia and Esteban.

If the great treasure got into the hands of the Olmecs, it could cause thousands of peoples lives.

But the children couldn't turn their back on Tao and so opened the door for the Olmecs. The city is breathtaking. As soon as the doors were opened the Olmec ship separates and each section smashes through the outer doors of the island towards the doors to the City of Gold.

Once into the City of Gold, the ship reassembles itself and heads towards the high peak. Mendoza and the children chase after them. The Commander of the Olmecs (Kalmec) reaches the top of the high peak and tries to reason with him. He tells the commander not to use the great treasure and offers him the option of peace and that he will help the Olmecs to save his people. Commander Kalmec agrees, but it is a trick and he stabs the High Priest.

The commander states that the Olmecs do not share and show no mercy. The High Priest is still alive, but injured and pleads for the commander before a disaster befalls them all. But he is ignored and the commander goes into the high peak and finds instructions on how to get to the great treasure. He presses an number of buttons and levers and the treasure is revealed to him, but there is an empty shape in the middle of the treasure, a similar shape to Tao's jar.

As soon as the commander removes the great treasure from its housing, a light beams into the sky and the dome that the City of Gold was encased in starts to break up and eventually recedes. Then solar panels are deployed around the city, encircling it totally.

It is at this point that the High Priest calls to Esteban to call forth the sun, which he does. The sun hits the solar panels and sends beams of light to the highest point in the city, where the beams converge and shoots a beat out of the top of it at the Olmec ship.

The Olmecs ship is severely damaged, which crashes into a section of the city and sets part of the city ablaze. But the Olmec ship limps back to mountain of the blazing shield, with the Master Menator and Commander Kalmec. But Menator is wounded and he orders the commander to install the great treasure into the heart of the reactor, at the bottom of the crystal. But the reactor explodes as the treasure is in fact missing Tao's jar. The reactor starts to burn its way through the earth's crust, which will cause earthquakes and let poisonous gas into the atmosphere killing everyone on earth. At this point Master Menator and Commander Kalmec perish in the crumbling mountain.

The wounded High Priest is carried by the Mayans to the mountain of the burning shield, with the children and Sancho and Pedro. He tells Esteban that his father was a travelling prophet and he didn't know where he was now.

They know that the High Priest is going on a suicide mission to stop the great treasure. He bids them farewell and enters the mountain with Tao's Jar which is the key component that would control the great treasure and stop it burrowing into the earth.

At the same time, the City of Gold is nearly empty, apart from Gomez and Gaspard, who are still trying to collect gold. Mendoza had just left the city and he comes across the guardians of the city who are looking onto the city. They inform him that they are making sure the city is destroyed, the direct wishes of the real High Priest.

Mendoza then finds out the person they call the High Priest isn't the real High Priest, who died 3 years ago. He was a travelling prophet who took on the role of the High Priest when he was sure that his son would come to the City of Gold. Mendoza guesses that the new High Priest was Esteban's father and asks the guardians not to tell Esteban, as he knew that the priest was on a suicide mission. The city is destroyed, taking Gomez and Gaspard with it?

Meanwhile the High Priest slides down the hole that the great treasure has created. When he gets close to the treasure he starts to catch fire, the pain he is going through is excruciating and after collapsing a couple of times he eventually places the jar in the great treasure and it stops burrowing.

The last thing that happens is the priests gold mask falls on the floor and starts to melt. He is not seen again.

When everyone returns to the City of Gold they find out that it has sunk without trace. Pedro and Sancho are gutted that they have lost all their gold. But Mendoza cheers them up when he shows them the gold he stashed away when they helped the High Priest get to the Mountain of the Burning Shield, as he knew something would happen.

The children bid farewell to everyone as they have decided to take the golden condor over the western sea to adventure. Mendoza says that they will meet again in the tavern across the sea in Barcelona.

Then the children fly off in the Golden Condor and into the horizon.

Esteban (voiced by Shiraz Adam)

His fathers ship was caught in a terrible storm when he was a baby. Esteban was on board, and the ship started to sink. Luckily another ship passed close by and a man called Mendoza rescued Esteban, but couldn't rescue his father.

He was raised as an orphan by Father Rodriguez, the Dean of Barcelona Cathedral. Still, Esteban always maintained that his father was still alive and that they would meet again.

Esteban has a fear of heights, which causes him no end of problems, which was due to the people of Barcelona hoisting him to the top of a flag pole when it rains, so he could call forth the sun and make it stop.

When Mendoza came back into his life many years later, he saw this as a chance to explore the world and find his father. He joined Mendoza on his ship and befriended Zia, an Inca girl who is roughly the same age as him.

There is a bond between Zia and himself, and when she was kidnapped by Tao, he did everything in his power to rescue her (he even swam to another island to find her.

He is very stubborn and once he sets his mind on something, there is no stopping him. Also he has in unwavering conviction that Mendoza is good and that he'll never betray them. Esteban seems to squabble a lot with Tao.

He also can walk on his hands, which can cheer up most people.

Mendoza (voiced by Howard Ryshpan)

He was the only person that was brave enough to dive into the ocean to save baby Esteban and regrets not being able to save his father.

Mendoza seems to be an honourable man, but underneath he is a greedy man that only thinks of one thing - Gold.

He was given the task of kidnapping Zia, a young Inca girl, who was supposed to know the whereabouts of The Mysterious Cities of Gold. At the same time he persuades Esteban to come on a journey with him and hopefully find his father. But Mendoza wants to use Esteban to keep the skies clear and Zia to lead him to the gold, and not the others (his employers wouldn't give any thought to killing him over the gold).

Mendoza is a trained navigator and was invaluable to Commander Gomez to get them through the Straits of Magellan. But when he came across the Inca ship, the Solaris, even his skills couldn't help him operate it, so he let Tao take the helm. He was startled by the workmanship of the vessel.

He tells others that he has a way with children and knows how to make them trust him. Mendoza pretends to be the children's friend, but he's only being nice to them because he wants to find the gold. He would betray them at the drop of a hat.

When Mendoza found out that that the medallions supposedly opened the gateway to the Mysterious Cities of Gold, he planned to snatch them from the children when the time was right. But he didn't need to, as they opened the gateway when he caught up with them.

Mendoza might be selfish and cunning, but this trait has meant that he's helped the children out of a few dangerous situations. If it wasn't for Mendoza, the children would have been captured and their quest to find the Cities of Gold would have come to an abrupt halt.

He talks down to Pedro and Sancho as if they are children. Mendoza is always telling them off and chiding them for their actions. But he can be ruthless and cruel to them in certain situations.

Zia (voiced by Janice Chaikelson)

She is an Inca Girl, roughly the same age as Esteban. She originates from the New World and was kidnapped by the Spanish and taken to the Royal Court as a gift to Princess Marguerita. Later she was kidnapped by Mendoza to read a quipu and help find the Cities of Gold.

She became good friends with Esteban and has the same medallion as him. Her father, a High Priest, has told her to speak to no one about where she comes from, but she senses that it is alright to discuss it with Esteban. Zia is still trying to find her father.

Not surprisingly, she doesn't trust Mendoza and thinks that he is using them (the children) to get to the gold. Se feels that he will betray them at the slightest whim.

She was scared when she was kidnapped by Tao (who disguised himself as a monster), but quickly came to trust him. Eventually Zia made it back to her village in the New World.

Tao (voiced by Adrian Knight)

He is roughly the same age as the other children (Zia & Esteban). Tao can be a bit pig headed and wants others to follow what he says. It seems that Tao doesn't like to wash much, as he smelt when the children first met him.

Tao lived alone on a deserted island for many years after his father died. His people (the Hiva's) built houses and paths way up in the trees. He is proud of his ancestors who not only built the tree houses, but built wondrous things such as the Golden Condor and the Solaris, a huge ship powered by the sun's rays.

Tao carries with him a book that his father gave him. This stores vital clues to the Mysterious Cities of Gold, which he must decipher.

When he first saw Zia with Mendoza, he thought she had been captured by the Spanish, so carried her away. He also knew that this was the girl that he had been waiting for all these years, as it had been foretold. He was wary of Esteban initially, as he was Spanish, but now understands that he has the best interests of Zia at heart. The same cannot be said about Mendoza, who he keeps a watchful eye on. Tao decided to join Zia and Esteban's on their journey.

When they discovered the ship that his people built, the Solaris, he was overcome with pride that his people could have built such a magnificent thing. Then almost at once, he buried his head in a book that his father gave him, to try to work out how to operate the ship. Eventually he did, which allowed them to escape from Gomez and his men.

Poor Tao was heartbroken when he realised that he would have to blow up the Solaris to destroy the nearby ship of Gomez, to save his friends. So he pulled the red handle and blew up both ships.

Tao is very clever and can come up with ideas to help out. Such as the time Governor Pizarro tried to attack the Fort of the Black Eagle at night. Tao came up with an idea to make small parachutes and attach them to flaming torches, which when shot into the air would float down slowly and light up the surrounding area.

Sancho (voiced by Terrence Labrosse)

He is a colleague of Mendoza and acts quite oafish. He is overweight and not surprisingly he loves to eat. He stutters through conversations and is quite a coward in dangerous situations (more so than Pedro).

Mendoza considers Sancho as one of his right hand men and in return Sancho would follow Mendoza to the ends of the Earth.

He has gold on the mind more than the others, because he tries to ask everyone he meets where the Gold is. This really annoys Mendoza, as he's trying to keep their real intensions about the Cities of Gold a secret. So he silences Sancho quite quickly.

Like Pedro, he will fight anyone for gold.

Pedro (voiced by Howard Ryshpan)

He is Sancho's best friend. Sometimes you wouldn't think it, as they are always squabbling. He too is one of Mendoza's companions.

He is cowardly and selfish, just like Sancho, and hates caves. But when he sees gold his personality changes and he becomes extremely selfish and will fight anyone to keep it, especially Sancho.

Pedro (along with Sancho) wanted to leave the children behind as soon as they found out where the Cities of Gold were. They like the children, but haven't go the same bond with them as Mendoza has.

Gomez (voiced by Matt Berman)

Gomez is a Commander in the Spanish army. It was Gomez who sent Mendoza out to kidnap Zia on Governor Pizarro's orders. He is ambitious and also has a lust for gold. Gomez's is not an honourable person. His word means nothing, as he goes back on it, as Zia has found out.

He identified quite quickly that Mendoza could be a threat to him and the expedition to find the Mysterious Cities of Gold. So he plotted with Captain Perez and Gaspard to get rid of him. But as usual, Mendoza countered this and made sure that he was indispensable to them.

When the ship they were on was shipwrecked, Gomez thought the children and Mendoza had been killed. He was rescued by another of Pizarro's ships.

It was at this time that he came across the Solaris, a ship powered by the sun, and found out that the children and Mendoza were still alive. So he pursued them, but the Solaris was too quick.

But Gomez is a determined person and does not give up easily. He eventually caught up with a moored Solaris, which he took control of. But he didn't count on Tao and Zia blowing it up.

Gomez knows that Governor Pizarro doesn't take kindly to failure. He knows that if he keeps failing to re-capture Zia for the Governor that it wouldn't be wise to see Pizarro again, as it would mean certain death for Gomez.

Later on in his quest to re-capture the children, he came across Mendoza without the children and knows that Mendoza would be the best person to guide his men in pursuit of the children through the Forbidden Zone, much to the disgust of Gaspard. But Mendoza betrayed him again by stealing his cannon and joining the Inca's, so Gomez has vowed he will never trust Mendoza again.

Gomez is like a bad penny, he's always turning up. The children can't seem to shake Gomez and Gaspard.

Governor Pizarro (voiced by Maurice Podbrey)

He is a very powerful man and also has a lust for gold. He has many soldiers at his disposal from the Spanish Army. He is based in the New world and when he first arrived the locals thought he was a god, as foretold in a prophecy, but they quickly learnt that this wasn't the case. He stole from their Temples and enslaved the local Inca population. Any disobedience was met with punishment, such as floggings or they were sentenced to death.

It was under the Governor's orders that Zia was to be kidnapped. He suspected that she could read the Inca message he had obtained, written using knots (a quipu) and tell him where the Cities of Gold were.

When Zia refused to translate the message he was furious and threatened to hang her. It was only when Mendoza said that he could persuade her that he calmed down, but only long enough to threaten Mendoza with the same fate, if he didn't get the information by the next day.

He was furious when Mendoza escaped with Zia and ordered his guards after them. Later he found out that Zia was heading to a temple that was in an underground cave beneath his fortress, to talk with a priest he imprisoned years ago. So he went to head them off.

Gaspard (voiced by A.J. Henderson)

He serves in the Spanish army and is the Captain of the Guard (of a contingent of soldiers), under the command of Commander Gomez. He jumps feet first into situations without thinking and uses brawn instead of his brains, in situations.

He dislikes Mendoza as believes he mocks him and would love nothing more than to run him through with a sword.

He has stuck with Gomez through everything, as he believes that he will find the Cities of Gold.

High Priest of the Cities of Gold

He is Esteban's father. When he was younger, he sailed across the Great Western Seas to the New World. Here he fell in love with a young Inca woman and they had a child, who was Esteban. The land was plunged into darkness and the Inca people said that the Sun God was angry.

Esteban's mother was sacrificed to appease the gods and he was to be banished from the land and sent back to his homeland along with the child. So the Inca's built them a ship and sent them on their way. But during the journey the ship started to break up during a great storm. He was more interested in saving his child's life rather than his own and was relieved when a man from a passing ship saved his son. That man was Mendoza.

Before being put on the ship by the Inca's he prophesised that the place where the god of the sun and the god of the bright star cross, there will be born the sacred emblem of the sky.

After travelling the world looking for his son, he settled at one of the cities of gold, as he knew his son would one day come here. During his wait, the High Priest of the Cities of Gold died, so he decided it was his duty to take this role on and protect the Cities of Gold.

When he met Esteban, he never let on that he was his father.

Kokapetl (voiced by Vlasta Vrana)

He is Tao's green parrot. He's very intelligent and talks. When there is danger around, it is Kokapetl that warns everyone. But it seems that Kokapetl knows more about the Cities of Gold than he's letting on.

Kokapetl is normally found sitting on the shoulder or head of Tao. This is probably due to being too fat and so he finds it hard to fly.

Gallery


Its the Golden Condor	Looks Cool Eh?


Who's flying it?	Its not us!


Its not Mendoza	Probably...


...auto-pilot.	Esteban


Tao	The Spanish...


...who are after the Gold.	Zia


The Medallions...	...are the key to the MCoG


Another deserted city	They want Esteban to help