User:Zavala02/¡Mucha Lucha!

Premise[edit]

The show is set in Luchaville, a fictional town in Southern California centered on lucha libre where nearly everyone in that town wears a costume (they are never seen without their mask) and has a well-known wrestling move. These wrestling moves being capable of transforming the character in relation to the naming of the move. The series mainly centers on three friends, Rikochet, Buena Girl, and the Flea, as they struggle through the Foremost World-Renowned International School of Lucha, where they study.

Production[edit]

¡Mucha Lucha! was the brainchild of Eddie Mort and Lili Chin for Kids' WB. Mort began his animation career working for Disney Television Animation in Sydney before leaving to work at Nickelodeon in Australia, where he animated several shorts for the network, including the Adventures of Hot Chunks and Snout. Lili Chin worked as an assistant animator on The Silver Brumby, and as a clean-up artist for Skippy: Adventures in Bushtown. Chin and Mort launched Fwak! Animation, a Sydney-based animation studio, in 2000. Through Fwak!, Mort and Chin made the short Lucha School in 2001, which featured a fourth character that never made it into the series "Psiclone". Lucha School would then be pitched to Warner Bros. Animation and Bardel Entertainment in the early 2000s. Bardel Entertainment would later produce the animation for shows like Teen Titans Go! and Rick and Morty. ¡Mucha Lucha! ran into a problem when initially pitched to Kids' WB as they wouldn't want actual wrestling seen on screen due to seeming violent. Lili Chin would have to draw visual guides to show that actual wrestling was more choreography than harmful acts of violence.[1] With the addition of the guides the pitch was a success, and Kids' WB gave the show the green light afterwards.

It was often regarded as one of the first fully-made flash cartoons produced for television. However, it is not the first flash animated television series in general; as that honor went to the 2001 short-lived television series John Callahan's Quads!, which was exclusive to Teletoon and the Special Broadcasting Service. The second flash television series was Max & Ruby, another Canadian animated series. However, ¡Mucha Lucha! was still considered the first fully-made flash animated series for American television, and was also the first truly successful flash television series. During production, the entire series was produced in widescreen. However, it was aired with an SD format. The widescreen version was never released to the public until it became available for streaming.

Several show creators did end up working on the show before moving on to other projects, including Ciro Nieli, who would later create Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), as well as Julie McNally-Cahill and Timothy Cahill, who later created My Gym Partner's a Monkey and Littlest Pet Shop (2012), as well as Sandra Equihua and Jorge R. Gutierrez, who later created El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. By season 2, the series marked Peter Hastings' return to Warner Bros.

During the first season, ¡Mucha Lucha! would provide morals at the beginning of episodes through title cards. Rikochet, Buena Girl, and the Flea would give viewers statements on what a true luchador would do. For example, Rikochet gives a true luchador statement in the first episode "Back to School", and the statement goes like this: "A True Luchador knows the only thing to fear is fear itself. Oh, and bullies." These statements were not shown in the following seasons.

Music[edit]

Original music score[edit]

The theme song was performed by Chicos de Barrio, with a remixed version done by Mambotron for season 3.

During its first two seasons, the show also features music by Michael Tavera, who previously made music for Cartoon Network's Time Squad, and would later make music for shows such as Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Yin Yang Yo!, and The Secret Saturdays.

By season 3, under Gigante, Tavera would not have any involvement, as he was replaced with Mambotron for the music, consisting of Nicolas Barry, Tomas Jacobi, Rene Garza Aldape, and Chuy Flores.

Licensed music[edit]

The show also featured some licensed songs. All of which, along with the show's theme song. would be released as part of the show's official soundtrack.

• Café Quijano - Desde Brasil
• Los Miserables - Punk Rock Y Subversion
• Celso Piña - Cumbia Poder
• Tito Nieves - Shut Up
• Frankie Negron - So Wonderful
• Plastiko - Esfera De Cristal
• Pesado - Entre Mi Corazón Tu Y Yo
• El Tri - Nosotros Los Latinos
• SNZ - Me Protejo
• Bacilos - Bésela Ya
• Charlie Cruz - Un Chin Chin
• Volumen Cero - Hollywood
• Los Lobos - Good morning aztlán

Merchandise[edit]

A toy line based on the show was released by Jakks Pacific in 2004. In this toy line included "Mix-a-Lot" action figures; these had removable body parts that could be placed on the bodies of other action figures in the series. "Signature Move" action figures were also put out, along with a toy wrestling ring. However, the second series of the toy line was canceled.

During the summer of 2003, DC Comics published a three-issue mini-series of comic books based on ¡Mucha Lucha! All three of the stories featured in these comic books were written by Eddie Mort, and have even been occasionally referenced in the TV series.

1. El Rey, Come Home!
2. It's All Buena!
3. Limbo of the Lost Luchadores!

The show was licensed for a Game Boy Advance video game, Mascaritas of the Lost Code, in late 2003; a PlayStation 2 video game, Mysterioso Grande, was slated for release, but was cancelled around 2004 as the creators could not find a publisher.

In the year 2005 the Mexican snack company Sabritas distributed promotional items in the form of tazos with a picture of various characters from the show. Totaling in 230 pogs, they were sold in two separate series. The first series was referred to as the "classic" series, while the second series was referred to as the "rematch" series.

Proposed revival[edit]

In 2014, a revival called ¡Mucha Lucha! Para Siempre was proposed which would have centered on Rikochet, Buena Girl, and the Flea as teenagers. Rikochet would return home after time away with his uncle with a sense of purposelessness. Due to losing his honor as a wrestler 5 years ago to another wrestler named Guillermo El Toro. He would he find a new found sense of purpose after hearing from the tv that Guillermo El Toro would be fighting Buena Girl. Rikochet would then reconnect with The Flea and Buena girl and have a rematch With Guillermo El Toro to reclaim his honor. [2]