My pal Leonard Maltin has been busily assembling a collection I've wanted to see on DVD for some time: The Zorro series produced by the Disney Studios from 1957 to 1959. Actually, it'll be two collections, each a six disc set covering one of the two seasons. There were 39 half-hour episodes in each season, and then four hour-long episodes were produced for the main Disney TV show, Walt Disney Presents. All of these will be included in the two boxed sets, which are scheduled to come out in November of this year.
I haven't seen these shows in a very long time but I remember liking them tremendously. They were lavishly produced with elaborate stunt work. It is said Mr. Disney spent a lot more than any other producer of the day spent on a half-hour series and I can believe that. It was smartly written and well-cast, with Guy Williams properly dashing as the title character and Henry Calvin stealing scenes as the bumbling Sgt. Garcia. I can't wait to see if it's all as good as I remember. If they're even half as good, I'm going to enjoy them a lot.
I think I'm also going to enjoy the special features that are being assembled, including interviews and rare footage. I'm among those interviewed but my participation and relevance is marginal. They asked me in to describe a precious childhood memory…seeing Zorro and Guy Williams appearing live at a Disney event at the Hollywood Bowl. I think I was six at the time and as they say in Gigi, I remember it well.
And hey, here's a bit of the kind of trivia that folks who come to this site will enjoy. What does Zorro have in common with Yogi Bear?
Give up? Whenever Don "Zorro" Diego sang on the show, his singing voice was dubbed by a gentleman named Bill Lee. Mr. Lee was an illustrious studio singer of the day, heard in hundreds of commercials and records and in most of the Disney films produced back then. (He was one of the vocalists in the Zorro theme song.) He also provided the singing voice of Yogi in Hey There, It's Yogi Bear.
Anyway, the special features on the DVDs will tell you a lot more important info than that. I'm looking forward to them and will post an Amazon link when we get closer to their issuance.