The Treasures of a Bold Renegade

Good news, bad news.

We'll get the bad news out of the way first. There are only two titles being released this year in the Disney Treasures DVD line. And unfortunately, neither features animation, anxiously awaited Disney anthology series content, nor material relating to Disney theme parks.

The good news however, is that the titles that have arrived, Zorro - The Complete First Season
and Zorro - The Complete Second Season, are top-of-the-line productions and welcome additions to the Disney Treasures family.

The Zorro sets are unconventional Treasures. It is the first time Disney has ventured beyond the 2-disc, $32.99 SRP. These collections weigh in at a hefty six discs each and carry $59.99 price points (although smart shoppers can find them as low as $38.99). It also marks the first time Disney has marketed any of their vintage television properties in complete season sets. Disneyland program episodes have appeared in numerous themed Treasures collections, and an earlier Treasures set featured the very first week of the Mickey Mouse Club. Interestingly, Zorro collections have been offered in the past through the Disney DVD subscription club (albeit in the much maligned colorized versions originally aired on the Disney Channel), but not at retail. These new complete sets of the Bold Renegade seem to mark an equally bold marketing strategy for the normally more reserved execs at Disney Home Entertainment.

In my much younger days, I watched syndicated Zorro episodes on one of my local stations. (Yes, back in the days of antenna reception and a channel selection that included three networks, PBS and a couple of independents.) I was never a huge fan of the program, but it was a means of killing a half hour on a rainy summer afternoon. Revisiting Zorro some four decades later as a Disney enthusiast and historian has been a both enlightening and very entertaining experience.

Much like the Davy Crockett Disneyland episodes, Zorro exploded far beyond its television incarnation into a pop culture phenomenon. Its brief two-season run from 1957 to 1959 beget a national passion that encompassed publicity tours, Disneyland tie-ins and tons of merchandise. At its peak, it claimed more than 30 million weekly viewers, American Idol numbers by today's standards; a dominating 40% share of the audience in the less populated late 1950s. Legal squabbling between Disney and ABC brought about the program's premature demise and, although it has never made a very large impact on recent generations of Disney enthusiasts, it remains a very significant part of Disney Studio history.

Zorro is a wonderful mix of humor, adventure and engaging performances. Guy Williams, a relative unknown at the time, became an overnight star as he portrayed both the swashbuckling hero and his meek and submissive alter-ego Don Diego de la Vega. Henry Calvin, as the bumbling but well meaning Sergeant Garcia became an audience favorite. The production values of the series were also especially notable. As Leonard Maltin notes in his introduction to Season One, "Walt never did anything halfway," and Zorro certainly reflects this. Extensive location shooting mixed with Peter Ellenshaw's beautiful matte work demonstrated results more akin to feature films than to a weekly television program.

The Zorro DVDs certainly live up to the standards we've come to expect from the Disney Treasures line; high quality transfers and generous supplemental features. Each season features 39 episodes. Season One also includes "Zorro: El Bandido" and "Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo," a two-part adventure aired during the 1960 season of Walt Disney Presents, a combination of episodes originally intended to be part of a never realized third season; an excerpt from the 1957 "Fourth Anniversary Show" featuring an appearance by Guy Williams; and a history of the Zorro character entitled "The Life and Legend of Zorro."

The Season Two set provides two additional episodes from the 1961 season of Walt Disney Presents, "Zorro: The Postponed Wedding" and "Zorro: Auld Acquaintance." An additonal feature, "Behind the Mask," profiles star Guy Williams.

Whether you are a passionate Zorro fan, a Disney historian and enthusiast, or a person just simply wanting to enjoy some old fashioned swashbuckling entertainment, the Disney Treasures Zorro sets will be well worth your time and resources.

13 Tombstones: Francis Xavier

REQUIESCAT
Francis Xavier
NO TIME OFF
FOR GOOD
BEHAVIOR
RIP

Our 13th and final tombstone is dead-icated to X. Atencio. (The "X" standing for Xavier.) He joined the Disney Studio in 1938 and worked on numerous animated features through the 1950s. He was the person behind the clever animated title sequences from The Parent Trap and Babes in Toyland. In 1964, Walt Disney asked Atencio to transfer to WED Enterprises to assist in the creation of the Primeval World diorama for Disneyland. He went on to develop dialog and music for attractions such as Adventure Thru Inner Space, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion for which he co-wrote the song Grim Grinning Ghosts. But most importantly, he is the one who penned nearly all the clever verses featured on the now infamous 13 tombstones that make up the family plot at Walt Disney World's Haunted Mansion.

13 Tombstones: Dear Sweet Leota

DEAR SWEET LEOTA
BELOVED BY ALL
IN REGIONS BEYOND NOW,
HAVING A BALL

As most Haunted Mansion enthusiasts know, Madam Leota is the Mansion's resident medium. Leota Tombs was an artist at WED Enterprises. During the Mansion's development, Tombs served as a model stand-in during concept testing for the crystal ball character in the attraction's seance room. She did such an excellent job that the test performance was used in the final version, and the character was named in her honor.

13 Tombstones: Brother Dave

DEAR DEPARTED
BROTHER
DAVE
HE CHASED A
BEAR INTO
A CAVE

Dave Burkhart began his career with Disney in 1967 serving as an artist model maker, building architecture and show models, including some full scale sets and props. He subsequently became a show designer and field art producer, working on attractions such as the Haunted Mansion, Swiss Family Treehouse and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

13 Tombstones: Good Friend Gordon

RIP
GOOD FRIEND
GORDON
NOW YOU'VE
CROSSED THE
RIVER JORDON

Good friend Gordon refers to Gordon Williams, who was an audio designer and also an authority on audio-animatronics. He was the Imagineer largely responsible for all of the sound effects in the Haunted Mansion.

13 Tombstones: Uncle Myall

IN MEMORIUM
UNCLE MYALL
HERE YOU'LL LIE
FOR QUITE A WHILE

Chuck Myall was an art director for WED Enterprises and contributed his skills to attractions such as It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion. He was also one of the master planners of Walt Disney World.

13 Tombstones: Cousin Huet

REST IN PEACE

COUSIN HUET
WE ALL KNOW
YOU DIDN'T DO IT

Cliff Huet was an architect for WED Enterprises and one of the lead interior designers of the Haunted Mansion.

13 Tombstones: Master Gracey

MASTER GRACEY
LAID
TO REST
NO MOURNING
PLEASE
AT HIS
REQUEST
Farewell

Yale Gracey joined the Walt Disney Studios in 1939 as a layout artist on Pinocchio. He also worked on Fantasia as well as numerous cartoon shorts throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In 1961 he came to WED Enterprises as a special effects and lighting artist. His expertise in the field of special effects was gained via his own personal research and hands-on experimentation. He was responsible for nearly all the special effects in the Haunted Mansion.

--Jeff Pepper

13 Tombstones: A Man Named Martin

HERE LIES

A MAN NAMED
MARTIN
THE LIGHTS WENT
OUT ON THIS OLD
SPARTAN

While working at 20th Century Fox in the mid-1950s, Bill "Bud"Martin was recruited by Walt Disney to help in the design and building of Disneyland. His first major area of responsibility was as an art director of Fantasyland. In 1971, he was named Vice President of Design at WED Enterprises, overseeing the master layout of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Among his projects were Main Street U.S.A. and Cinderella Castle, and he was one of the key designers of the ultilidors than run beneath that park.

--Jeff Pepper

13 Tombstones: Mister Sewell

RIP

MISTER SEWELL

THE VICTIM

OF A DIRTY

DUEL

Peaceful Rest

Bob Sewell came on board at WED Enterprises shortly after the opening of Disneyland in 1955. A model shop veteran, Sewell was often in charge of show installations at the park. He was involved in the development of a diverse array of attractions including Nature's Wonderland, the Grand Canyon Diorama, the Submarine Voyage, the Swiss Family Treehouse and the Enchanted Tiki Room.

13 Tombstones: Grandpa Marc

IN MEMORY OF

OUR PATRIARCH

DEAR DEPARTED

Grandpa

Marc

One of Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men"of animation, Marc Davis also stands as one of the most influential and creative forces in the history of theme park design. His clever and highly detailed concepts were the basis for the audio-animatronic vignettes of both Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, and his unrealized designs for Walt Disney World's Western River Expedition are among the great lost treasures of Disney Imagineering. He also contributed to other celebrated attractions including the Enchanted Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise and It's a Small World.

--Jeff Pepper