The
television version of Zorro, like its previous movie incarnations,
was based on stories written by Johnston McCulley. These stories
recounted exploits of the swashbuckling alter-ego of Don Diego de
la Vega in colonial California.
The most popular and recognizable TV version of Zorro was
the Disney Studios production for ABC. The two organizations had
entered into a joint production agreement in 1954, an agreement
which bore immediate fruit with Disneyland and The Mickey
Mouse Club. Walt Disney had purchased the rights to the Zorro
stories in the early 1950s but pilot production stalled while Walt
focused on construction of his Disneyland theme park. Zorro
went into production in 1957 and enjoyed immense popularity on ABC
for two years, from October 1957 to September 1959.
Guy
Williams played Zorro, the mysterious hero who righted wrongs perpetrated
on the common people by the evil Captain Monastario (Britt Lomond),
commandant of the Fortress de Los Angeles. Don Diego's father, Don
Alejandro (George J. Lewis), persuaded his son to return to California
from Spain and do his utmost to foil Monastario and his dimwitted
underling, Sergeant Garcia (Henry Calvin). Zorro's true identity
was known only to his deaf-mute servant Bernardo (Gene Sheldon).
Depending on the situation Zorro rode one of two trusty mounts,
one black (Tornado) and one white (Phantom). Each episode began
with Zorro sticking a message on the Commandant's door, "My sword
is a flame to right every wrong, so heed well my name--Zorro."
Though
it used almost all Caucasian actors, the story of Zorro stands out
in the television landscape of 1957 for featuring an Hispanic hero
figure. Roles and role models for Hispanic-Americans were absent
from the television productions of the era and this acknowledgement
of the Hispanic culture and the heroism of many of its constituents
was considered a forward step.
Yet
the characters were broadly drawn and often stereotypical. The conflict
in Zorro was a simple distillation: a decadent, militaristic
monarchy which exercised a corrupt, greedy rule over simple, God-loving
folk versus the mysterious, altruistic defender of honesty and virtue.
The archetypal characters of Monastario, Garcia, and Zorro provided
easy markers of good and evil for the children of Zorro's target
audience. Evil was effeminate, devious, slovenly, and doltish. Good
was decisive and (in the words of another Disney Studios product),
"brave, truthful, and unselfish." Even as the prime-time western
genre was approaching the end of its cycle by reinventing itself
as "adult," the western genre for children remained a comfortable
and predictable haven of values championed by Walt Disney and, in
turn, the middle class.
By
the late 1950s and early 1960s, the relationship between ABC and
the Disney Studios had soured. The Mickey Mouse Club
was dropped after its fourth season. Though the network claimed
this was due to flagging sponsorship, Walt Disney believed it was
because of excessive commercial minutes. Zorro, still quite
popular, was also cancelled. ABC now owned enough shows to make
the purchase of programs from independent producers less necessary.
To make matter worse, ABC forbade the Disney Studios from selling
its product to a competing network, and while legal wrestling changed
that restriction, it was clear that The Disney Studios had become
a casualty of the fledgling network's success.
But
Zorro also serves as an early example of what can happen
to the popularity of a show when it is extensively merchandised.
Because it was a Disney Studios product, Zorro had the benefit
of the studio's massive merchandising machinery. During the run
of the show, and for many years thereafter, Zorro spawned
a huge number of items--hats, knives, masks, capes, pencil and lunch
boxes--sold with the Zorro logo. The original theme was recorded
for the opening of the show by Henry Calvin, who played Sergeant
Garcia, and made into a popular hit record by the musical group
called the Chordettes. During the two years that Zorro ran on ABC,
the Disney merchandising juggernaut generated millions in additional
income and kept the profile of the program high, especially with
children. Even years after the popularity of the Disney Studios
and ABC's Zorro had waned, the merchandising continued. When Zorro
became a children's cartoon in the 1970s, a PEZ dispenser capped
with Zorro's masked visage enjoyed healthy sales.
In some ways, Zorro serves as a model for much that is right
and much that is wrong with children's television. It often propounded
positive values and altruistic behavior, but it was ultimately one
of the first of a long line of productions used solely to deliver
a huge number of children to advertisers.
The
image of Zorro remains prevalent today. From McCulley's original
stories, through the movie with Tyrone Power and the serial with
Clayton Moore, the Disney version for ABC, the Saturday morning
cartoon, and the cable remake on the Family Channel in 1988, Zorro
still has appeal. Even today, colorized versions of the original
black-and-white episodes shot by Disney are cablecast on the Disney
Channel, introducing the next wave of children to "a horseman known
as Zorro."
-John
Cooper
Hollis,
Richard. The Disney Studio Story. London: Octopus Books,
1989.
West, Richard. Television Westerns: Major and Minor Series,
1946-1978.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1987.
