The Mysterious Cities of Gold - Nick Knacks Episode #055

Nickelodeon continues its trend of introducing two animated shows to their lineup. 1986's theme? French Weirdness! It's 1532, and Spain has gold fever! Join Esteban, Zia and Tao as they get kidnapped, get taken to South America, and end up joining shady explorer Mendoza on a quest to find the fabled seven cities of gold!

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[poparena]

Youtube took down the Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea episode. If you'd like to watch it, you can catch it on the Internet Archive.

[RandomSime]

I learned 3d animation at a college in the early 2000s. I was talking with some other students about our favourite childhood animations, mentioned MCoG and one of the girls got excited because her mum was a colourist on it. She said, "I have so many cels from that show that were like, mistakes." So I asked for a few, and a few days later I got about 10 cels of varying quality! There was a great one of Esteban so I got it framed for my sister's birthday.

[mattperiolat]

I cannot help but feel pride. Cities of Gold was, if not abundantly clear, my favorite thing on Nick for its entire run and I’m glad it is well received both here and in the extended community. I really hope that it continues to grow as younger generations discover a very early Nick gem, before Double Dare.

Well done and my thanks.

[schrodingerscat]

Here in the UK this show ran on the BBC in the 80s, such a great show, every kid I knew watched it.

[mathewm]

As a native person (pomo coto tribes from Northern California, Torasco from Mexico) I loved this show, i finally had something where the characters actually looked like me, came from a world, a culture that i was familiar with. It also told the story of colonisation unflinchingly, never sugarcoating it for the sake of "the children". Finally, the end of each episode came with a quick 3-5 minute history recap of whatever it was you just watched. That was one of my favorite parts. Episode 14 had one where they spotlighted how even though there are over 7 million native peoples in South America they are still treated like 2nd class citizens in their own homeland.

[NAJ]

Man, Shuki Levy and Haim Saban were kinda amazing at music, weren't they? I remember they also did music for Inspector Gadget back in the 80s, and it shows. Great stuff :D

[melasnexperience]

I was only in kindergarten when this aired, and our family couldn't afford a VCR yet, so I only got to see this when I was off from school. And even then, most of the time I missed it cuz I'd need to go to my cable-less grandparents' house. So watching it was a confusing but engrossing experience the very few times I managed to catch. It probably kick-started my childhood fascination with "lost" mythical locations and my fondness for the anime aesthetic.

[Tacomster]

Personally I thinks hold up better than Dances With Wolves, this maybe the earliest example of showcasing the tragedy of colonialism on American tv. Didn't know the soundtrack was redub, it's one of my favorite soundtrack of any animated series, much better than 4Kids overblown orchestra.

[stephentaege]

This is still one of the most beautiful cartoon series ever i watched this show when I was 13 still love it today 👍 cheers stevo 🍀🍀🍀🍀

[RodneyDodson]

When I was four years old, for some reason, I was emotionally invested in this show. I used to love watching it.

[avorydorean]

Honestly when I watched this show, I was a child a small child. I vividly remember being so excited about the friendship and the traveling they got to do together. The music was so awesome, The Neverending story vibes…. Well in my eyes!!! I loved it and it gave me beach vibes… I always wanted to be at the beach. But dude… this show was my vibe! I had to go to my grandmothers to watch it. My parents were hippies and refused to get cable. But when she picked me up from school I would rush to her tv and turn it up… I loved it…. Thanks for this!!! No one ever talks about this… who knew I loved an anime show… I’m 45 now so wow!

[DreadedRhubarb]

It's worth noting that giant bear people and white Amazon women were things that the conquistadors claimed to have seen. The show didn't invent them.


The quasi-alien bat people however...

[Thedesertguy]

The intro and melody to (mysterious cities of gold)that song is one of the most unforgettable tunes ive ever heard.

Its beautiful. I feel like a 7 year old again when I hear it.... special place in my heart there....

[adawnhowell]

I LOVED LOVED LOVED watching Belle and Sebastian, The Little Prince, and the Mysterious Cities of Gold when I was between 9-11 yrs old, roughly '84-'86 or '87...Loved history too.

[Foebane]

I don't see why Mendoza shouldn't get his gold at the end of the show's first season, it's like his reward for assisting the children.

[MultiMal]

A little 9-year-old me wanted that giant robot condor *so bad*...

[Harrysound]

The thing that I loved about it was the fact that they did actually find the cities at the end…it wasn’t like many cartoons that never came to a conclusion

[Pewpewpew]

Haim Saban and Shuki Levy are seriously geniuses when it came to music. This shows song has stuck in my brain since I was 4 :’) thank you very much for doing this documentary.

[vgtrp]

This is the 1st time hearing the Japanese theme song, and it's okay but the French opening much better. Mysterious Cities of Gold is one of those series in which i remember the theme song more the show, but I have since watched the show and bought the DVD and am enjoying it so far. I even have a wall mount of the show. I also kinda hope the sequel series gets a DVD release or becomes available for streaming in the U.S. at some point. Anyway, the next episode is one of the shows I've been waiting for since the project began. Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea is a bizarre show that hardly anyone talks about.

[TheBronyBraeburn]

I never saw this show but heard good things about it online. I'm glad the show was honest about violence and death. Even as a kid, it bugged me when "character is totally okay! Yay!" when you never saw them again or the visual elements hinted at death: sad music, sad characters, something falling, etc. I know they died, don't treat me like I'm dumb.