Zorro (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
writer
Johnston McCulley
John William Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro.
Biography
Born in O ...
, appearing in works set in the
Pueblo of Los Angeles
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spai ...
in
Alta California.
He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked
vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...
who defends the
commoners and
indigenous peoples of California
The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...
against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. His signature all-black
costume
Costume is the distinctive style of dress or cosmetic of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch. In short costume is a cultural visual of the people.
The term also was tradition ...
includes a cape, a hat known as a , and a mask covering the upper half of his face.
In the stories, Zorro has a high
bounty
Bounty or bounties commonly refers to:
* Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing
Bounty or bounties may also refer to:
Geography
* Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...
on his head, but is too skilled and cunning for the bumbling authorities to catch, and he also delights in publicly humiliating them. Because of this, the townspeople started calling him ''"El Zorro"'' due to his foxlike cunning and charm. Zorro is an
acrobat
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...
and an expert in various weapons, but the one he employs most frequently is his
rapier
A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Impo ...
, which he uses often to carve the initial "Z" on his defeated foes, and other objects to "sign his work". He is also an accomplished rider, his trusty steed being a black horse called
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
.
Zorro is the
secret identity
A secret identity is a person's alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1903, the concept was widespread in pulp heroes and is particularly prevalen ...
of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a young man who is the only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega, the richest landowner in California, while Diego's mother is dead. In most versions, Diego learned his swordsmanship while at university in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, and created his masked alter ego after he was unexpectedly summoned home by his father because California had fallen into the hands of an oppressive dictator. Diego is usually shown living with his father in a huge , which contains a number of secret passages and tunnels, leading to a secret cave that serves as headquarters for Zorro's operations and as Tornado's hiding place. In order to divert suspicion about his identity, Diego hides his fighting abilities while also pretending to be a coward and a
fop
Fop is a pejorative term for a foolish man.
FOP or fop may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Feature-oriented positioning, in scanning microscopy
* Feature-oriented programming, in computer science, software product lines
* Fibrodysplasia ...
.
Zorro made his debut in the 1919 novel ''
The Curse of Capistrano'', originally meant as a stand-alone story. However, the success of the 1920 film adaptation ''
The Mark of Zorro'' starring
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
convinced McCulley to write more Zorro stories for about four decades: the character was featured in a total of five serialized stories and 57 short stories, the last one appearing in print posthumously in 1959, the year after his death. ''The Curse of Capistrano'' eventually sold more than 50 million copies, becoming one of the
best-selling books of all time. While the rest of McCulley's Zorro stories did not enjoy the same popularity, as most of them were never reprinted until the 21st century, the character also appears in over 40 films and in ten TV series, the most famous being the Disney-produced ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' series of 1957–1959, starring
Guy Williams. Other media featuring Zorro include stories by other authors, audio/radio dramas, comic books and strips, stage productions and video games.
Being one of the earliest examples of a fictional masked avenger with a double identity, Zorro inspired the creation of several similar characters in pulp magazines and other media, and is a precursor of the
superheroes of American comic books, with
Batman drawing particularly close parallels to the character.
Publishing history
![Capistrano2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Capistrano2.jpg)
Zorro debuted in
Johnston McCulley
John William Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was an American writer of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro.
Biography
Born in O ...
's novel ''
The Curse of Capistrano'', serialized in five parts between August 9 and September 6, 1919, in the
pulp magazine ''
All-Story Weekly
''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...
''.
The story was originally meant as a standalone tale, and at the
denouement
Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and schola ...
, Zorro's true identity is revealed to all.
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
and
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
, on their
honeymoon, selected the story as the inaugural picture for their new studio,
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
, beginning the character's cinematic tradition. The novel was adapted as the film ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1920), which Fairbanks produced, co-wrote and starred in as Diego/Zorro. The movie was a commercial success,
and the 1924 reprint of McCulley's story by publisher
Grosset & Dunlap used the same title, capitalizing on the movie's popularity. The novel has since been reprinted using both titles.
In response to public demand fueled by the film, McCulley wrote more than sixty more Zorro stories, beginning in 1922 with ''The Further Adventures of Zorro'', which was also serialized in ''Argosy All-Story Weekly''. Fairbanks picked up the movie rights for the sequel that year. However, Fairbanks's sequel, ''
Don Q, Son of Zorro
''Don Q, Son of Zorro'' is a 1925 American silent swashbuckler romance film and a sequel to the 1920 silent film '' The Mark of Zorro''. It was loosely based upon the 1909 novel ''Don Q.'s Love Story'', written by the mother-and-son duo Kate a ...
'' (1925), was more based on the 1919 novel ''Don Q's Love Story'' by the mother–son duo Kate Prichard and
Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard
Major Hesketh Vernon Prichard, later Hesketh-Prichard (17 November 1876 – 14 June 1922) was an explorer, adventurer, writer, big-game hunter, marksman and cricketer who made a significant contribution to sniping practice within the British A ...
, than ''The Further Adventures''. Thus McCulley received no credit on the film.
At first, production of new Zorro stories proceeded at irregular intervals: the third novel, ''Zorro Rides Again'' (not to be confused with the 1937 theatrical serial) was published in 1931, nine years after the second one. Then, between 1932 and 1941, McCulley wrote four short stories and two serialized novels. Zorro stories were published much more frequently between 1944 and 1951, a period in which McCulley published 52 short stories with the character for the ''West Magazine''. "Zorro Rides the Trail!", which appeared in ''Max Brand's Western Magazine'' in 1954, is the last story to be published during the author's lifetime, and the second-to-last story overall. The last, "The Mask of Zorro" (not to be confused with the 1998 film), was published posthumously in ''Short Stories for Men'' in 1959. These stories
ignore
CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS and OS/2 operating systems. It is a special ASCII text file that contains user-accessible setup or configuration directives evaluated by the operating system's DOS BIOS (typically residing ...
Zorro's public revelation of his identity.
''The Curse of Capistrano'' eventually sold more than 50 million copies, becoming
one of the best-selling books of all time. For the most part, McCulley's other Zorro stories remained overlooked and out-of-print until the 21st century. Bold Venture Press collected all McCulley's Zorro stories ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures'', in six volumes.
Over 40 Zorro titled films were made over the years, including ''
The Mark of Zorro'', the 1940 classic starring
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
. The character was also featured in ten TV series, the most famous being the Disney-produced ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' series of 1957–59, starring
Guy Williams.
Zorro appears in several stories written by other authors, comics books and strips, stage productions, video games and other media. McCulley died in 1958, just as Zorro was at the height of his popularity thanks to the Disney series.
Fictional character biography
![The Mark of Zorro (1920) - 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/The_Mark_of_Zorro_%281920%29_-_3.jpg)
In ''
The Curse of Capistrano,'' Señor Zorro became an outlaw in the
pueblo of Los Angeles
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spai ...
in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
"to avenge the helpless, to punish cruel politicians, to aid the oppressed" and is dubbed the "Curse of Capistrano". The novel features extensively both Don Diego Vega and Zorro, but the fact that they are the same person is not revealed to the reader until the end of the book. In the story, both Diego and Zorro romance Lolita Pulido, an impoverished noblewoman. While Lolita is unimpressed with Diego, who pretends to be a passionless
fop
Fop is a pejorative term for a foolish man.
FOP or fop may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Feature-oriented positioning, in scanning microscopy
* Feature-oriented programming, in computer science, software product lines
* Fibrodysplasia ...
, she is attracted to the dashing Zorro. The main villain is Captain Ramon, who also has his eyes on Lolita. Other characters include Sgt. Pedro Gonzales, Zorro's enemy but Diego's friend; Diego's deaf and mute servant Bernardo; his ally, Fray (Friar) Felipe; his father Don Alejandro Vega, the richest landowner in California and a widower; Don Carlos Pulido and his wife, Doña Catalina, Lolita's parents; and a group of noblemen () who, at first, hunt Zorro but are then won over to his cause.
In later stories, McCulley introduces characters such as pirates and Native Americans, some of whom know Zorro's identity.
In McCulley's later stories, Diego's surname became de la Vega. In fact, the writer was wildly inconsistent. The first magazine serial ended with the villain dead and Diego publicly exposed as Zorro. But in the sequel, the villain was alive and the next entry had the double identity still secret.
Several Zorro productions have expanded on the character's exploits. Many of the continuations feature a younger character taking up the mantle of Zorro.
McCulley's stories are set during the era of
Spanish California
The history of California can be divided into the Native American period (about 10,000 years ago until 1542), the European exploration period (1542–1769), the Spanish colonial period (1769–1821), the Mexican period (1821–1848), and Uni ...
(1769–1821) and, although exact years are often vague, the presence of the Pueblo of Los Angeles means the stories cannot happen before 1781, the year it was founded. Some media adaptations of Zorro's story have placed him during the later era of
Mexican California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
(1821–1848).
Character motifs
The character's visual motif is typically a black costume with a black flowing
Spanish cloak
A Spanish cloak is a garment typically worn in the Spanish-speaking world, and dates back to the late nineteenth century. It was the garment of priests and traditional Christians. It is called "Spanish" or even "Pañosa," being made of cloth, w ...
or cloak, a black flat-brimmed hat known as
sombrero cordobés
The Cordovan hat (in Spanish, ''sombrero cordobés'') is a traditional hat made in the city of Córdoba, Spain and traditionally worn in a large part of Andalusia.mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...
that covers the top half of his head. Sometimes the mask is a two piece, the main item being a blindfold-type fabric with slits for the eyes, and the other item being a bandana over the head, so that it is covered even if the hat is removed: this is the mask worn in the movie ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1920) and in the television series ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' (1957–1959). Other times, the mask is a one piece that unites both items described above: this mask was introduced in ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1940) and appears in many modern versions. Zorro's mask has also occasionally been shown as being a rounded
domino mask
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
, which he wore without also wearing a bandana. In his first appearance, Zorro's cloak is purple, his hat is generically referred to as a "wide sombrero," and his black cloth veil mask with slits for eyes covers his whole face. Other features of the costume may vary.
His favored weapon is a
rapier
A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Impo ...
, which he also uses to often leave his distinctive mark, a Z cut with three quick strokes, on his defeated foes and other objects to "sign his work". He also uses other weapons, including a
bullwhip
A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather or nylon, designed as a tool for working with livestock or competition.
Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country. A bullwhip's leng ...
and a
pistol.
The
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
is never depicted as Zorro's emblem. It is used as a metaphor for the character's wiliness, such as in the lyrics "Zorro, 'the Fox', so cunning and free..." from
Disney's television series theme.
His heroic pose consists of rearing on his horse,
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
, often saluting with his hand or raising his sword high. The logo of the company Zorro Productions, Inc. uses an image of Zorro rearing on his horse, sword raised high.
Skills and resources
![Zorroridesagain](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Zorroridesagain.jpg)
Zorro is very
intelligent and can not only use a complex strategy, prepared before entering the battlefield, but also improvise plans in the moment of danger and combat. He never uses brute force and, indeed, more often than not he uses humor and psychological teasing to irritate his opponents, causing them to lose their emotional detachment and become too eager for revenge to be able to coordinate in action and in combat. He fools them by provoking them into his traps.
In addition to having exceptional tactical skills, he specializes in infiltrating heavily guarded enemy structures or territories, espionage and improvised explosive devices. His calculating and precise ability as a tactician allowed him to also use weapons as an extension of his skillful hand. He is also a weapons expert and a master of escape and camouflage. He is also good at deciphering numerous languages, both spoken and written. Zorro also masters body language, gestures and symbols, facilitating communication with locals regardless of ethnicity or language.
Zorro is an agile athlete and
acrobat
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...
, using his bullwhip as a gymnastic accoutrement to swing through gaps between city roofs, and is very capable of landing from great heights and taking a fall. Although he is a master swordsman and marksman, he has more than once demonstrated his prowess in unarmed combat against multiple opponents. Keen intelligence and an acute power of observation are two main skills allowing Zorro to surprise, in order to defeat, establishment enemies.
His calculating and precise dexterity as a tactician has enabled Zorro to use two key weapons, his sword and bullwhip, as an extension of his deft hand. He never uses brute strength. Instead and more likely, he uses his fox-like and sly mind, and well-practiced technique to outmatch an opponent. He uses seduction as Zorro and coyness as Don Diego de la Vega, tricking his opponents to obstruct easy access to his true identity by using deception as masterful skill.
In some versions, Zorro keeps a medium-sized dagger tucked in his left boot for emergencies. He has used his cape as a blind, a trip-mat and a disarming tool. Zorro's boots are also sometimes weighted, as is his hat, which he has thrown, Frisbee-style, as an efficiently substantial warning to enemies. But more often than not, he uses psychological mockery to make his opponents too angry to be coordinated in combat.
Zorro is a skilled horseman. The name of his jet-black horse has varied through the years. In ''The Curse of Capistrano'', it was unnamed. In Disney's ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' television series the horse gets the name
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
, which has been kept in many later adaptations. In most versions, Zorro keeps Tornado in a secret cave, connected to his with a system of secret passages and tunnels.
McCulley's concept of a band of men helping Zorro is often absent from other versions of the character. An exception is ''
Zorro's Fighting Legion
''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against ...
'' (1939), starring
Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor.
Early life
Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...
as Diego. In Douglas Fairbanks' version, he also has a band of masked men helping him. In McCulley's stories, Zorro was aided by a deaf-mute named Bernardo. In Disney's ''Zorro'' television series, Bernardo is not deaf but pretends to be, and serves as Zorro's secret agent. He is a capable and invaluable helper for Zorro, sometimes wearing the mask to reinforce his master's charade.
The Family Channel's ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' television series replaces Bernardo with a teenager named Felipe, played by
Juan Diego Botto
Juan Diego Botto Rota (born 29 August 1975) is an Argentine-Spanish film, stage and television actor.
Born in Argentina, he moved to Spain together with his mother (the actress and acting coach Cristina Rota) in 1978. Following early film appe ...
, with a similar disability and pretense. In Isabel Allende's ''Zorro: A Novel,'' Bernardo is the child of the de la Vega's Native housemaid, Ana, who forms a bond with Regina de la Vega, a former Native warrior who is converted, Christainized and married to Don Alejandro. Their dual pregnancies result in them giving birth the same night. Due to complications from birth, Regina cannot breastfeed her child, Diego, so Ana breastfeeds both boys, making them milk brothers. The two are shown to be inseparable, which helps Bernardo receive more formal education, and accompanies Diego to Barcelona. After a group of pirates invade the de la Vega home, Bernardo witnesses the rape and murder of his mother and a result stops speaking. Diego's grandmother White Owl concludes Bernardo refuses to speak as a form of mourning. He is shown to speak to Tornado in a spirit quest and later to a fellow native girl, Light-in-the-Night, whom he marries.
Characteristics
![Zorro gip](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Zorro_gip.jpg)
In ''The Curse of Capistrano'', Diego is described as "a fair youth of excellent blood and twenty-four years, noted the length of
El Camino Real for his small interest in the really important things of life." It is also said that "Don Diego was unlike the other full-blooded youths of the times. It appeared that he disliked action. He seldom wore his blade, except as a matter of style and apparel. He was damnably polite to all women and paid court to none. ... Those who knew Don Diego best declared he yawned ten score times a day." Though proud as befitting his class (and seemingly uncaring about the lower classes), he shuns action, rarely wearing his sword except for fashion, and is indifferent to romance with women. This is, of course, a sham. At the end of the novel, Diego explains that he has planned his double identity since he was fifteen:
"It began ten years ago, when I was but a lad of fifteen," he said. "I heard tales of persecution. I saw my friends, the , annoyed and robbed. I saw soldiers beat an old native who was my friend. And then I determined to play this game."
"It would be a difficult game to play, I knew. So I pretended to have small interest in life, so that men never would connect my name with that of the highwayman I expected to become. In secret, I practiced horsemanship and learned how to handle a blade—"
"By the saints, he did," Sergeant Gonzales growled.
"One half of me was the languid Don Diego you all knew, and the other half was the Curse of Capistrano I hoped one day to be. And then the time came, and my work began."
"It is a peculiar thing to explain, . The moment I donned cloak and mask, the Don Diego part of me fell away. My body straightened, new blood seemed to course through my veins, my voice grew strong and firm, fire came to me! And the moment I removed cloak and mask I was the languid Don Diego again. Is it not a peculiar thing?"
This part of the backstory was changed in the 1920 film ''
The Mark of Zorro'': Diego is recently returned from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
at the start of the movie, and Zorro later tells Lolita that he learnt his swordsmanship in Spain. The 1925 sequel ''
Don Q, Son of Zorro
''Don Q, Son of Zorro'' is a 1925 American silent swashbuckler romance film and a sequel to the 1920 silent film '' The Mark of Zorro''. It was loosely based upon the 1909 novel ''Don Q.'s Love Story'', written by the mother-and-son duo Kate a ...
'' expands on this concept by saying that: "Though the home of the De Vegas has long been on California soil, the eldest son of each new generation returns to Spain for a period of travel and study." The 1940 film ''
The Mark of Zorro'' keeps the idea of Diego learning his swordsmanship in Spain, and adds the idea of him being unexpectedly summoned home by his father Don Alejandro when California fell into the hand of an oppressing dictator. Both ideas would then be included in most retelling of the character's backstory.
McCulley's portrayal of Diego's personality, with minor variations, is followed in most Zorro media.
A notable exception to this portrayal is Disney's ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' (1957–59), where Diego, despite using the original façade early in the series, instead becomes a passionate and compassionate crusader for justice and simply masquerades as "the most inept swordsman in all of California". In this show, everyone knows Diego would love to do what Zorro does, but thinks he does not have the skill.
The Family Channel's ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' (1990–1993) takes this concept further. While Diego pretends to be inept with a sword, the rest of his facade is actually exaggerating his real interests. Diego is actually well-versed and interested in art, poetry, literature, and science. His facade is pretending to be interested in only these things and to have no interest in swordplay or action. Zorro also has a well-equipped laboratory in his hidden cave in this version of the story.
In Isabel Allende's novel, Diego is a mestizo, the son of a Spanish aristocrat and a Shoshone warrior woman. Thus, as a child, Diego is caught between the divine right of nobility and the ways of his Native mother, grandmother and ancestors.
Inspirations
The historical figure most often associated with the Zorro character is
Joaquin Murrieta
Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes spelled Murieta or Murietta) (1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexican-American figure of disputed historicity. The novel '' The Life and A ...
, whose life was fictionalized in an 1854
dime novel
The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...
by
John Rollin Ridge
John Rollin Ridge (Cherokee name: Cheesquatalawny, or Yellow Bird, March 19, 1827 – October 5, 1867), a member of the Cherokee Nation, is considered the first Native American novelist. After moving to California in 1850, he began to write ...
. In the 1998 film ''
The Mask of Zorro
''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...
'' Murrieta's (fictitious) brother Alejandro succeeds Diego as Zorro. As a hero with a secret identity who taunts his foes by signing his deeds, Zorro finds a direct literary predecessor in Sir Percival Blakeney, hero of the ''
Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...
''
pulp series by
Emma Orczy
Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci) (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends as Em ...
.
The character recalls other figures, such as
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
,
Reynard the Fox
Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...
,
Salomon Pico
Salomon may refer to:
People
* Salomon (given name)
* Salomon (surname)
Companies
* Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five la ...
,
Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza
Manuel Xavier Rodríguez Erdoíza (; February 27, 1785 – May 26, 1818) was a Chilean lawyer and guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Rodríguez was of Basque people, Basque descent.
Early lif ...
, and
Tiburcio Vasquez Tiburcio, the Spanish form of Tiburtius, may refer to:
*Tiburcio Carías Andino (1876–1969), Honduran military strongman
*Tiburcio de León, Filipino general (the Philippine Revolution and Philippine-American War)
* José Tiburcio Serrizuela (bo ...
. Another possible historical inspiration is
William Lamport
William Lamport (or Lampart) (1611/1615 – 1659) was an Irish Catholic adventurer, known in Mexico as "Don Guillén de Lamport (or Lombardo) y Guzmán". He was tried by the Mexican Inquisition for sedition and executed in 1659. He claimed to b ...
, an Irish soldier who lived in Mexico in the seventeenth century. His life was the subject of a fictive book by
Vicente Riva Palacio
Vicente Florencio Carlos Riva Palacio Guerrero better known as Vicente Riva Palacio (16 October 1832 in Mexico City – 22 November 1896 in Madrid) was a Mexican liberal politician, novelist, journalist, intellectual, and military leader.
...
; ''The Irish Zorro'' (2004) is a recent biography. Another is
Estanislao
Cucunuchi ( – 1838), baptized as Estanislao, was an indigenous ''alcalde'' of Mission San José and a member and leader of the Lakisamni tribe of the Yokuts people of northern California. He is famous for leading bands of armed Native America ...
, a
Yokuts
The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. ''Yokuts ...
man who led a revolt against the
Mission San Jose in 1827.
The 1860s, 1880s and 1900s
penny dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
treatment of the
Spring-heeled Jack
Spring-heeled Jack is an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban Lo ...
character as a masked avenger may have inspired some aspects of Zorro's heroic persona. Spring Heeled Jack was portrayed as a nobleman who created a flamboyant, masked
alter ego to fight injustice, frequently demonstrated exceptional athletic and combative skills, maintained a hidden lair and was known to carve the letter "S" into walls with his rapier as a calling card.
Like Sir Percy in ''
The Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...
'', Don Diego avoids suspicion by playing the role of an effete
dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance. A dandy could be a self-made man who strove to imitate an aristocratic lifestyle des ...
who wears lace, writes poetry, and shuns violence. The all-black Fairbanks film costume, which with variations has remained the standard costume for the character, was likely adapted from the Arrow serial film character
''The Masked Rider'' (1919). This character was the first Mexican black-clad masked rider on a black horse to appear on the silver screen. Fairbanks's costume in ''The Mark of Zorro'', released the following year, resembled that of the Rider with only slight differences in the mask and hat.
In
1860
Events
January–March
* January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
* January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...
Mór Jókai
Móric Jókay de Ásva (, known as ''Mór Jókai''; 18 February 1825 – 5 May 1904), outside Hungary also known as Maurus Jokai or Mauritius Jókai, was a Hungarian nobleman, novelist, dramatist and revolutionary. He was an active participant ...
published his novel "''Szegény Gazdagok''" (Poor richmen), where the main character is the
Hungarian Baron Lénárd Hátszegi, who is supposed to have the alterego of the "Fatia Negra" (The one with the Black face), an outlaw who robs local people during the night, and during the day lives an aristocratic life. The novel's character was inspired by the real life
Hungarian Baron László Nopcsa (1794–1884), who according to the local legends had a similar type of alterego.
Copyright and trademark disputes
The
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
and
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
status of the Zorro character and stories have been disputed. Most of the entries of the Zorro franchise are still protected by copyright, and many hundreds of copyrights are owned or controlled by Zorro Productions, Inc. but there are at least five exceptions: the 1919 novel ''The Curse of Capistrano'', the 1920 film ''The Mark of Zorro'', the 1922 novel ''The Further Adventures of Zorro'', the 1925 film ''Don Q, Son of Zorro'' and the 1926 film ''In the Way of Zorro'' are in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
in the United States since at least 95 years have passed after their first release. Zorro Productions, Inc. asserts that it "controls the worldwide trademarks and copyrights in the name, visual likeness and the character of Zorro." It further states "
e unauthorized, unlicensed use of the name, character and/or likeness of 'Zorro' is an infringement and a violation of state and federal laws."
In 1999,
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
, a division of
Sony Pictures, sued Del Taco, Inc., due to a fast-food restaurant advertising campaign that allegedly infringed Zorro Productions' claims to a trademark on the character of Zorro. Sony and TriStar had paid licensing fees to Zorro Productions, Inc., related to the 1998 film ''
The Mask of Zorro
''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...
''. In an August 1999 order, the court ruled that it would not invalidate Zorro Productions' trademarks as a result of the defendant's arguments that certain copyrights in Zorro being in the public domain or owned by third parties.
A dispute took place in the 2001 case of ''Sony Pictures Entertainment v. Fireworks Ent. Group.'' On January 24, 2001, Sony Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Zorro Productions, Inc. sued
Fireworks Entertainment
Fireworks Entertainment (originally Skyvision Entertainment) was an independent studio originally founded in 1991 by Brian K. Ross and later bought out by Jay Firestone in 1996 to produce, distribute and finance television shows and feature film ...
,
Paramount Pictures, and
Mercury Entertainment, claiming that the ''
Queen of Swords
The Queen of Swords is a card in the Suit of Swords, part of the Minor Arcana set of the Tarot.
Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games.
In English-speaking countries, Tarot cards are utilized primarily for div ...
'' television series infringed upon the
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
s and
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
s of Zorro and associated characters. ''Queen of Swords'' is a 2000–2001 television series set in
Spanish California
The history of California can be divided into the Native American period (about 10,000 years ago until 1542), the European exploration period (1542–1769), the Spanish colonial period (1769–1821), the Mexican period (1821–1848), and Uni ...
during the early 19th century and featuring a hero who wore a black costume with a red sash and demonstrated similarities to the character of Zorro, including the sword-fighting skills, use of a whip and
bolas
Bolas or bolases (singular bola; from Spanish and Portuguese ''bola'', "ball", also known as a ''boleadora'' or ''boleadeira'') is a type of throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, used to capture animals by entan ...
, and horse-riding skills.
Zorro Productions, Inc., argued that it owned the copyright to the original character because Johnston McCulley assigned his Zorro rights to Mitchell Gertz in 1949. Gertz died in 1961, and his estate transferred to his children, who created Zorro Productions, Inc. Fireworks Entertainment argued that the original rights had already been transferred to
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckler film, swashbuckling roles in silent films in ...
in 1920 and provided documents showing this was legally affirmed in 1929, and also questioned whether the copyright was still valid.
The court ruled that "since the copyrights in ''The Curse of Capistrano'' and ''The Mark of Zorro'' lapsed in 1995 or before, the character Zorro has been in the public domain". Judge Collins also stated that: "Plaintiffs' argument that they have a trademark in Zorro because they licensed others to use Zorro, however, is specious. It assumes that ZPI had the right to demand licenses to use Zorro at all." Judge Collins subsequently vacated her ruling following an unopposed motion filed by Sony Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Zorro Productions, Inc.
In another legal action in 2010, Zorro Productions, Inc., sued
Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$40 billion in annual sales in 2021.
Mars was ranked as the fourth-largest pri ...
, makers of
M&M's
M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...
chocolate candies, and ad agency
BBDO Worldwide over a commercial featuring a Zorro-like costume. The case was settled ("each party shall bear its own costs incurred in connection with this action, including its attorney's fees and costs") on August 13, 2010.
In March 2013, Robert W. Cabell, author of ''Z – the Musical of Zorro'' (1998), filed another lawsuit against Zorro Productions, Inc. The lawsuit asserted that the Zorro character is in the public domain and that the trademark registrations by Zorro Productions, Inc., are therefore fraudulent. In October 2014, Cabell's lawsuit was dismissed, with the judge ruling that the state of Washington (where the case was filed) did not have jurisdiction over the matter. However the judge later reversed his decision and had the case transferred to California. In May 2017, U.S. District Judge Davila granted Zorro Productions, Inc.'s motion to dismiss Cabell's claim to cancel its federal trademark registrations. Cabell did not appeal.
In June 2015, Robert W. Cabell's legal dispute with Zorro Productions, Inc. resulted in the
Community Trade Mark
A European Union trade mark or EU trade mark (abbreviated EUTM; named ''Community Trade Mark'' (''CTM'') until 23 March 2016) is a trade mark which is pending registration or has been registered in the European Union as a whole (rather than on a na ...
for "Zorro" being declared invalid by the European Union's Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market for goods of classes 16 and 41. This follows the 'Winnetou' ruling of the Office's First Board of Appeal in which the Board of Appeal ruled that the name of famous characters cannot be protected as a trademark in these classes. Zorro Productions appealed the decision and, on December 19, 2017, the EUIPO Fourth Board of Appeal nullified the lower court's ruling, declaring the contested trademarks as valid, and required Cabell to pay the costs of the legal action, the appeal and Zorro Productions' legal fees and costs. Zorro Productions, Inc. owns approximately 1300 other ZORRO related trademarks worldwide. In May 2018, Judge
Edward Davila processed a complaint by Cabell to find Zorro Productions infringed copyright on his musical.
Legacy
![MaskedRider](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/MaskedRider.jpg)
The 1936 film ''
The Vigilantes Are Coming
''The Vigilantes Are Coming'' is a 1936 American Republic film serial directed by Ray Taylor and Mack V. Wright. It was the third of the sixty six serials made by Republic Pictures (and the third released in 1936).
This serial was filmed betwee ...
'' features a masked vigilante with a costume similar to Zorro, which led several countries to name the movie after Zorro: the film was named ''Zorro l'indomptable'' in France, ''Zorro – Der blutrote Adler'' in Germany, ''Zorro – den blodrøde ørn'' in Denmark and ''Zorro – veripunainen kotka'' in Finland. The main character, The Eagle s played by
Robert Livingston, who would then play the actual Zorro in the movie ''
The Bold Caballero
''The Bold Caballero'' is a 1936 American Western film written and directed by Wells Root. It is based on the character Zorro, created by Johnston McCulley. The characters Don Alejandro Vega (Don Diego's father) and Bernardo are notably absent. ...
'', also released in 1936.''The Vigilantes Are Coming'' "was a reworking of ''
The Eagle
The eagle is a large bird of prey.
Eagle or The Eagle may also refer to:
Places England
* Eagle, Lincolnshire, a village
United States
* Eagle, Alaska, a city
* Eagle Village, Alaska, a census-designated place
* Eagle, Colorado, a statut ...
'',
Rudolph Valentino's silent film." In the film, Valentino plays the masked hero Black Eagle. ''The Eagle'' was based on the posthumously published 1841 novel ''
Dubrovsky'' by
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
, the Black Eagle does not exist in the novel and was inspired by the performance of Douglas Fairbanks as Zorro in ''The Mark of Zorro''.
The Masked Rider
The Masked Rider is the primary mascot of Texas Tech University. It is the oldest of the university's mascots still in existence today. Originally called "Ghost Rider", it was an unofficial mascot appearing in a few games in 1936 and then became ...
, the primary
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
of
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...
, is similar to Zorro. Originally called "Ghost Rider", it was an unofficial mascot appearing in a few games in 1936 and then became the official mascot with the 1954 Gator Bowl.
Being one of the earliest examples of a fictional avenger with a double identity, Zorro inspired the creation of several similar characters in pulp magazines and other media, and is a precursor of the
superheroes of American comic books,
Jerry Siegel
Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...
has credited Zorro along with
The Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...
as one of the inspirations for the creation of
Superman particularly the concept of his dual identity as mild mannered reporter Clark Kent, as Clark Kent's harmless facade and dual identity were inspired by the protagonists of such movies as Don Diego de la Vega in ''
The Mark of Zorro'' and Sir Percy Blakeney in ''
The Scarlet Pimpernel
''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...
'', Siegel thought this would make for interesting dramatic contrast and good humor. Superman's stance as the ''Champion of the Oppressed'' and devil-may-care attitude during his early Golden Age appearances were influenced by the characters of ''The Mark of Zorro'' star Douglas Fairbanks, who starred in similar adventure films such as ''
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
''.
Also being one of the earliest examples of a fictional masked avenger with a dual identity,
Bob Kane
Robert Kane (born Robert Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator and artist who co-created Batman (with Bill Finger) and most early related characters for DC comics. He was inducted into the comi ...
has credited Zorro as part of the inspiration for the character
Batman, which was created in 1939. Like Don Diego de la Vega, Bruce Wayne is
affluent
Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...
, the heir of wealth built by his parents. His everyday persona encourages others to think of him as shallow, foolish and uncaring to throw off suspicion.
Frank Miller
Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
's comic book miniseries ''
The Dark Knight Returns
''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and p ...
'' (1986) and ''
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
''Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again'', also known as ''DK2'', is a 2001-2002 DC Comics three-issue limited series comic book written and illustrated by Frank Miller and colored by Lynn Varley, featuring the fictional superhero Batman. The seri ...
'' (2001–2002) both include multiple Zorro references like the Batman inscribing a Z on a defeated foe. In later tellings of Batman's origins, Bruce Wayne's parents are murdered by a robber as the family leaves a showing of the 1940 film ''
The Mark of Zorro'', starring
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
.
Zorro inspired a similar pulp character known as
El Coyote, which was created in 1943 by José Mallorquí. A sample superhero character called The Fox appearing in the ''
Supers'' supplement of the
GURPS role-playing system is also based on Zorro.
![Man with the Steel Whip FilmPoster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Man_with_the_Steel_Whip_FilmPoster.jpeg)
The Republic Pictures serials ''
Don Daredevil Rides Again
''Don Daredevil Rides Again'' (1951) is a Republic Movie serial. It makes heavy use of stock footage from Republic's previous Zorro serials. The character of ''Don Daredevil'' (Ken Curtis) was created for this serial as the rights to Zorro b ...
'' (1951) and ''
Man with the Steel Whip
''Man with the Steel Whip'' is a 1954 Republic Western serial film. It uses considerable stock footage from the previous Republic serials "Zorro's Black Whip", "The Painted Stallion" and "Daredevils of the West."
Plot
Saloon owner Barnett wants ...
'' (1954) features masked heroes similar to Zorro: Don Daredevil and El Latigo. Republic had previously released five Zorro serials between 1937 and 1949, but had since lost the licence for the character and could not use him anymore. The serial makes frequent use of
stock footage from all five Zorro serials, with scenes originally showing Zorro now being interpreted as showing Don Daredevil and El Latigo: the result of this is that the costume and body shape of Don Daredevil and El Latigo keeps changing between scenes, even becoming female in scenes taken from ''
Zorro's Black Whip
''Zorro's Black Whip'' is a 1944 12-chapter film serial by Republic Pictures starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of '' The Mark of Zorro'' in order to capitalize on it. Republic was not able to u ...
'' (1944).
The 1956 musical comedy ''
The Court Jester
''The Court Jester'' is a 1955 musical-comedy, medieval romance, costume drama film starring Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury and Cecil Parker.
The movie was written, produced, and directed by Melvin Frank and Norma ...
'' features a masked freedom fighter called The Black Fox (played by
Edward Ashley) who combines aspects of both Zorro and
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
.
Hanna-Barbera Productions' animated series ''
Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks
''Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks'' is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon television series that featured as a regular segment of the television series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show'' from 1958 to 1961.
Plot
The cartoon series stars two mice, the bow-tied Pix ...
'' (1958–1961) featured a Zorro-like character with a mask, cape and sword known in the episode "Mark of the Mouse" (1959). Hanna-Barbera Production's animated series ''
The Quick Draw McGraw Show
''The Quick Draw McGraw Show'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and their third television series overall after ''The Ruff and Reddy Show'' and ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Voice actor Daws Bu ...
'' (1959–1962) features El Kabong, an alternate persona of the main character
Quick Draw McGraw
Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...
, which is loosely based upon Zorro.
In the animated series ''
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
'' (2001–2004), a DC Comics character,
El Diablo, bears a striking similarity to Zorro, in that he wears the same style hat, mask, sash and cape. The main difference is that his primary weapon is a whip. The Lazarus Lane version of El Diablo appears in ''
Justice League Unlimited
''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe ...
'' (2004–2006), voiced by
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor may refer to:
* Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology
Arts and entertainment
* "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses''
* Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...
. While designed after his comic appearance, elements from Zorro's appearance were added in. Seen in the episode "
The Once and Future Thing
''Justice League Unlimited'' is an American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically bas ...
" (2005), he appears alongside
Pow Wow Smith,
Bat Lash
Bartholomew "Bat" Aloysius Lash is a fictional Western (genre), Western superhero character in the DC Universe. A self-professed pacifist, self-professed ladies' man, and gambler, Bat Lash's adventures have been published by DC Comics since 19 ...
and
Jonah Hex
Jonah Woodson Hex is a fictional antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer John Albano and artist Tony DeZuniga. Hex is a surly and cynical bounty hunter whose face is scarred on the r ...
.
In 2015, The M7 Con Western Convention, held at the
Los Angeles Convention Center
The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest section of downtown Los Angeles. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming location in TV shows and movies.
History
The convention center, ...
featured a segment on the history of Zorro in film and television. The presentation focused on the great Zorro actors including
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
,
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
,
Guy Williams, and
Duncan Regehr
Duncan Peter Regehr (born October 5, 1952) is a Canadian writer, multimedia artist, and film and television actor. He was also a figure skater and a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor in his native Canada, before heading to Hollywood ...
. Maestro Ramon Martinez and actor
Alex Kruz gave a live demonstration of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
style of fencing known as La Verdadera
Destreza
is the conventional term for the Spanish tradition of fencing of the early modern period. The word literally translates to 'dexterity' or 'skill, ability', and thus to 'the true skill' or 'the true art'.
While is primarily a system of sword ...
. The two dueled live as Zorro and the Comandante much to the delight of the crowd.
A cave that was used as a filming location in various Zorro productions is now known as "Zorro's Cave" and remains in place, now hidden behind a condominium complex, on land that was once the
Iverson Movie Ranch Iverson may refer to:
Computing
* Iverson Award, an ACM honour for APL contributions
* Iverson bracket, a mathematical notation
* Iverson Notation, the syntactic basis of APL (programming language)
Other uses
* Iverson Movie Ranch, Chatsworth, Ca ...
in
Chatsworth, Calif., recognized as the most widely filmed outdoor shooting location in the history of Hollywood.
Appearances in media
Stories by Johnston McCulley
![Argosy All-Story Weekly 19220506](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Argosy_All-Story_Weekly_19220506.jpg)
The original stories were published in pulp magazines from the 1910s to the 1950s. Most remained unpublished in book form until the series of collected editions ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures'', issued in 2016 and 2017.
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 1'' (2016)
** ''
The Curse of Capistrano'', ''
All-Story Weekly
''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...
'' Vol. 100 No. 2 – Vol. 101 No. 2, serialized in five parts, August 9, 1919 – September 6, 1919 – novella ''The Curse of Capistrano'' published by
Grosset & Dunlap in 1919, and reissued as ''The Mark of Zorro'' in 1924 by the same editor
** "Zorro Saves A Friend", ''Argosy'' Vol. 234 No. 1, November 12, 1932
** "Zorro Hunts A Jackal", ''Argosy'' Vol. 237 No. 6, April 22, 1933 (a.k.a. ''Zorro Hunts by Night'')
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 2'' (2016)
** ''The Further Adventures of Zorro'', ''
Argosy'' Vol. 142 No. 4 – Vol. 143 No. 3, serialized in six parts, May 6, 1922 – June 10, 1922
** "Zorro Deals With Treason", ''Argosy'' Vol. 249 No. 2, August 18, 1934
** "Mysterious Don Miguel", ''Argosy Weekly'', Vol. 258 No. 5 – No. 6, serialized in two parts, September 21, 1935 – September 28, 1935
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 3'' (2016)
** ''Zorro Rides Again'', ''Argosy'' Vol. 224 No. 3 – Vol. 224 No. 6, serialized in four parts, October 3, 1931 – October 24, 1931
** "Zorro Draws a Blade", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 56 No. 2, July 1944
** "Zorro Upsets a Plot", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 56 No. 3, September 1944
** "Zorro Strikes Again", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 57 No. 1, November 1944
** "Zorro Saves a Herd", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 57 No. 2, January 1945
** "Zorro Runs the Gauntlet", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 57 No. 3, March 1945
** "Zorro Fights a Duel", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 58 No. 1, May 1945
** "Zorro Opens a Cage", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 58 No. 2, July 1945
** "Zorro Prevents a War", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 58 No. 3, September 1945
** "Zorro Fights a Friend", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 59 No. 1, October 1945
** "Zorro's Hour of Peril", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 59 No. 2, November 1945
** "Zorro Lays a Ghost", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 59 No. 3, December 1945
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 4'' (2016)
** ''The Sign of Zorro'', ''Argosy'' Vol. 305 No. 2 – Vol. 305 No. 6, serialized in five parts, January 25, 1941 – February 22, 1941
** "Zorro Frees Some Slaves", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 60 No. 1, January 1946
** "Zorro's Double Danger", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 60 No. 2, February 1946
** "Zorro's Masquerade", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 60 No. 3, March 1946
** "Zorro Stops a Panic", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 61 No. 1, April 1946
** "Zorro's Twin Perils", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 61 No. 2, May 1946
** "Zorro Plucks a Pigeon", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 61 No. 3, June 1946
** "Zorro Rides at Dawn" ''West Magazine'' Vol. 62 No. 1, July 1946
** "Zorro Takes the Bait", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 62 No. 2, August 1946
** "Zorro Raids a Caravan", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 62 No. 3, October 1946
** "Zorro's Moment of Fear", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 63 No. 3, January 1947
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 5'' (2017)
** "A Task for Zorro", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 65 No. 2, June 1947
** "Zorro Saves His Honor", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 64 No. 1, February 1947
** "Zorro and the Pirate", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 64 No. 2, March 1947
** "Zorro Beats the Drum", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 64 No. 3, April 1947
** "Zorro's Strange Duel", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 65 No. 1, May 1947
** "Zorro's Masked Menace", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 65 No. 3, July 1947
** "Zorro Aids an Invalid", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 66 No. 1, August 1947
** "Zorro Saves an American", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 66 No. 2, September 1947
** "Zorro Meets a Rogue", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 66 No. 3, October 1947
** "Zorro Races with Death", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 67 No. 1, November 1947
** "Zorro Fights for Peace", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 67 No. 2, December 1947
** "Zorro Serenades a Siren", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 68 No. 1, February 1948
** "Zorro Meets a Wizard", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 68 No. 2, March 1948
** "Zorro Fights with Fire", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 68 No. 3, April 1948
** "Gold for a Tyrant", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 69 No. 1, May 1948
** "The Hide Hunter", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 69 No. 2, July 1948
* ''Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures Vol. 6'' (2017)
** "Zorro's Fight for Life", ''West Magazine'', Vol. 74 No. 2, July 1951
** "Zorro Shears Some Wolves", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 69 No. 3, September 1948
** "The Face Behind the Mask", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 70 No. 1, November 1948
** "Zorro Starts the New Year", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 67 No. 3, January 1948
** "Hangnoose Reward", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 70 No. 3, March 1949
** "Zorro's Hostile Friends", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 71 No. 1, May 1949
** "Zorro's Hot Tortillas", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 71 No. 2, July 1949
** "An Ambush for Zorro", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 71 No. 3, September 1949
** "Zorro Gives Evidence", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 72 No. 1, November 1949
** "Rancho Marauders", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 72 No. 2, January 1950
** "Zorro's Stolen Steed" ''West Magazine'' Vol. 73 No. 3, March 1950
** "Zorro Curbs a Riot", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 73 No. 3, September 1950
** "The Three Stage Peons", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 74 No. 1, November 1950
** "Zorro Nabs a Cutthroat", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 74 No. 2, January 1951
** "Zorro Gathers Taxes", ''West Magazine'' Vol. 74 No. 3, March 1951
** "Zorro Rides the Trail!", ''Max Brand's Western Magazine'', May 1954
** "The Mask of Zorro", ''Short Stories for Men'' Vol. 221 No. 2, April 1959
Stories by other authors
* ''Walt Disney's Zorro'' by
Steve Frazee 1958
Whitman Publishing Company, novelization of some episodes of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* "Zorro Outwits Death", ''Walt Disney's Magazine'' Vol. III No. 3, April 1958. Loosely based on the episode "Zorro's Secret Passage" of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* "Zorro's Merry Chase", ''Walt Disney's Magazine'', Vol. III No. 5, August 1958
* "The Fire of the Night", ''Walt Disney's Magazine'', Vol. III No. 6, October 1958 and Vol. IV No. 1, 1958
* "Zorro and the Missing Father", ''Walt Disney's Magazine'', Vol. IV No. 3, April 1959 and No. 4, June 1959. Adapted from the episodes "The Missing Father", "Please Believe Me", and "The Brooch" of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''Zorro'' by
Olivier Séchan
Olivier Séchan (January 14, 1911 – July 7, 2006) was a French writer most know for his children’s books. He was born in Montpellier and died in Paris at the age of 95. He was the son of Louis Séchan and brother of Edmond Séchan.
Life and ...
1959
Hachette Hachette may refer to:
* Hachette (surname)
* Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing
** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary
** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm
See also
* Hachett ...
* ''Il Ritorno di Zorro'' by B.F. Deakin 1968
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore
Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy.
History
The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 1 ...
, anthology of nine short stories
* ''Zorro arrive !'' by Jacques Van Hauten 1971 Hachette, novelization of some episodes of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''Le Retour de Zorro'' by
Jean-Claude Deret
Jean-Claude Deret, born Claude Breitman, (July 11, 1921 – December 12, 2016) was a French television writer, songwriter, actor, playwright and author of children's books and detective novels.
Early life
Jean-Claude Deret was born as Claude ...
1972 Hachette, novelization of some episodes of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''Zorro et le sergent Garcia'' by Thérèse Bertels 1973 Hachette, novelization of some episodes of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''Zorro et le trésor du Pérou'' by Thérèse Bertels 1973 Hachette
* ''Zorro contre le gouverneur'' by Jean-Claude Deret 1974 Hachette, novelization of some episodes of the 1957 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''L'Épée de Zorro'' by Jean-Claude Deret 1975 Hachette
* ''Zorro et l'épee du cid'' 1991 Hachette
* ''Zorro et la forteresse du diable'' by Valentin Dechemin 1991 Hachette , novelization of some episodes of the 1990 ''Zorro'' TV series
* ''Zorro and the Jaguar Warriors'' by Jerome Preisler September 1998 Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. Books
* ''The Mask of Zorro: A Novelization'' by
James Luceno
James Luceno (born 1947) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling author, best known for his novels and reference books connected with the '' Star Wars'' franchise and the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and (with Brian Daley under the shared pseudon ...
1998
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...
, novelization of the 1998 movie ''The Mask of Zorro''
* ''The Treasure of Don Diego'' by William McCay 1998 Minstrel Books , based on the film ''The Mask of Zorro''
* ''Zorro and The Dragon Riders'' by David Bergantino March 1999 Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. Books
* ''Skull and Crossbones'' by Frank Lauria 1999 Minstrel Books , based on the film ''The Mask of Zorro''
* ''The Secret Swordsman'' by William McCay 1999 Minstrel Books , based on the film ''The Mask of Zorro''
* ''The Lost Temple'' by Frank Lauria 1999 Minstrel Books, based on the film ''The Mask of Zorro''
* ''Lo Spirito e la Spada'' by Louis A. Tartaglia 1999
* ''Zorro!'' by Sally M. Stockton 1999 Cideb, based on the novella ''The Curse of Capistrano''
* ''El Zorro'' by Margarita Barberá Quiles 1999 Cideb, based on the novella ''The Curse of Capistrano''
* ''Zorro and the Witch's Curse'' by John Whitman April 2000 Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. Books
* ''La vera storia di Zorro'' by Isabella Parrini 2000 Alberti & C.
* ''Zorro: l'ultima avventura ovvero la storia di Zorro'', Volume 2 by Isabella Parrini 2001 Alberti & C.
* ''The Legend of Zorro: A Novelization'' by
Scott Ciencin
Malcolm Scott Ciencin (September 1, 1962 – August 5, 2014) was an American author of adult and children's fiction. He co-authored several books with his wife Denise Ciencin.
Biography
Malcolm Scott Ciencin was born in 1962. He was a New ...
2005
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
, novelization of the 2005 movie ''The Legend of Zorro''
* ''The Lone Ranger/Zorro: The Death Of Zorro'' By
Ande Parks
Ande Parks (born October 1, 1964) is an American professional comic book artist, known for his work as an inker and writer in the industry. His best known work has come from his stint with fellow artist Phil Hester on DC Comics' Green Arrow serie ...
2012
Simon Bowlands Crossover between The Lone Ranger and Zorro
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' by
Isabel Allende
Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...
2005 HarperCollins
* ''Young Zorro: The Iron Brand'' by Jan Adkins 2005 HarperCollins
* '' Zorro l'angelo nero della California'' by Irene Sartini 2007 Alberti & C
* '' Zorro l'angelo nero della California – L'avventura continua'' by Irene Sartini 2008 Alberti & C
* ''
Tales of Zorro
''Tales of Zorro'' is a 2008 anthology of Zorro stories and is the first collection of original short fiction featuring pulp hero Zorro. It was edited by Richard Dean Starr and published by Moonstone Books. A second anthology, ''More Tales of Z ...
'' anthology of 17 short stories written by 22 authors, edited by
Richard Dean Starr
Richard Dean Starr is an American entrepreneur, editor, screenwriter, and author of fiction, comics, and graphic novels. He is also a former journalist and film critic who has written for newspapers and magazines.
Starr is also a copywriter and ...
2008
Moonstone Books
Moonstone Books is an American comic book, graphic novel, and prose fiction publisher based in Chicago focused on pulp fiction comic books and prose anthologies as well as horror and western tales.
The company began publishing creator-owned com ...
* ''Zorro and the Little Devil'' by
Peter David
Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...
2018 Bold Venture Press
* ''Zorro: The Daring Escapades'' anthology of 16 short stories, edited by Audrey Parente and Daryl McCullough 2020 Bold Venture Press .
Films
The character has been adapted for over forty films. They include:
American theatrical feature films
* ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1920), with
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
,
directed by
Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo (born Frederick Liedtke; January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer.
Biography
He was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in Yo ...
* ''
Don Q, Son of Zorro
''Don Q, Son of Zorro'' is a 1925 American silent swashbuckler romance film and a sequel to the 1920 silent film '' The Mark of Zorro''. It was loosely based upon the 1909 novel ''Don Q.'s Love Story'', written by the mother-and-son duo Kate a ...
'' (1925), with
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
,
directed by
Donald Crisp
Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
* ''
The Bold Caballero
''The Bold Caballero'' is a 1936 American Western film written and directed by Wells Root. It is based on the character Zorro, created by Johnston McCulley. The characters Don Alejandro Vega (Don Diego's father) and Bernardo are notably absent. ...
'' (1936), with
Robert Livingston, directed by
Wells Root
Wells Crosby Root (March 21, 1900 – March 9, 1993) was an American screenwriter and lecturer. In the mid-1930s he was involved with the Screen Writers Guild and in the 1950s the University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever ...
* ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1940), with
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
, directed by
Rouben Mamoulian
Rouben Zachary Mamoulian ( ; hy, Ռուբէն Մամուլեան; October 8, 1897 – December 4, 1987) was an American film and theatre director.
Early life
Mamoulian was born in Tiflis, Russian Empire, to a family of Armenian descent. ...
* ''The Sign of Zorro'' (1958), with
Guy Williams, portions of the first 13 ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' TV episodes edited into a feature film, released overseas in 1958 and domestically in 1960
* ''Zorro, the Avenger'' (1959), with Guy Williams, another theatrical compilation of several ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' TV episodes, released overseas.
* ''The Erotic Adventures of Zorro'' (1972), an erotic parody of the masked avenger, co-produced in Italy and Germany, Douglas Frey
* ''
The Mark of Zorro'' (1974), a
made for television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...
which is a remake of the 1940 film, with
Frank Langella
Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's '' Frost/Nixon'' and as André in Flor ...
as Zorro, directed by
Don McDougall
* ''
Zorro, The Gay Blade'' (1981), a
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
directed by
Peter Medak
Peter Medak (born Medák Péter, 23 December 1937) is a Hungarian-born film director and television director of British and American productions.
Early life
Born in Budapest, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Med ...
with
George Hamilton as Diego Jr. and his twin brother Ramon. Diego Jr. succeeds his late father as Zorro, but he soon breaks his leg and Ramon fills in while Diego Jr. recuperates.
* ''
The Mask of Zorro
''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...
'' (1998), directed by
Martin Campbell
Martin Campbell (born 24 October 1943) is a New Zealand film and television director based in the United Kingdom. He is known for having directed '' The Mask of Zorro'' as well as the James Bond films '' GoldenEye'' and '' Casino Royale''. He ...
with
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...
as an aged Don Diego de la Vega and
Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta, a misfit outlaw/cowboy who is groomed to become the next Zorro, with Alejandro eventually marrying Diego's daughter Elena (
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...
)
* ''
The Legend of Zorro
''The Legend of Zorro'' is a 2005 American Western swashbuckler film directed by Martin Campbell, produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Lloyd Phillips, with music by James Horner, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. ...
'' (2005), the sequel to 1998's ''The Mask of Zorro'', again starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and directed by Martin Campbell
American film serials
* ''
Zorro Rides Again
''Zorro Rides Again'' (1937) is a 12-chapter Republic Pictures film serial. It was the eighth of the sixty-six Republic serials, the third with a Western theme (a third of Republic's serials were westerns) and the last produced in 1937. The s ...
'' (1937), with
John Carroll John Carroll may refer to:
People Academia and science
*Sir John Carroll (astronomer) (1899–1974), British astronomer
*John Alexander Carroll (died 2000), American history professor
*John Bissell Carroll (1916–2003), American cognitive sci ...
as a modern-day descendant, James Vega
* ''
Zorro's Fighting Legion
''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against ...
'' (1939), with
Reed Hadley
Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor.
Early life
Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...
as the original Zorro/Don Diego de la Vega
* ''
Son of Zorro
''Son of Zorro'' is a 1947 American Western film serial from Republic Pictures. It was the 43rd of the 66 serials produced by that studio. The serial was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Fred C. Brannon. George Turner starred as a descen ...
'' (1947), with George Turner as a Civil War descendant, Jeff Stewart
* ''
Ghost of Zorro
''Ghost of Zorro'' is a 1949 Republic Movie serial. It uses substantial stock footage from earlier serials, including ''Son of Zorro'' and '' Daredevils of the West''. This film was shot in Chatsworth, Los Angeles.
Plot
The year is 1865 and t ...
'' (1949), with
Clayton Moore
Clayton Moore (born Jack Carlton Moore, September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999) was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character the Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1952 and 1953 to 1957 on the television series of the sa ...
as Ken Mason, Zorro's grandson/"The Ghost of Zorro"
Despite the title and a credit to McCulley, ''
Zorro's Black Whip
''Zorro's Black Whip'' is a 1944 12-chapter film serial by Republic Pictures starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of '' The Mark of Zorro'' in order to capitalize on it. Republic was not able to u ...
'' (1944), with
Linda Stirling
Linda Stirling (born Louise Schultz; October 11, 1921 – July 20, 1997) was an American showgirl, model, and actress. In her later years, she had a second career as a college English professor for more than two decades. She is most famous ...
as an 1880s masked avenger known as The Black Whip, has nothing to do with Zorro.
Mexican films
* ''El Nieto del Zorro'' (1948) Mexican Western with
Resortes
Adalberto Martínez Chávez (25 January 1916 – April 4, 2003), better known in the entertainment world as Resortes, was a renowned Mexican actor. Known primarily for his talent as a comedian, Resortes was also a dancer. His stage name is Spanis ...
* ''El Zorro Escarlata'' (1959), Mexican Western with
Luis Aguilar
* ''El zorro escarlata en diligencia fantasma'' (1959), Mexican Western with Luis Aguilar
* ''El Zorro Vengador'' (1962), Mexican Western with Luis Aguilar,
* ''El Zorro'' (1962), Mexican Western with Julio Aldama,
* ''
La Gran Aventura Del Zorro
''The Great Adventure of Zorro'' (original Mexican title: ''La gran aventura del Zorro'') is a 1976 film starring Rodolfo de Anda in a Mexican version of Zorro, directed by Raúl de Anda and featuring such actors as Helena Rojo and Pedro Arme ...
'' (1976), Mexican Western with
Rodolfo de Anda
Rodolfo de Anda (July 6, 1943 – February 1, 2010) was a Mexican actor most well known for his roles in the film ''La gran aventura del Zorro'' and the television series ''El Pantera.'' He was born in Mexico City.
Life and career
Rodolfo d ...
, set in a very primitive
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
.
European films
* ''À la manière de Zorro'' / ''In the Way of Zorro'' (1926) Belgium William Elie – Unofficial
* ''Il sogno di Zorro'' / ''
The Dream of Zorro
''The Dream of Zorro'' (Italian: ''Il Sogno di Zorro'') is a 1952 Italian comedy adventure film directed by Mario Soldati and starring Walter Chiari, Delia Scala and Vittorio Gassman. The future star Sophia Loren had a minor role in the film.
...
'' / ''Zorro's Dream'' (1952) Italy
Walter Chiari
Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.
Biography
Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
* ''La montaña sin ley'' / ''
Lawless Mountain
''Lawless Mountain'' (Spanish: ''La montaña sin ley'') is a 1953 Spanish western film directed by Miguel Lluch and starring José Suárez, Isabel de Castro and Teresa Abad.Pitts p.217
Cast
* José Suárez as Zorro
* Isabel de Castro as Mar ...
'' (1953) Spain
José Suárez
* ''Zorro alla corte di Spagna'' / ''Zorro at the Spanish Court'' (1962) Italy
George Ardisson
Giorgio Ardisson, best known as George Ardisson (31 December 1931 – 11 December 2014), was an Italian actor.
Life and career
Born in Turin, Ardisson debuted in a minor role in Mauro Bolognini's 1959 film ''Arrangiatevi!''. After several ...
* ''
La venganza del Zorro'' (1962) Spain
Frank Latimore
Franklin Latimore (born Franklin Latimore Kline, September 28, 1925 – November 29, 1998) was an American actor.
Life and career
Latimore was born in Darien, Connecticut. He came from a well-to-do family, and was able to trace his lineage ba ...
* ''Le tre spade di Zorro'' / ''The Three Swords of Zorro'' (1963) Spain & Italy
Guy Stockwell
Harry Guy Stockwell (November 16, 1933 – February 6, 2002) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 30 movies and 250 television series episodes.
Life and career
Stockwell was born in New York City, the son of singer/dancer Elizabeth "B ...
* ''Zorro e i tre moschettieri'' / ''
Zorro and the Three Musketeers
''Zorro and the Three Musketeers'' ( it, Zorro e i tre moschettieri, also known as ''Mask of the Musketeers'' and ''Zorro vs. the Three Musketeers'') is a 1963 Italian comedy- adventure film directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Gordon Scott.
...
'' (1963) Italy
Gordon Scott
Gordon Scott (born Gordon Merrill Werschkul; August 3, 1926 – April 30, 2007) was an American film and television actor known for his portrayal of the fictional character Tarzan in five films (and one compilation of three made-as-a ...
* ''Zorro contro Maciste'' / ''
Samson and the Slave Queen
''Samson and the Slave Queen'' ( it, Zorro contro Maciste) is a 1963 Italian '' peplum'' directed by Umberto Lenzi. It was originally made as a Maciste film in Italy, in which the fabled strongman meets Zorro. It was redubbed into a "Samson" movie ...
'' (1963) Italy & Spain
Pierre Brice
* ' / ''Duel at the Rio Grande'' / ''Sign of Zorro'' (1963) Spain, Italy & France
Sean Flynn
* ''El Zorro cabalga otra vez'' / ''Il Giuramento di Zorro '' / ''
Behind the Mask of Zorro'' (1965) Italy & Spain
Tony Russel
Tony Russel (born Antonio Pietro Russo, and sometimes credited as Tony Russo or Tony Russell; November 23, 1925 – March 18, 2017) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was noted for having worked extensively in the Italian film ...
* ''Zorro il ribelle'' / ''Zorro the Rebel'' (1966) Italy
Howard Ross
* ''El Zorro'' / ''Zorro the Fox'' (1968) Italy & Spain George Ardisson
* ''I nipoti di Zorro'' / ''
The Nephews of Zorro
''The Nephews of Zorro'' ( it, I nipoti di Zorro, also known as ''The Cousins of Zorro'') is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Marcello Ciorciolini starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio.
Cast
* Franco Franchi: Franco La Vacca
* Ciccio I ...
'' (1968) Italy, comedy with
Franco and Ciccio
Franco () and Ciccio () were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theater field, and end ...
as Franco La Vacca and Ciccio La Vacca, nephews of Don Diego de la Vega's late wife.
Dean Reed
Dean Cyril Reed (September 22, 1938 – June 13, 1986) was an American actor, singer-songwriter, director, and social activist who lived a great part of his adult life in South America and then in East Germany. Nicknamed the Red Elvis, Reed was ...
plays Raphael de la Vega, son of Don Diego and the new Zorro, while
Franco Fantasia
Franco Fantasia (5 March 1924 – 10 November 2002) was an Italian film actor, stuntman and fencing master. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1951 to 2002. He was the brother of actor Andrea Fantasia. Illness and Death
Septemb ...
plays an aged Don Diego, who has retired from being Zorro.
* ''Zorro marchese di Navarra'' / ''Zorro, the Navarra Marquis'' (1969) Italy Nadir Moretti
* ''Zorro alla corte d'Inghilterra'' / ''Zorro in the Court of England'' (1969) Italy
Spiros Focás
Spiros Focás ( el, Σπύρος Φωκάς; born 17 August 1937) is a Greek actor.
Selected filmography
* (1959) - Giannos
* (1959) - Tasos Lygos
* (1959) - Alekos
* '' Death of a Friend'' (1959) - Bruno
* (1960) - Lucio Massimo
* '' Rocco ...
* ''E continuavano a chiamarlo figlio di ... '' / ''El Zorro justiciero'' / ''
The Avenger, Zorro
''The Avenger, Zorro'' ( es, El Zorro justiciero, it, E continuavano a chiamarlo figlio di...) is a 1972 Spanish-Italian Western film written and directed by Rafael Romero Marchent.
Plot
Cast
* Fabio Testi as Don Diego / Zorro
* Carlos ...
'' (1969) Italy & Spain
Fabio Testi
Fabio Testi (born 2 August 1941) is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on ''The Good, ...
* ''La última aventura del Zorro'' / ''Zorro il dominatore'' / ''Zorro's Latest Adventure'' (1969) Spain & Italy
Carlos Quiney
* ''Zorro il cavaliere della vendetta'' / ''El Zorro, caballero de la justicia'' / ''Zorro, Rider of Vengeance'' (1971) Spain & Italy Carlos Quiney
* ''El Zorro de Monterrey'' / ''Zorro la maschera della vendetta'' / ''Zorro the Invincible'' (1971) Spain & Italy Carlos Quiney
* ''Les aventures galantes de Zorro'' / ''Red Hot Zorro'' (1972) France & Belgium Jean-Michel Dhermay
* ''Il figlio di Zorro'' / ''Son of Zorro'' / ''
Man with the Golden Winchester
'' Man with the Golden Winchester'' ( it, Il figlio di Zorro, es, El hijo del Zorro, also known as ''Son of Zorro'') is a 1973 Spaghetti Western-adventure film directed by Gianfranco Baldanello and starring Alberto Dell'Acqua and Fernando Sanc ...
'' (1973) Italy & Spain
Alberto Dell'Acqua
Alberto Dell'Acqua (born 14 March 1938) is an Italian actor and stuntman. He appeared in more than forty films since 1955 mostly Italian Spaghetti Western
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerg ...
* ''Il sogno di Zorro'' / ''Grandsons of Zorro'' / ''Dream of Zorro'' (1975) Italy
Franco Franchi
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' (1975) Italy & France
Alain Delon
* ''La marque de Zorro'' / ''The Mark of Zorro'' (1975) France; additional sequences added to ''
La venganza del Zorro'' (1962) with Frank Latimore renamed Clint Douglas
* ''Ah sì? E io lo dico a Zzzzorro!'' / ''
Mark of Zorro'' / ''Who's Afraid of Zorro'' / ''They Call Him Zorro ... Is He?'' (1975) Italy & Spain
George Hilton – Unofficial
Turkey:
* ''Zorro kamcili süvari'' (1969) Turkey
Tamer Yiğit
Tamer Yiğit (born Tamer Özyiğitoğlu in 1942 in Balıkesir) is a Turkish actor. He starred as Ertuğrul Gazi in the history based and adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes ri ...
* ''Zorro'nun intikami'' (1969) Turkey Tamer Yiğit
India:
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' (1975) India
Navin Nischol
Navin Nischol (18 March 1946 – 19 March 2011) was an Indian actor. He made his debut with the Hindi film ''Sawan Bhadon'' in 1970. In 1996 he worked in Pyar Zindagi Hai along with Rita Bhaduri and Raj Mohammed. The film was shot in Hyderabad. ...
Note: Unofficial means not included in official film list at zorro.com
Argentina
''Zorro, el sentimiento de hierro'' (2019),
fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book, book, or video game created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the mo ...
Television series
American series – live-action
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
,'' a
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
half-hour
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
, running from 1957 to 1959, starring
Guy Williams as Zorro for 78 episodes. The two features listed above starring Guy Williams were episode compilations, and there were four one-hour follow-ups on the
Walt Disney anthology television series
The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...
in the 1960–1961 TV season.
* ''
Zorro and Son
''Zorro and Son'' is an American television Western based on the character Zorro that aired on CBS. Created by Walt Disney Television, the series stars Henry Darrow as Zorro (Don Diego) and Paul Regina as his son Zorro Jr. (Don Carlos). The li ...
,'' broadcast in 1983 for 5 episodes, was a situation comedy in which an aged Don Diego (
Henry Darrow
Henry Darrow (born Enrique Tomás Delgado Jiménez; September 15, 1933 – March 14, 2021) was an American character actor of stage and film known for his role as Manolito "Mano" Montoya on the 1960s television series ''The High Chaparral''. In ...
) trains his son Carlos (
Paul Regina
Paul Joseph Regina Jr. (October 25, 1956 – January 31, 2006) was an American actor and occasional screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Cliff Waters in the sitcom ''Brothers'' (1984–1989), as well as his roles as Felix Echeverria in ...
) to succeed him as Zorro.
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
,'' also called ''The New Zorro,'' ''New World Zorro,'' or ''Zorro 1990,'' was a television series which starred
Duncan Regehr
Duncan Peter Regehr (born October 5, 1952) is a Canadian writer, multimedia artist, and film and television actor. He was also a figure skater and a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor in his native Canada, before heading to Hollywood ...
as Zorro for 88 episodes on
The Family Channel from 1990 to 1993. Two feature-length videos were episode compilations. An unaired alternate pilot episode was included in the 2011 DVD release of the series: the pilot features a different cast and story, with Don Diego dying and Don Antonio de la Cruz (Patrick James) taking up the mantle of Zorro.
* In the series finale of ''
Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...
'', "
Leaving Storybrooke
"Leaving Storybrooke" is the series finale of the American fantasy-drama series ''Once Upon a Time''. It is the twenty-second episode of the seventh season and the 155th and final episode overall. Written by the show's creators, Edward Kitsis a ...
" (aired May 18, 2018), Zorro is said to be able to shapeshift into a dragon, and in that form, fathered
Maleficent
Maleficent ( or ) is a fictional character who appears as the main antagonist in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film, ''Sleeping Beauty'' (1959). She is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed " Mistress of All Evil ...
(
Kristin Bauer van Straten
Kristin Bauer van Straten ( Neubauer) is an American film and television actress, notable for her roles as vampire Pamela Swynford De Beaufort on the HBO television series ''True Blood'', Jerry's girlfriend Gillian ("man hands") on ''Seinfeld'' ...
)'s daughter, Lily (
Nicole Muñoz (teen)/
Agnes Bruckner
Agnes Bruckner is an American actress and former model. She began acting in television in the late 1990s and has since appeared in several films, including '' The Woods'', '' Blue Car'', '' Murder by Numbers'', '' Blood and Chocolate'', ''The An ...
(adult)). Zorro himself does not appear in the series, possibly as a result of cancellation. Lily appears in the
fourth season (2014-2015) episodes, "
Breaking Glass," "
Lily
''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...
," "
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
," and "
Operation Mongoose (Once Upon a Time), Operation Mongoose: Part 2."
* In November 2019 it was announced that a new series was in development by
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
with Alfredo Barrios Jr. as both writer and executive producer, with by Propagate and
CBS Television Studios
CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...
as producers. The series will have more of a "modern day" setting and will follow Z, a female descendant from the Zorro bloodline, as she fulfills her duty to "protect the defenseless in her community". In December 2020,
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
and
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara (; born July 10, 1972) is a Colombian and American actress and model. She was the highest paid actress in American television from 2013 to 2020. were announced as executive producers. In January 2022, the series was moved from NBC to
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
and later ordered six scripts.
* In December 2021, it was announced that a new series was in development by
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
-
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.
Wilmer Valderrama
Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama ( , ; born January 30, 1980) is an American actor, producer, and television personality. He is known for his role as Fez in the sitcom ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), Agustín Madrigal in '' Encanto'', and as Carlo ...
will executive produce and star as Diego de la Vega in what is described as a "reimagining" of the series. Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television stated that the series is "set in Pueblo de Los Angeles, but told in a very modern telenovela style". Valderrama confirmed that the series will be on
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
.
* In May 2022,
Amazon Prime announced that Secuoya Studios is developing a modern-day Zorro series. The ten-episode series will be directed by Javier Quintas and
Miguel Ángel Vivas
Miguel Ángel Vivas (born 1974) is a Spanish director, and screenwriter.
He has directed films such as ''Extinction'' (2015), and '' Your Son'' (2018).
Filmography
As director
* '' Asedio'' (2023)
* ''Desaparecidos'' (2020)
* ''Unauthorized ...
with
Miguel Bernardeau
Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato (born 12 December 1996) is a Spanish actor.
Biography
Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato was born on 12 December 1996 in Valencia, Spain. He is the son of television producer, Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Maestro and the ...
cast in the lead, along with
Renata Notni
Renata Martínez Notni (born January 2, 1995 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico) is a Mexican actress and model.
Early life
Notni was born in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. As a child, she attended acting lessons at CEA Infantil, the children's ve ...
.
American series – animation
* ''
The New Adventures of Zorro'', 1981 animated series from
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...
, which consists of 13 episodes.
* ''
The New Adventures of Zorro'', 1997–1998 animated series from
Fred Wolf Films
Fred Wolf Films is an American animation studio founded in 1967 by Fred Wolf and Jimmy T. Murakami. It was founded as MW (Murakami-Wolf). It later became known as Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (MWS) when Charles Swenson became a full partner in 1978. ...
, which consists of 26 episodes.
* ''The Amazing Zorro'', 2002 made for TV animated film created by
DIC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
as part of their
DIC Movie Toons DIC Movie Toons (originally known as the Nickelodeon Sunday Movie Toons in the United States) were a series of animated made-for-TV movies produced by DIC Entertainment, which lasted for just one season (2002) on Nickelodeon in the United States. It ...
lineup. It premiered on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
and was later released on DVD and VHS shortly afterward by
MGM Home Entertainment
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
History ...
.
* ''
Zorro: Generation Z,'' 2006 animated series from
BKN International
BKN International AG (BKNI) was a German kids TV production and distribution company that formerly operated as the international division of Bohbot Entertainment, BKN, Inc.
History
BKN International was originally founded as Bohbot Entertainme ...
which consists of 26 episodes. It follows a descendant of the original Zorro, also named Diego De La Vega, fighting crime and the corrupt government of Pueblo Grande in a future setting.
International series
* ''
Kaiketsu Zorro'', (1996–1997) Japanese
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
version from
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
and
Ashi Productions
is a Japanese anime studio, located in Suginami, Tokyo, Japan, known for its four magical-girl anime, especially ''Magical Princess Minky Momo''. It was established by Toshihiko Sato and other artists on December 20, 1975, as ''Ashi Productions ...
, which consists of 52 episodes.
* ''
Zorro: La Espada y la Rosa'' (The Sword and the Rose), a 2007
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...
telenovela
A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...
from
Sony Pictures and
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...
, starring
Christian Meier
Christian Dietrich Meier Zender (born June 23, 1970), best known as Christian Meier, is a Peruvian actor and singer in Latin America, the US Hispanic market, and around the Spanish speaking world.
Biography
Meier was born in Lima, Peru, the yo ...
as Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro. It consists of 112 episodes.
* ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'', a 2009 TV series from the
GMA Network
GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...
of the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, starring
Richard Gutierrez
Richard Kristian Gutierrez (born January 21, 1984), known professionally as Richard Gutierrez, is a Filipino actor, environmentalist and model. He is one of the sons of actor Eddie Gutierrez.
Early life
Richard Gutierrez was born on January ...
. It consists of 98 episodes.
* ''Zorro: The Chronicles'', a French animated series (2015), voiced by
Johnny Yong Bosch
* On October 14, 2022, it was announced that a French television series based on the character was in development for
France Télévisions
France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...
, starring
Jean Dujardin
Jean Edmond Dujardin (; born 19 June 1972) is a French actor and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Paris before guest starring in comedic television programmes and films. He first came to prominence with the cult TV series ...
as Don Diego / Zorro.
Audio/radio dramas
* Walt Disney's ''Zorro'':
. Presenting Señor Zorro; 2. Zorro Frees The Indians; 3. Zorro And The Ghost; 4. Zorro's Daring Rescue(1957) released by
Disneyland Records
Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...
. This album retold stories from the Disney ''Zorro'' television series and featured
Guy Williams as Zorro and Don Diego,
Henry Calvin as Sergeant Garcia, Phil Ross as Monastario, Jan Arvan as Torres,
Jimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the write ...
from ''
The Mickey Mouse Club
''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised ...
'' as Padre Felipe, with other voices by Dallas McKennon and sound effects by
Jimmy MacDonald and Eddie Forrest. Record story adaptations by Bob Thomas and George Sherman. Music composed and conducted by William Lava.
* ''The Adventures of Zorro''. (1957) Based on the original Johnston McCulley story ''The Curse of Capistrano'' (aka ''The Mark of Zorro''). It was written by Maria Little, directed by Robert M. Light and produced by Mitchell Gertz. This short-lived radio show was a series of short episodes. Only a handful of episodes are known to have survived.
* ''The Mark of Zorro''. (1997)
o longer availableProduced by the BBC it starred
Mark Arden
Mark David Darwin Arden (born 31 July 1956) is an English comedian and actor, best known for his television appearances. During the 1980s, he was one half of comic double act ' The Oblivion Boys', alongside Stephen Frost.
Arden was born in Ne ...
as Zorro,
Louise Lombard
Louise Lombard (born Louise Marie Perkins; 13 September 1970) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Evangeline Eliott in the BBC drama series '' The House of Eliott'' (1991–94) and Sofia Curtis in the CBS drama series ''CSI: ...
as Lolita and
Glyn Houston
Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston.
Early life
Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorga ...
as Friar Felipe. It aired in 5 parts. 1. July 3, 97 Night of the Fox: 2. July 10, 97 Deadly Reckonings: 3. July 17, 97 The Avenging Blade 4. July 24, 97 The Place of Skulls 5. July 31, 97 The Gathering Storm
* ''Zorro and the Pirate Raiders''. (2009) Based on the D.J. Arneson adaptation of Johnston McCulley's The Further Adventures of Zorro. Produced by ''Colonial Radio Theatre on the Air''. Published by Brilliance Audio. It features Kevin Cirone, Shonna McEachern, Hugh Metzler, J.T. Turner, Sam Donato, Joseph Zamperelli Jr., and Dan Powell.
* ''Zorro Rides Again''. (2011) Based on the D.J. Arneson adaptation of Johnston McCulley's "Zorro Rides Again". Produced by Colonial Theatre on the Air. It features the voice talents of Kevin Cirone, Jeremy Benson, Shonna McEachern, Shana Dirk, Sam Donato, and Hugh Metzler.
* ''The Mark of Zorro''. (2011) Based on ''The Curse of Capistrano''. Produced by
Hollywood Theater of the Ear for Blackstone Audio. It features the voice talents of
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
as Diego de la Vega/Zorro,
Ruth Livier as Lolita Pulido,
Elizabeth Peña
Elizabeth Maria Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014) was an American actress, writer and musician. Her work in films included ''Nothing like the Holidays'', '' Batteries Not Included'', '' La Bamba'', '' Down and Out in Beverl ...
as Doña Catalina Pulido,
Armin Shimerman
Armin Shimerman (born November 5, 1949) is an American actor and author.
Early life
Shimerman was born into a Jewish family in Lakewood, New Jersey, on November 5, 1949, the son of accountant Susan and house painter Herbert Shimerman. When he wa ...
as the Landlord, Mishach Taylor as Sgt Pedro Gonzalez,
Keith Szarabajka
Keith Szarabajka (; ; born December 2, 1952) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Mickey Kostmayer on '' The Equalizer'', Daniel Holtz on ''Angel'', Gerard Stephens in '' The Dark Knight'' and Adam Engell in '' Argo''. ...
as Cpt Ramone,
Ned Schmidtke
Edwin Christian "Ned" Schmidtke Jr. (born June 19, 1942) is an American film and television actor. He played Greg Barnard on the U.S. TV show '' Another World''.
Partial filmography
*'' The Crazies'' (1973) - Sgt. Tragesser
*'' Another World'' ...
as Don Carlos Pulido,
Scott Brick as the Governor, Stefan Rudnicki as Fray Felipe,
Kristoffer Tabori
Kristoffer Tabori (also known as K.T. Donaldson, born Christopher Donald Siegel; August 4, 1952) is an American actor and television director.
Early life
Tabori was born in Malibu, California, the son of American film director Don Siegel and Sw ...
as Don Alejando de la Vega,
Philip Proctor
Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series.
Career
Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had ...
as Don Audre, John Sloan as the Magistrado, and Gordo Panza in numerous roles.
Toys
Due to the popularity of the Disney TV series, in 1958,
The Topps Company produced an 88-card set featuring stills from that year's movie. The cards were rare and became collectors' items. In the same year the
Louis Marx company released a variety of Zorro toys such as hats, swords, toy pistols and a
playset
Playsets, or play sets, are themed collections of similar toys designed to work together to enact some action or event. The most common toy playsets involve plastic figures, accessories, and possibly buildings or scenery, purchased together in a co ...
with the Lido company also making plastic figures.
A major toy line based on the classic Zorro characters, motifs and styling, was released by Italian toy giant,
Giochi Preziosi
Giochi Preziosi S.p.A. also known as Gruppo Giochi Preziosi (Giochi Preziosi Group) is an Italian company that produces toys and TV series based on their toys. They work in association with Marathon Media and Mondo TV.
Giochi Preziosi is the pri ...
, master toy licensees of the property. The toy range was developed by
Pangea Corporation Pangea Corporation is an entertainment development and creative services company that specializes in the animation and toy industries. The company was part of the original creative team that launched the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" for Playmate ...
and released worldwide in 2005 and featured action figures in various scales, interactive playsets and roleplaying items. New original characters were also introduced, including Senor Muerte, who served as a foil to Zorro.
In 2007, Brazilian toymaker Gulliver Toys licensed the rights to ''
Zorro: Generation Z'', which was co-developed by
BKN and
Pangea Corporation Pangea Corporation is an entertainment development and creative services company that specializes in the animation and toy industries. The company was part of the original creative team that launched the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" for Playmate ...
. The toy range was designed concurrent and in association with the animated program.
In 2011, US-based collectibles company Triad Toys released a 12-inch Zorro action figure.
Comics
Zorro has appeared in many different comic book series over the decades. In ''Hit Comics'' #55, published by
Quality Comics
Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books.
Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...
in November 1948, Zorro is summoned by
Kid Eternity
Kid Eternity is a fictional character, a comic book superhero that premiered in ''Hit Comics'' #25 written by Otto Binder, drawn by Sheldon Moldoff, and published by American company Quality Comics in December 1942. All of Quality's intellectual p ...
, but in this version has only a whip and does not wear a mask.
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark" ...
published Zorro in ''
Four Color Comics
''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic b ...
'' #228 (1949), 425 (1952), 497 (1953), 538 (1954), 574 (1954), 617 (1955) and 732 (1957). These stories featured artwork by
Everett Raymond Kinstler
Everett Raymond Kinstler (August 5, 1926 – May 26, 2019) was an American artist, whose official portraits include Presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.[Alberto Giolitti
Alberto Giolitti (November 14, 1923 – April 15, 1993) was an Italian-American comic book artist.
He was born in Rome, where his family held (and still hold) one of the most famous cafés, Giolitti, where he also worked for a while. He debuted a ...]
.
Dell also had a licence to publish Disney comics in the United States and, following the launch of Disney's ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' TV series in 1957, published seven more issues of ''Four Color'' dedicated to Zorro between February 1958 and September 1959, under said licence, with the first stories featuring artwork by Alex Toth. In December 1959, Dell started the publication of a standalone Disney-licensed ''Zorro'' title, which started the numeration at #8 and continued to be published until issue #15 (September 1961). The character then appeared in four stories published in the monthly ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' (also published by Dell), one story per issue from #275 (August 1963) to #278 (November 1963): these were the last Zorro stories produced in the United States under the Disney licence. However,
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
produced more stories from 1964 to 1978 through the Disney Studio Program, a unit producing comic book stories exclusively for foreign consumption. In addition to publishing translations of American stories and Disney Studio stories, many foreign publishers also produced their own original stories under the Disney licence: these countries are the Netherlands (1964–1967), Chile (1965–1974), Italy (1969–1971), Brazil (1973–1983), France (1974–1986) and Germany (1980–1982).
Gold Key Comics started another Disney-licensed ''Zorro'' series in January 1966, but, like their contemporaneous Lone Ranger series, it featured only material reprinted from the earlier Dell comics, and folded after 9 issues, in March 1968. The character remained dormant in the United States for the next twenty years until it was revived by Marvel Comics in 1990, for a 12-issue tie-in with the
Duncan Regehr
Duncan Peter Regehr (born October 5, 1952) is a Canadian writer, multimedia artist, and film and television actor. He was also a figure skater and a classically trained Shakespearean stage actor in his native Canada, before heading to Hollywood ...
television series ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
''. Many of these comics had Alex Toth covers.
In 1993 Topps Comics published a 2-issue Limited series (comics), limited series ''Dracula Versus Zorro'' followed by a ''Zorro'' series that ran 11 issues. Topps also published two limited series of ''Lady Rawhide'', a spin-off from the Zorro stories created by writer Don McGregor and artist Mike Mayhew. McGregor subsequently scripted a limited series adaptation of ''
The Mask of Zorro
''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...
'' film for Image Comics.
A newspaper daily and Sunday strip were also published in the late 1990s. This was written by McGregor and rendered by Tom Yeates. Papercutz once published a Zorro series and graphic novels as well. This version is drawn in a manga style.
Dynamite Entertainment relaunched the character with a 20-issue ''Zorro'' series which ran from 2008 to 2010, written by Matt Wagner and drawn by multiple artists. The publisher also released an earlier unpublished tale called "Matanzas" by Don McGregor and artist Mike Mayhew. Zorro (here a 1930s descendant) also appears in the 2013 Dynamite eight-issue limited series ''Masks'' alongside the Green Hornet and Kato (The Green Hornet), Kato, The Shadow, and Spider (pulp fiction), The Spider. It was written by Chris Roberson (author), Chris Roberson with art by Alex Ross and Dennis Calero.
Dynamite Entertainment also published a seven-issue series titled ''Django/Zorro'' between November 2014 and May 2015, teaming Zorro with the character Django Freeman from Quentin Tarantino's movie ''Django Unchained'' (2012). The series was co-written by Tarantino and Matt Wagner, with art by Esteve Polls.
In 2018, American Mythology took the license, launched the series ''Zorro Legendary Adventures'', written by Jean-Marie Nadaud and drawn by Robert Rigot and limited series ''Zorro: Swords of Hell'', written by David Avallone and illustrated by Roy Allan Martinez. The company has since released crossovers featuring Zorro with their other licensed properties, namely ''Zorro in the Land that Time Forgot'' featuring Diego De La Vega accompanying an expedition to the lost world of Caspak from the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels.
Collected editions
Over the years, various English reprint volumes have been published. These include, but are not limited to:
* ''Zorro in Old California'', Eclipse Books
* ''Zorro The Complete Classic Adventures'' By Alex Toth. Volume One, Image Comics 1998.
* ''Zorro The Complete Classic Adventures'' By Alex Toth. Volume Two, Image Comics 1998.
* ''Zorro The Dailies – The First Year'' By Don McGregor, Thomas Yeates. Image Comics 2001.
* ''Alex Toth's Zorro: The Complete Dell Comics Adventures''. Hermes Press 2013.
* ''Zorro: The Complete Dell Pre-Code Comics''. Hermes Press 2014.
Stage productions
Approximately 65 separate Zorro live productions have been produced. These have included traditional stage plays, comedies, melodramas, musicals, children's plays, stunt shows, and ballets. Some examples include:
* Ken Hill (playwright), Ken Hill wrote and directed the musical production of Zorro, which opened on February 14, 1995, at the East Stratford Theater in London. Ken Hill died just days before the opening.
* Alvaro Cervino produced a musical comedy, "Zorro El Musical" in Mexico City, Mexico in July 1996. Critics called it "a show that captivates audiences both by its performances and above all, by its magnificent musical numbers".
* Michael Nelson wrote a stage adaptation of Zorro for the Birmingham Children's Theater in 1996. Beaufort County Now called it "a fun and fast paced production perfect for children 6 and up." Abe Reybold directed with scenic design by Yoshi Tanokura and costume designs by Donna Meester. Jay Tumminello provided an original score.
* Theater Under the Stars in Houston, Texas, put on ''Zorro, the Musical'' as an opera in 1998. It was written and directed by Frank Young and starred Richard White as Zorro.
* ''Z – The Masked Musical'' by Robert W. Cabell was released in 1998 as a CD. The CD premiere with Ruben Gomez (Zorro) and Debbie Gibson (Carlotta) is published as a CD. In 2000, the stage play premiered at the South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon, where it had four performances by the amateur group, ACE. It was then produced on June 13, 2013, at the Clingenburg Festspiele in Klingenberg am Main, Bavaria, Germany, with Karl Grunewald and Philip Georgopoulos as alternating Zorros, Judith Perez as Carlotta, Daniel Coninx as Governor Juan Carlos, Daniel Pabst as Capitàn Raphaél Ramerez and Christian Theodoridis as Sergeant Santiago Garcia. This production was directed by Marcel Krohn and premiered in the presence of the composer.
* In 1999, Anthony Rhine and Joseph Henson wrote ''Zorro Live!'', which was performed at the Riverside Light Opera theater.
* In 2000, Fernando Lupiz, Fernando Lúpiz produced his first original "Zorro" show. It was such a crowd pleaser that he mounted a new production thereafter almost annually until 2014. His productions were performed most frequently in arenas, featuring live horses, rousing swordplay and songs.
* In 2001, the Gaslight Theatre of Tucson, Arizona, reprised its 1994 spoof called "Zerro Rides Again" or "No Arrest for the Wicked". It was described as "full of silly wigs, ridiculous situations, songs that barely fit in, and dialogue so fat with wordplay that it's tough not to love it. 'Zerro' is a chance to laugh yourself silly. Seize it".
* In 2002, playwright Michael Harris wrote ''The Legend of Zorro'', which has been performed in many high schools.
* In 2002, Luis Alvarez produced his ''El Zorro El Spectaculo'' in the Teatro Calderon in Madrid, Spain. Critics lauded it saying "Manuel Bandera makes the ideal Zorro. We hope he has the stamina necessary to endure the long run this play deserves."
* Michael Smuin's critically lauded modern ballet version of ''Zorro'' premiered in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco in 2003. Composer Charles Fox (composer), Charles Fox provided the score, and Matthew Robbins wrote the libretto. Ann Beck was costume designer and Douglas W. Schmidt was set designer. Smuin himself choreographed.
* Culture Clash (performance troupe), Culture Clash's ''Zorro in Hell'' opened in 2005 in the Berkeley Repertory theater, then in 2006 in the La Jolla Playhouse and the Montelban Theater in Los Angeles. ''Zorro In Hell'' was written and performed by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Siguenza. Culture Clash used the legend of Zorro as a lens to examine California's cultural, economic and historical issues. The ''LA Times'' called it "a zany bicultural send-up of California history."
* Award-winning playwright Bernardo Solano wrote a modern adaptation of Zorro for TheatreWorks at the University of Colorado in 2007. Robert Castro directed and Justin Huen starred as Zorro. The Denver post called the production "a fresh take," and "a formula other companies should emulate."
* In Uppsala, Sweden, Erik Norberg wrote a Zorro stage adaptation for the Stadsteatern Theatre directed by Alexander Oberg and starring Danilo Bejarano as Zorro. The production opened in 2008.
* A musical titled ''Zorro (musical), Zorro'' opened in the West End of London in 2008. It was written by Helen Edmundson and Stephen Clark, with music by the Gipsy Kings and John Cameron (musician), John Cameron, and directed by Christopher Renshaw. It was nominated for 5 Oliviers, including Best Musical. It has since enjoyed professional productions in Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Moscow, Prague, Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Shanghai, São Paulo and elsewhere. The US premiere production took place in 2012 at Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah, with a further production at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta Georgia, where it won five awards including Best Musical.
* The Scottish children's theater troupe Visible Fictions put on a touring production of ''The Mask of Zorro'' in 2009. Davey Anderson wrote the script and Douglas Irvine directed. Robin Peoples designed the sets, which ''The New York Times'' called "a triumph."
* Lifehouse Theater, a Redlands, CA-based company, put on 'Zorro'', written and scored by Wayne Scott. Zorro opened in 2009.
* In 2012, Janet Allard and Eleanor Holdridge produced and directed ''Zorro'' at the Constellation Theatre Company, Constellation Theatre in Washington, DC. Holdridge directed and Danny Gavigan played Zorro. ''The Washington Post'' said of the production, "Constellation augments its classical thrust in a thoughtful way with 'Zorro,' which continues the company's laudable efforts at delivering intimate theater with high standards for design."
* In 2012, Medina Produzioni, based in Rome, Italy, produced its musical, "W Zorro il Musical – liberamente ispirato alla storia di William Lamport" in numerous theatres throughout Italy.
* The Oregon-based ballet troupe Ballet Fantastique produced ''Zorro: The Ballet'' as an opener to their 2013 season. Eugene Weekly called the ballet "zesty, fresh, fantastic treat."
* Elenco Produções produced its musical, "Zorro", in Porto, Portugal in 2013.
Music
On the commercial release of the ''
Zorro
Zorro ( Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante w ...
'' 1957 Disney TV series' Zorro theme, the lead vocal was by
Henry Calvin, the actor who played Sergeant Garcia on the program. The song was written by
Jimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the write ...
.
The Chordettes sang the single version of the song, complete with the "Sounds of the Z" and the clip clopping of Zorro's horse, which is heard at the song's end. The song hit Number 17 in 1958 according to the Billboard Charts.
In 1964, Henri Salvador sang "Zorro est arrivé." It tells from a child's point of view how exciting it is whenever a villain threatens to kill a lady in the television series. But every time again, to his relief, the "great and beautiful" Zorro comes to the rescue. An early music video was made at the time.
Alice Cooper's 1982 album ''Zipper Catches Skin'' includes the song "Zorro's Ascent" which is about Zorro facing his death.
The 1999 song "El Corona" by Suburban Legends tells the story of "Don Diego", the "hombre en negro" ("man in black"), a "tall Spaniard with a sharp sword" who was "down and out in LA" and defending the people from an unnamed corrupt ruler.
Video games
* ''Zorro (1985 video game), Zorro'' (1985), Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
* ''Zorro'' (1986), ZX Spectrum
* ''Zorro (1995 video game), Zorro'' (1995), Personal computer, PC
* ''The Mask of Zorro (video game), The Mask of Zorro'' (1999), Game Boy Color
* ''The Shadow of Zorro (video game), The Shadow of Zorro'' (2001), Personal computer, PC, PlayStation 2
* ''The Destiny of Zorro'' (2008), Wii
* ''Zorro: Quest for Justice'' (2009), Nintendo DS
* There is a Zorro themed Slot machine, poker machine at gaming establishments in Australia and New Zealand.
* Zorro is Morgana's Persona in ''Persona 5'' (2017), PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
* Zorro appears as a paid DLC Guest Fighter in ''Go All Out!'', Personal computer, PC,
* ''Zorro: The Chronicles'' (2022), Personal computer, PC, Xbox, Wii, PlayStation
Role-playing games
* In July 2001, the Gold Rush Games published ''The Legacy of Zorro Introductory Adventure Game'' () by Mark Arsenault for Fuzion.
* In January 2019, Gallant Knight Games used crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to finance the game '' Zorro: The Roleplaying Game '' for the D6 System.
Zorro: The Roleplaying Game
/ref>
See also
* Gentleman thief
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
Zorro Productions, Inc.
A guide to the Walt Disney television series version of ''Zorro''
A comprehensive guide to the New World ''Zorro'' television series
*
Don Diego de la Vega
at the INDUCKS
{{Authority control
Zorro,
Characters in pulp fiction
Dynamite Entertainment characters
Fictional acrobats
Fictional Alta California people
Fictional Mexican people
Fictional characters from Los Angeles
Fictional fencers
Fictional gentleman thieves
Fictional human rights activists
Fictional nobility
Fictional outlaws
Fictional prison escapees
Fictional slaves
Fictional socialites
Fictional swordfighters
Fictional vigilantes
Fictional whip users
Film serial characters
Latin American superheroes
Literary characters introduced in 1919
Male characters in comics
Male characters in film
Male characters in literature
Mass media franchises
Pre-statehood history of California
Series of books
Tall tales
Topps Comics characters
Western (genre) heroes and heroines
Western (genre) outlaws