THE PLOT THUS FAR

With his sword, whip and trusty steed Tornado, Zorro continued to fight the forces of evil in the second season of Walt Disney's legendary classic. The final 39 swashbuckling episodes saw even more children dressing up as the sly fox Zorro in Spanish and making the sign of the Z The second season aired from October 9, 1958, through July 2, 1959, and is presented here -- newly restored and remastered in its original black-and-white format. To add even more thrills to this six-disc set, we've included two rarely seen one-hour specials shown on Walt Disney's anthology series WALT DISNEY PRESENTS -- ZORRO: THE POSTPONED WEDDING and ZORRO: AULD AQUAINTANCE. You'll meet Guy Williams in a profile of the actor who became an overnight star in the role he was born to play. And you'll meet his stunt double, Buddy Van Horn. Featuring exclusive introductions by film historian Leonard Maltin, this is a timeless collection from generations past for generations to come.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

From 1957 to 1959, Disney’s Zorro was one of the most popular series on television starring Guy Williams, Henry Calvin, and Gene Sheldon. The show helped transform the literary character Don Diego de la Vega into the ultimate iconic, beloved swashbuckling masked hero of the time. The adventures of Zorro and his trusty steed Tornado have captivated audiences since their inception, gaining new audiences when it was re-aired on the Disney Channel in 1983 and re-colorizing the episodes in the 1990s. After the series conclusion, the Zorro adventures lived on from 1960 to 1961 on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in the form of a four-episode anthology series of hour-long Zorro specials, all of which are also included in Walt Disney Treasures Wave IX.

Although I was familiar with “Zorro” through the films, I have never seen any of the television episodes.  So, to finally watch them after hearing so much about Guy Williams stellar performance as the swashbuckling hero, I can see why many people enjoyed this series.

I can see how much Disney believed in this series and also spending money necessary to make sure that old California was presented well through the production design, the costumes and also the dialect.  I actually thought that a lot of the people on the show were Latino but later finding out that Guy Williams (Don Diego/Zorro) was Italian, Gene Sheldon (Bernard) and Henry Calvin (who played Sergeant Garcia) were Americans and Don Diamond (Corp. Reyes) was Russian.  But the series was also instrumental in hiring many Latino to have roles in the film, not only for this season but for the next.

Don Diego is the classic hero/vigilante that was created way before Bruce Wayne/Batman and he was a Robin Hood of sorts.  Taking down corruption and even helping out the poor.  He was a hero that many people identified with at the time and have heard from adults who remember those years when they would dress up as Zorro because they idolized him.  Granted, there are man portrayals of Don Diego in film and books but Disney was able to capture that flair of coolness with Guy Williams as the hero and for the most part, he is a hero that truly rocks!  It’s been over 50 years since the series debuted on television and watching it, I can see why people enjoyed the series.  It’s a well-done, enjoyable and highly entertaining series that captures that sense of adventure, action and tuning in for each episode watching Zorro take on those who would oppress the people, meeting the beautiful women but at the same time, remaining a gentleman.  I’ll go even further to say that the show also had cultural impact.