Disney+ Finally Adds One of Disney’s Classic Shows

The Walt Disney Company archive includes thousands upon thousands of hours of television but very few of its 1950s classics are available to stream on Disney+. Thankfully, one of the studio’s most iconic shows finally became available earlier this month, Zorro. Disney’s adaptation of the Johnston McMulley character was a pop culture sensation in the late 1950s, thanks to the charismatic star Guy Williams and the non-stop swashbuckling action.

The original series ran two seasons, with a whopping 78 half-hour episodes. They aired during Disney’s anthology show on ABC from Oct. 10, 1957, to July 2, 1959. Disney+ includes all of these original black-and-white episodes. It is the first time they have been widely available since the Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets were released in November 2009. Unfortunately, none of the bonus features produced for those sets are included. Disney also didn’t add the four one-hour-long specials that aired in 1960 and 1961. Disney+ also has The Sign of Zorro, a theatrical compilation made up of eight episodes.

Thanks to countless film and television adaptations, the story of Zorro has cemented its spot in pop culture. The story starts with Don Diego de la Vega returning to Southern California after studying in Spain. He is horrified to learn that his hometown is now overrun by corrupt government officials, so he becomes Zorro at night, slashing Z’s to let villains know he was there.

Williams, a New York native born Armando Joseph Catalano, played Diego/Zorro before later starring as Professor John Robinson on Lost in Space. The rest of the main cast features George J. Lewis as Don Diego’s father, Don Alejandro, and Gene Sheldon as Zorro’s trusty sidekick Bernardo. Henry Calvin also starred as the bumbling Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia.

Zorro, like many Disney classics from the 1950s, also features a theme song that is impossible to get out of your head. The song was written by Norman Foster and George Bruns. The Mellowmen performed the song, while The Chordettes had a hit single.

Disney isn’t just releasing Zorro to please longtime fans. The studio is also likely hoping that this revives interest in its take on the character since it is working on a new Zorro series. Wilmer Valderrama (NCIS) is starring as Don Deigo. Valderrama is an executive producer on the project, alongside John Gertz of Zorro Productions Inc.

Since Disney owns the 20th Century Fox library, the company also has access to one of the best Zorro adaptations. In 1940, Tyrone Power played the character in Fox’s The Mark of Zorro, which also starred Linda Darnell and Basil Rathbone. Other famous Zorro movies include the 1920 Mark of Zorro with Douglas Fairbanks and Antonio Banderes’ two movies, The Mask of Zorro (1998) and The Legend of Zorro (2005).