Out of the night, when the full moon is bright,
comes the horseman known as Zorro.
This bold renegade carves a Z with his blade,
a Z that stands for Zorro.
Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.
Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro!

Disney’s Zorro is a beloved TV series for several generations and is being rediscovered.

Some grew up with the program as it originally aired in the late 1950s or watching repeats in the ‘60s (hi there!) to airings in the ‘70s up to today, even including, yes, the colorized editions. Now, Disney has issued two superb Zorro volumes in their metal tin – black of course – “Treasures” editions, offering the complete first season and complete second season.

Created in 1919 by pulp magazine writer Johnston McCulley updating the Robin Hood theme in the context of 19^th century California under Spanish rule, the first Zorro story, “The Curse of Capistrano,” appeared in All-Star Weekly, which went on to become Argosy magazine.

Spanish for “fox,” Zorro, who was also called Señor Zorro in the original tale, was a black-clad masked rider and swordsman who takes on the totalitarian-like Capitan Monastario who rules the pueblo of Los Angeles. Zorro, for those who might not know, is really Don Diego (de la) Vega, the son of a wealthy local citizen.  Diego plays the fop when his true self is more like Zorro.

Zorro came to film in the 1920 silent movie The Mark of Zorro, starring that era’s action hero Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and it was a hit, even leading to a sequel, Don Q, Son of Zorro. Then came the 1940 remake starring Tyrone Power, which was a sensation.  Power’s duel with a sinister Basil Rathbone was only matched by Errol Flynn’s sword-fight, also with Rathbone as the baddie in 1938’s Robin Hood.  In fact, both movies stand as the two greatest adventure films of that period. While various Zorro films, including Saturday serials, followed. It wasn’t until Disney picked up the mantle that the legacy truly moved forward.

Walt Disney had been looking for theme park (the original Disneyland) financing when he learned the rights to Zorro were available, and he licensed them, initially planning to produce a pilot but eventually just launching a full show production.  The series debuted in October 1957 on ABC, and the final network broadcast was in June 1959. A total of 78 episodes were produced and four one-hour specials were aired on the Walt Disney anthology series between the fall of 1960 and spring of ’61.

The show’s star, Guy Williams, born Armando Catalano, had been a male model then contract player in B-movies, and the 6′3″ actor was almost ready to call it quits when he auditioned for Disney and was cast as Don Diego/Zorro and soon found himself the hero of children in the U.S. and around the world.  Though he went on to play John Robinson in the quirky ’60s science-fiction show Lost in Space, Williams will always be remembered as not just Zorro but for one of the definitive portrayals of that fox, so cunning and free.

The program also starred George J. Lewis as Diego’s wealthy father/statesman Alejandro, unaware of his son’s alter ego. Britt Lomond was the cruel Capitan Monastario, Henry Calvin as the bumbling Sgt. Miguel Demetrio Lopez Velasquez Garcia, and Gene Sheldon as Zorro’s mute confidant Bernardo, who pretended to be deaf.

The episodes in both Disney Treasures volumes hold up as family friendly but not overly juvenile stories.  Part of the reason is the actors’ take it seriously in general. While there’s humor, it’s not wink-wink, nudge-nudge camp.  No wonder so many kids wanted to put on a black hat, cape, and mask and wield a sword on Halloweens (yours truly included).  Also, the tales were part of continuing story arcs — a bit unusual for TV at the time — and then there was that theme song, written by Norman Foster and George Bruns, first recorded by The Mellomen and then a hit for The Chordettes, reaching at #17 on the Hit Parade.  Plus, a lot of school desks saw “Z” written on ‘em in the late ‘50s, but kids will be kids.  My son has been known to write slashing “Z’s” on his homework, though so far, his classroom desk has been spared.

It’s been noted that Zorro also draws on historical Portuguese and Mexican bandits, especially Joaquin Murrieta, called the “Mexican and/or Chilean Robin Hood,” and the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro picked up on this as Murrieta’s (fictional) brother Alejandro, played by Antonio Banderas, becomes the new Zorro trained by Anthony Hopkins’s Diego. The success of Mask of Zorro and its sequel Legend of Zorro (c’mon, give us one more please, before it’s too late), has led to revived interest the wonderful Disney series.

Zorro was also a key inspiration for one of the most popular comic book characters of all time, Batman.  Artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger both acknowledged this.  According to comics lore in recent decades, young Bruce Wayne was taken by his parents to see either the Fairbanks or Power Mark of Zorro at a movie theater (NOT an opera — the one thing Batman Begins botched), though the concept of the wealthy man playing the role of dilettante can also be found in tales of Spring Heeled Jack and The Scarlet Pimpernel.   In turn, Zorro, in addition to being inspired, in part, by Robin Hood as a hero of the common people, also draws from Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo.

Zorro has seen numerous books beyond the many stories written by McCulley, as well the aforementioned movies; other TV incarnations, comic books, and animated series, such as the well-done late ‘90s, take on the character.

The new Disney editions, which each include a collectible pin and a lithograph, are reasons for legions of Zorro fans worldwide to raise swords high and cheer as we look forward to more tales of Zorro in all mediums.

***

For a limited time, you could win both volumes of Disney Treasures Zorro, Complete Season One and Complete Season Two from Buzzine.  Just sign up for our no-spam Buzzine Blast to enter. Send an e-mail to giveaway@buzzine.com with “Zorro” as the subject line. Find out more on the Buzzine giveaway page.