Besides The Green Hornet, another multi-media masked hero was Zorro...
...but we'll go into more detail after the story unfolds...
Having successfully appeared in prose (a series of pulp novels and novellas), movies (both several features and a series of serials, some of whom feature a "Zorro" in name
only), and comic books,
Walt Disney adapted the character in a half-hour dramatic tv series, starring dynamic Guy Williams as
Zorro / Don Diego.
Plotwise, the series did four 13-episode story arcs, each with a complete plotline involving a different villain. (This was dropped in the second season in favor of 3-5 episode storylines.)
The character's debut on October 10, 1957 had a similar pop-culture effect as
Disney's earlier hero adaptation,
Davy Crockett; Zorro-Mania spread thru the country!
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| Film historian Leonard Maltin and Guy Williams, Jr with just a few of the many products created during the show's run! |
The ratings stayed solid for both seasons of the show's run, with little sign of cancellation in sight, when a dispute occurred between Disney and ABC, who broadcast the show!
As a result, Disney pulled
all it's programming (including
Zorro,
Mickey Mouse Club, and
DisneyLand), from ABC, sending a revamped version of
DisneyLand (retitled
Walt Disney Presents) to NBC, where it ran (under various names) from 1961 to 1981!
Walt Disney presents aired four NEW hour-long
Zorro episodes!
Ironically, today Disney
owns ABC!
To get back on topic, instead of doing
new stories based on the tv series, the comic did adaptations of tv show scripts for the first few issues, all illustrated by Alex Toth, including this re-telling of the character's premiere episode!
To Be Continued, Tomorrow!
But not here!
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