Customer Reviews

The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So, yeah, besides the superheroes, there were plenty of other Saturday morning cartoon heroes in my kidhood. To name a few, there was Blackstar and Flash Gordon, then the Defenders of the Earth and the Mighty Orbots, and Thundarr the Barbarian. Hell, I even liked Captain Caveman. And then there were the straight out icons. In 1980 Filmation produced The Tarzan/Lone Ranger Adventure Hour, which a season later changed to The Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zorro Adventure Hour with the addition of the swashbuckling Old Californian bandit. So, yes, you best believe, back in the day, I was waking up early on them Saturday mornings to tune in to CBS and thus get my cartoon on.

I never got to see the 1960's Lone Ranger cartoon which preceded this one, but I definitely caught the live action Clayton Moore episodes. As a kid, even as much as I enjoyed Clayton Moore, it wasn't even close when it came to preference. The Filmation version was a cartoon, and that just made it more splendid and oh-so-appealing to a kid's eyes. The Lone Ranger show also peppered in historical figures into its episodes, from female journalist Nellie Bly ("The Great Balloon Race") to President Grant ("The President Plot") to Samuel Clemens ("The Abduction of Tom Sawyer"). So you got tricked into learning something. Verrrry devious.

Nowadays, the Lone Ranger might be a bit too straight-laced for my cynical taste. But, back then, oboy, mister, he rocked hard! Even though the Lone Ranger wielded his blazing guns with righteous fury, he never shot to kill (and that went beyond the cartoon show). On his trusty white stallion Silver and with his Indian friend Tonto, he patrolled the wild West, serving up his own brand of justice and living by his strict moral code, a silver bullet his calling card. C'mon, don't tell me that when you were a kid, you didn't cheer when the Lone Ranger's "Hi-yo, Silver!" rang out.

Zorro, on the other hand, even though every bit as idealistic as the masked ex-Texas Ranger, is much more relaxed in his methods. Set in Old California, Don Diego de la Vega walks around pretending to be a foppish nobleman. But when tyranny strikes (usually in the form of Captain Ramon), he dons the disguise of Zorro, brandishing his flashing rapier, carving out his famous "Z" and making fools of the soldados. Zorro rides his mighty steed Toronado and, in this cartoon, mentors his young sidekick, Miguel, who goes around in a similar, albeit more colorful, get-up. Another cool thing about the Zorro episodes - and an educational plus - is that, at the end of each show, Zorro would teach his viewers something about his culture. By the way, the Lone Ranger, at episode's end, would also take turns with Tonto in imparting historical tidbits.

Watching the Jungle Lord, the Masked Man, and the Curse of Capistrano on television led me to check out the works of pulp writers Johnston McCulley and the even more influential Edgar Rice Burroughs. And then it was only a short step from becoming a voracious reader. So I owe these cartoons a lot. Since the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate retains the rights to Tarzan, this 2 disc dvd set doesn't have Lord Greystoke in it. But it's all good. NEW ADVENTURES OF THE LONE RANGER AND ZORRO VOL. 1 is comprised of 17 cartoons in total, 11 Lone Ranger episodes and 6 Zorro episodes. The special features consist of two spotlight interviews: one with Filmation co-founder and producer Lou Scheimer (10 minutes long) and another with Zorro writer Robbie London (4 minutes). Both dudes talk on a bit about Zorro.

Remember that the animation is from the 1980s, and be kind. At that, the animation's not too shabby, anyway. Performance-wise, we might have been denied Robert Ridgely's strong turn as Tarzan, but we do get to hear the Lone Ranger and Zorro admirably voiced respectively by William Conrad (he provided narration for the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons) and Henry Darrow. Interestingly Darrow, who is of Puerto Rican descent, was later involved in two other Zorro television projects (and, this time, in live action): Disney's short-lived 1983 sitcom ZORRO AND SON and the more straight-forward ZORRO (1990-93).

Excitement and adventure in the Old West as provided by two legendary masked heroes. No, this show doesn't come too much in the way of super powers or space aliens or magical artifacts, and it's definitely not anime. And yet I had so much fun in watching it. Expert gun toting and fiery swashbuckling never get old. So, hopefully, NEW ADVENTURES OF THE LONE RANGER AND ZORRO VOL. 2 is just around the corner (maybe 2008?). Let's hope, yeah?

Disc 1 has the Lone Ranger episodes:
- Episode 1: "The Runaway"
- Episode 2: "Hanga the Night Monster"
- Episode 3: "Yellowstone Conspiracy"
- Episode 4: "The President Plot"
- Episdoe 5: "The Great Balloon Race"
- Episode 6: "The Escape"
- Episode 7: "The Valley of Gold"
- Episode 8: "Tall Timber"
- Episode 9: "Blowout!"
- Episode 10: "The Abduction of Tom Sawyer"
- Episode 11: "The Black Mare"

Disc 2 has the Zorro episodes (and the 2 interviews):
- Episode 1: "Three's A Crowd"
- Episode 2: "Flash Flood"
- Episode 3: "The Blockade"
- Episode 4: "The Frame"
- Episode 5: "Turnabout"
- Episode 6: "The Tyrant"

In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Filmation so busy with animation shows like Superman, the Archies, Flash Gordon, Fat Albert, Aquaman (all on DVD), Batman, Tarzan (not on DVD), The Secret of Isis, Jason of Star Command, Ark II (all of DVD) and many others.

I enjoy watching the Lone Ranger and Zorro hour when I was in college, it ran in 1980-1981. Now these episodes are on DVD, bring me back to the glory days of Saturday animation. The animation was better than most today.

From the moment you hear the William Tell overture, you are transported to a bygone era. The dialog of this cartoon is played out more like a old fashion old time radio show. William Conrad (credited as J. Darnoc), the voice of Radio's Matt Dillion on Gunsmoke, did the voice of the Lone Ranger. His booming voice had a character and a power. he vocally created the voice of the masked man and you will believe it.

The episodes of the Lone Ranger is part historic and part western lore. At emd of each episode of Ranger and Zorro is a 30 historical insight.

Zorro was the only time Filmation relied on outsourcing on a cartoon.The company created its animated Zorro series. It was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha of Japan. The storyboards and graphics however, were made by Filmation themselves.However other than a few gaffs, you will never notice.

Note this is not Disney's version of Zorro. This cartoon had a mostly latina cast for Zorro, first time in TV history even for a cartoon. Henry Darrow did the vocals for Zorro/Don Diego. Don Diamond , who was Reyes from the original Disney versonof Zorro, voices Sergeant Gonzales.
This is also told in a radio show like style

Note this is the first volume of Lone Ranger/zorro, the final volume is expected later in 2008. The original run of the series had 28 Ranger and 13 Zorro episode. On this collection, it has 11 episodes of the Ranger, 6 Episodes of Zorro

If you are a fan of great animation and good storytelling, this is the best seven hours you will enjoy

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

this is a great dvd because i grew up watching the lone ranger and zorro.hurry and make the next vol.

As a kid, I can remember loving this cartoon. It came on as the Tarzan/Lone Ranger/Zoro adventure hour. What I don't remember is the Lone Ranger stories being as hokey as they are. Some of them are so corny, they make me laugh. Nor do I remember the Zorro animation being anime. Still overall, it's a nice collection. I wish there were more Zorro stories and that Tarzan had been included. Regardless, the animation is still pretty sharp and would hold its own against any of its modern contemporaries.

According to the articles I've read online,
If you buy Volume 1 & 2, you'll get:
18 of the 28 Lone Ranger stories
All 13 of the Zorro stories.
The way I see it, this leaves them with 10 Lone Rangers and no Zorro stories for a potential Volume 3.
14 Lone Ranger stories per volume would have wrapped things up nicely for both shows.
I can only hope they still put out a 3rd volume anyway, to give us the remaining Lone Ranger stories.
Failing that, I'll feel rather disgruntled about having spent my money on the first two volumes, but it's too early to complain yet.
A similar project is possibly in the pipeline combining Waldo Kitty with Fraidy Cat. Hopefully, they'll cover all the episodes.
To me, it would have seemed more apt to put the 28 Lone Ranger stories out as one DVD set, and the 13 Zorro stories out as another.
And who knows what it will take to motivate the Edgar Rice Burroughs legacy holders to put out the Tarzan cartoons.

I spent hours of quality time watching this when my boys were little. Now they have children of their own and these DVDs will provide more of that quality time.....thank you

Bci/Eclipse and Filmation Studios presents "THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE LONE RANGER & ZORRO - VOL. ONE" (1980-1981-Animated) (375 mins/Color) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- This collection featuring the two most famous masked heroes of all time contains over four hours of animated episodes --- From the Lone Ranger's call of "Hi ho Silver" to Zorro cutting his trademark Z into the earth, these films are a nostalgic trip back to when the good guys rode horses and had big hats.

Classic crime-fighters Zorro and the Lone Ranger are the focus of this collection that features episodes from each of their animated series. Zorro, a masked nobleman, fights villains in California, while the Lone Ranger battles criminals in Texas --- Their fight for justice in the Old West is aided by their faithful sidekicks: Zorro's horse, Toronado, and the Lone Ranger's Indian sidekick, Tonto, and his horse, Silver.

Under the production staff of:
Bob Kline - Art Director (1980)
Don Christensen - Producer (1980)
Norm Prescott - Producer (1980)
Lou Scheimer - Producer (1980)
Ray Ellis - Original Music
Norm Prescott - Original Music
R.W. Pope - Cinematographer
Ron Fedele - Film Editor
Joe Gall- Film Editor
Hector C. Gika- Film Editor
Tom Gleason- Film Editor
Jim Puente- Film Editor
Robert Waxman- Film Editor

Story line & plot, Two of pop culture's greatest heroes return in these episodes of their thrilling animated series from famed Filmation Studios --- The Lone Ranger (voiced by William Conrad), aided by sidekick Tonto (Ivan Naranjo) and his faithful steed, Silver, fights for justice in the Old West in 11 adventures --- Sword-wielding Zorro (voiced by Henry Darrow, the first Hispanic actor to portray the hero), swings into action and leaves his trademark "Z" in seven episodes.

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE LONE RANGER:
the cast includes
William Conrad ... The Lone Ranger (voice)
Ivan Naranjo ... Tonto

THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ZORRO:
the cast includes:
Henry Darrow ... Zorro (Don Diego) (voice)
Julio Medina ... Miguel (voice)
Eric Mason ... Capt. Ramon (voice)
Don Diamond ... Sgt. Gonzalez (voice)
Socorro Valdez ... Gov. Gen. Garcia (voice)
Christine Avila ... Maria (voice) (uncredited)

SPECIAL BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:
1. Spotlight interviews with Lou Scheimer (producer) and Robbie London (writer)

Hats off to Bci / Eclipse and their staff --- order your copy now from Amazon or Bci Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- Bci/Eclipse are experts in releasing long forgotten films and animated classics to the collector -- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections.

Total Time: 375 mins on DVD ~ Bci / Eclipse ~ (12/18/2007)