Raye Johnsen a �crit :
"The Mysterious Cities Of Gold" (original Japanese
title: "Esteban and the Lost City of Gold") was one of
the first-ever animes released to English-speaking TV,
and was dubbed and first broadcast in the early
eighties. (First broadcast here in Australia was, I
believe, the winter of 1982.) It follows the
adventures of a young boy, Esteban, who journeys from
Spain, where he has grown up, to South America, after
meeting a young Incan girl who identifies his pendant
(a legacy from his father in the New World) as an
Incan religious symbol. Esteban goes on his journey,
taking his new friend with him, in order to find his
father and answer a lot of puzzling questions on the
way.
The production actually was Japanese/French/Luxemburg (actually NHK,
RTL, France2 and DIC, which still was based in France at that time),
primarily made for French TV and broadcast here in the early 80's,
like Ulysse 31 (also produced by Jean Chalopin a few years earlier).
I don't know exactly how the co-production spread the roles, just
that the scenario was in part by the series' director Bernard Deyri�s.
My memories are vague, because I didn't watch it regularly, but
I seem to remember the original was shown on Wednesdays afternoons,
followed or preceded by short documentaries on related subjects.
There are several pages on this series listed at the anime web
turnpike, in either French or English.
Recently, Chalopin (of Inspector Gadget fame) has made noises about a
possible sequel, but I don't know much about that.
It has never been released to video. People who
actually have copies recorded from TV are in a
minority, and there are several petitions circling
around, asking the production company to consider a
video release. In the meantime, if you encounter one
of theose lucky people who *did* record it when it was
broadcast, don't be afraid to ask for copies. It was
an extremely good production for its time, a great
series, and those people are holding the anime
equivalent of Bluebeard's hoard.
Actually, it HAS been released on video, at least the French
version, but it only is available in PAL or SECAM european
standards. There are 10 cassettes from AK video, but I'm told
the quality isn't top-notch. There also is a complete boxed
collection that still is for sale but in SECAM only, which
I doubt is visible outside of France.
This series actually still pops up on various channels around
the world, as I think it was dubbed in various languages besides
English. Most recent apparition here was last year.
Best
J.