Maya & Miguel
Maya & Miguel is a children's television animated series for children aged 6-12 produced by Scholastic Studios. It appears on PBS as part of the PBS Kids GO! lineup and on the CBBC channel in the UK. The show ran from October 11, 2004 to October 10, 2007.
Centering around the lives of pre-teen Hispanic fraternal twins named Maya and Miguel Santos and their friends, the program is aimed at promoting multiculturalism and education in general. It is geared to the 5-9 age range. Part of the dialogue in each episode in the English version is in Spanish but only individual words or phrases which are explained in English.
The program features well-known voice talent, including Candi Milo, Nika Futterman, Erik Estrada, Lucy Liu, Carlos Ponce and Elizabeth Peña.
The TV show is close captioned by the National Captioning Institute when seen on PBS Kids in the USA like Dragontales and Clifford the Big Red Dog.
The artists have an unusual attention to detail. In one episode where Miguel is "flying" a spaceship simulator, we see that it is supported by a Stewart platform.
Maya tends to be impulsive and intuitive, while Miguel tends to think things out before acting.
Synopsis
The show presents culture and language learning as fun, relevant and rewarding for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino population. The show chronicles the adventures, and sometimes misadventures, of ten-year-old fraternal twins Maya and Miguel Santos and features their family, friends and a diverse neighborhood. This show centers on Maya's well-intentioned meddling in her family's and friends' lives, ultimately creating new quandaries to fix. The underlying message is the importance of doing good for the family and community, and the philosophy that shared happiness is greater than personal gain. The show presents a positive, culturally rich portrayal of Latino family, language and cultures. Each episode ends with a WordGirl short. Some episodes end with Miguel announcing, "Here's what some of our friends are up to today," introducing clips of children engaging and interacting in ways consistent with the show's themes. Maya concludes episodes by exhorting viewers to "visit your local library like 'Maya & Miguel'".
Characters
The show centers around 7 main characters. Other characters are included, such as family, but the show mainly revolves around these characters:
- Maya Santos: An energetic ten-year-old Latin-American girl who always manages to include her twin brother and friends into her crazy adventures. She enjoys playing soccer and cheerleading. Whenever Maya comes up with an idea, she always says "¡Éso es!" (That's it!) and her hair bow lights up; as shown in "The Bet" it will continue to glow until she says "¡Éso es!". She can sometimes be very stubborn, ignorant, and naive, and tends to get involved in other peoples' business. Although most of her ideas don't go the way she plans them, they somehow manage to accomplish their original objective. Maya's heart is always in the right place. Voiced by Candi Milo.
- Miguel Santos: A ten-year-old Latin-American boy who is Maya's older twin (by 3 minutes). He is slightly more practical and sensible than his twin sister, and enjoys playing soccer and drawing. Every time Maya gets an idea, he gets a bad feeling about it. He knows Maya means well, but he thinks she gets more involved in other people's problems than need be. He keeps track of Maya's ideas that have gone wrong, which annoys Maya. However, he would sometimes admit that an idea of hers is the best idea yet. He is also slightly smarter than his sister. He has a crush on a girl named Kylie, who apparently feels the same way.. He gets along very well with his cousin, Tito. Voiced by Nika Futterman.
- Maggie Lee: Maya's Chinese-American friend. She is very dramatic, fashionable, and talented. She rarely disagrees with Maya's ideas. She loves dancing and cheerleading. She is learning Spanish. Voiced by Lucy Liu.
- Theo McEwen: Miguel's best friend and soccer buddy. He is African-American. Theo loves sports as much as Miguel and sometimes they are rivals. In one episode, Theo is shown to be bullying Miguel due to his dislike of school. Theo often gets A's in his classes. He is more intelligent than his friends. He is seen using gadgets which he made himself. Theo is often the voice of reason among his friends. He is also shorter. Voiced by Jerod Mixon.
- Tito Chávez: Maya and Miguel's seven-year-old cousin who moved to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents. He lives in the same apartment complex. He admires his cousin Miguel. He admires Miguel so much that he even tried to look and act like him, to Miguel's pleasure, in the episode: I've Got to be Miguel. He loves to play soccer and is a big fan of a wrestler named El Guamazo Lopez, the "greatest luchador" from Mexico City. Voiced by Candi Milo.
- Chrissy Lum: Maya's Dominican-American friend. She is very sensitive and level-headed (sometimes she can also be gullible). Chrissy sometimes points out the flaws in Maya's plans, similar to Miguel. She likes cheerleading, cats, and the color pink. Voiced by Elizabeth Payne.
- Andy Arlington: A 10-year-old English-American boy who was born with only one arm and is Miguel's friend. Often seen in the background with Miguel and Theo, he likes to play soccer, basketball, and baseball. Andy comes from a wealthy family. He does not consider himself to be better than anyone else, though. He has a crush on a Mexican girl named Esperanza, but was nervous about speaking with her as he cannot speak Spanish well and she is not fluent in English. Besides meeting and being nervous about meeting Esperanza, it is not known whether or not they are still together. Voiced by Jeannie Elias.
List of episodes
Voices of the characters
Funding
DVD releases
There has been only 3 Maya & Miguel DVD releases. There are no plans for releasing the complete seasons on DVD, although there are several episodes available on the official website.
- Maya & Miguel: Twice the Fun (September 13, 2005)
- Maya & Miguel: Funny Fix Ups (September 13, 2005)
- Maya & Miguel: Cinco de Maya (April 18, 2006)
References
External links
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| PBS Kids GO! |
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| See also |
- PBS network shows
- Educational television
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