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Review: Walt Disney Treasures Zorro Seasons 1 & 2
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The tale of a young Spanish California nobleman named Don Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) who battled tyranny behind a black mask as Zorro has been a stalwart figure for well over 50 years. He is one those iconic characters that is easily recognizable even from 3 miles away. With his black hat, mask and sword, this swashbuckler has been romancing the ladies and enthralling the fellas.
Disney’s Zorro arrived on ABC in 1957. Around 40 percent of the television market watched Zorro every week in an era that only included three stations: ABC, NBC and CBS.
Introduced in 1957 via 30-minute dramas, which was typical for the time, the Disney series arrives on DVD in the Disney Treasures series. Though the Zorro episodes have been available for some time, many fans of the show are probably wondering if the set is worth the not-so-cheap retail price. The answer is an emphatic yes…for collectors. Unlike past products from the Treasures line, the Zorro seasons have an astounding amount of material ( though it could have been more) with only a small hike in price of its predecessors. It’s actually a good deal.
Packaged in a limited-edition tin box, both the Zorro: The Complete First Season and the Zorro: The complete Second Season does not only have a incredible facade on the outside (it’s heavy too), but each set comes packaged with two six-disc sets and a surprisingly nice lapel pin and numbered certificate. The packaging of the Zorro sets is no surprise. Since debuting in 2001, Disney’s Treasures line has been keen on producing not only fantastic packaging but also excellent restorations of classic programming.
The First Season contains background short subjects along with Zorro: El Bandido and Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo, the two-part, one-hour specials shown on Disney’s Walt Disney Presents after the original series ended its run. It also has an excerpt from the fourth anniversary episode of The Mickey Mouse Club where Walt Disney introduces Zorro to the Mouseketeers. Also contained is the special Zorro: In Life and Legend, which focuses on the history of the character and Disney’s development of it.
The Season Two set contains the documentary, Behind the Mask, which looks at the making of the series. Also included is A Trip to the Archives, with iconic film critic Leonard Maltin and Guy Williams Jr. who look through costumes and props used in the original series. Also included from Walt Disney Presents is Zorro: The Postponed Wedding and Zorro: Auld Aquaintance.
The combined 12-disc set feature all 78 episodes of the series combined with Maltin’s introductions and the 35mm film-to-video transfer provides a quality viewing experience complete with minuscule blemishes and scratches, which for lovers of the original, you would prefer it this way. Make no mistake, the digital mastering to the each show is vivid and crisp. The presentation is through a 1.33:1 aspect ratio with Maltin’s scenes being shown in widescreen.
As expected, the audio is run-of-the-mill Dolby Digital Mono.
Having not grown up with Disney’s Zorro, this first experience was excellent. The morality tales Zorro dealt with in pre-statehood California are still being dealt with today. It’s definitely worthy of a spin in your DVD player as both seasons make for great entertainment for the family.
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