Maya & Miguel

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Maya & Miguel
Format Children's programming
Created by Deborah Forte
Starring Candi Milo
Nika Frost
Erik Estrada
Lucy Liu
Carlos Ponce
Elizabeth Peña
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 65 (Episodes)
Production
Running time 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel PBS (PBS Kids Go!)
Original run October 11, 2004 – October 10, 2007

Maya & Miguel is a children's television animated series 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 and had 4 seasons and 65 episodes. On September 10, 2011, it started airing on Univision every Saturday mornings on the block Planeta U. However, as of September 28, 2013, it was removed from the Univision block, Planeta U's Saturday morning lineup for a timeshot replacement for The Jungle Book. The Spanish version is "Maya y Miguel".

Centering around the lives of pre-teen Hispanic 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 Frost, 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 Sesame Street, Dragon Tales, 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 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. Their mother is from Mexico, and father is from Puerto Rico. 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 Maya announcing, "Here's what some of our friends are up to," 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 8 main characters. Other characters are included, such as family, but the show mainly revolves around these characters:

  • Maya Santos: A sweet, gentle, and energetic Mexican-and-Puerto Rican-American girl who always manages to include her twin brother and friends into her crazy adventures. Whenever Maya comes up with an idea, she always says "¡Éso es!" (That's it!) and her hair bobbles light up; as shown in "The Bet" they 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 people's 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 Mexican-and-Puerto Rican-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. Voiced by Nikka Frost.
  • Theo: 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, but this was only because it was a "what-if" episode. 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 Jamal Mixon.
  • Maggie: Maya's Chinese-American friend. She is very dramatic, fashionable, and talented. She rarely disagrees with Maya's ideas. Voiced by Lucy Liu.
  • Chrissy: Maya's Dominican-American friend, and describes herself as Afro-Dominican. 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 loves animals. Voiced by Beth Payne.
  • Andy: An 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 moved to Maya and Miguel's neighborhood from Wisconsin; although he misses it at times, he is happy to have such great friends where he lives now. Voiced by Jeannie Elias.
  • Tito Chávez: Maya and Miguel's cousin who moved to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents. He lives in the same apartment complex. He admires his cousin Miguel; in the episode "I've Got to Be 'Mi-Guel'" he is shown pretending to act as if he is Miguel (which makes Miguel rather pleased, but eventually annoyed at one point). He loves to play soccer like the twins. Voiced by Candi Milo.
  • Paco: A bilingual parrot who is the twins' pet, originally owned by their abuela. Most commonly heard saying "Pretty Bird" and "What about Paco, what about Paco?". He often gets loose, causing much trouble and confusion. Paco also often reacts to figures of speech (mostly ones about birds), thinking they are real. Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.

List of episodes

Main article: List of Maya & Miguel episodes

Broadcast history

Cast

DVD and VHS releases

There has been only 3 Maya & Miguel DVD and VHS 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

    PBS Kids shows
    Current shows
    Former shows
    PBS Kids Go!
    See also
    • PBS network shows
    • Educational television
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