Wearing a black cloak, a black round hat, half of his face covered with a black mask, riding a black horse called Tornado, holding a leather whip and fencing to fight for righteousness, leaving Z-shaped sword marks on every time......
As a classic screen image, Zorro has long been familiar to the global public. The perception of Zorro by domestic audiences mainly comes from the Franco-Italian films of the last century, American TV series, and one animation from the United States and Japan.
The birth of a legendary IP
Father of Zorro American writer Johnston McCallie
Zorro is a fictional character created by American writer Johnston McCully. It originally appeared in the 1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano in Full Story Weekly. This was followed by the success of the 1920 film "The Mark of Zorro". The author himself was greatly encouraged and mass-produced the sequel within forty years, including 5 consecutive stories + 57 short stories.
As for the original book, The Curse of Capistrano is undoubtedly the best-seller, with a total of more than 50 million copies sold.
Cover of the 1919 edition of The Curse of Capistrano
1920 First film "The Mark of Zorro"
Since literature has been so successful, there have been remakes, adaptations, and fanworks of all kinds. Especially after the expiration of copyright, the total number of extended works is more than 100, covering novels, audio, radio plays, stage plays, anime, comic books, games, as well as more than 40 movies and more than 10 TV films. There are also a variety of dolls, models and other peripheral products.
The four works that are well known to Chinese people are only the tip of the iceberg of the huge series.
There are many tributes to Zorro in the "Batman" comics
The Waynes died on the day they watched Zorro
In addition, Zorro's image and dual identity setting can be called the originator of American superheroes. For example, the famous Batman, his whole body is full of similar elements - a mask, a black cloak, a rich second-generation orphan, a secret base, a chivalrous and righteous man, a loyal servant, and the black car is a transformation of the dark horse. So much so that there is a kind of joke: after Zorro, the heroes put on masks!
Zorro's influence on Japanese comics was equally huge. "Lelouch the Rebellious" has a similar shadow, and even Zero is suspected of being a variant of Zorro, and the geass ability is activated to correspond to the Z-word sword mark. Of course, there are also night dress masks in "Sailor Moon", Hawkeye and Zoro in "One Piece", and Zorro's personality mask in "Persona 5", all of which are tributes to Zorro's image.
The image of Zorro appears almost periodically in various Japanese comic works
The ever-changing fox man
The setting of Zorro's time was none other than California under Spanish rule
In the original book The Curse of Capistrano, Zorro lives in California under Spanish rule. Often avenges the helpless, punishes cruel politicians, and is happy to help the oppressed. Therefore, it is nicknamed "The Curse of Capistrano", which is also the origin of the name of the novel.
Some of the later adaptations set the setting in Mexican California. For example, the well-known Alain Delon version of "Zorro" dubbed by Tong Zirong takes place in the fictional "New Aragon". According to the research of netizens, its prototype may be the Bolivar Province of Colombia.
"It was here that we got on the boat from Barcelona, crossed the Atlantic, went into Caracas in the Caribbean, then to Cartagena, and over the mountains to our new home, New Aragon."
In fact, Zorro means "fox" in Spanish. Although it has not become a character icon like in "Batman", it also has quite metaphorical character traits. For example, the protagonist's secret passage system in his manor leads to a secret base called the "Fox's Den". This may be a tribute to the story of Lena Fox, and then a tribute to the trickery and rebellion of "Lelouch the Rebellious".
Of course, there are occasional changes to the different versions of Zorro's styling. In some versions, only an eye patch and a headscarf are worn, while in others a round mask. At least for the first appearance, Zorro's cloak was purple, not the iconic black that later generations were familiar with.
The Mark of Zorro poster The character's turban is different from Alaindron's version
1939 Reed Hadley's Fighting Corps
Usually, Zorro likes to go it alone, but Zorro's Battle Legion in 1939 is an exception. In this Fairbanks-licensed adaptation, there is also a dedicated group of masked helpers. McCully later added a mute helper, Bernardo, and a similar approach was continued in adaptations such as Alain Delon's version, where the helper even wore a mask to act as a stand-in.
In addition, McCalli also added characters such as thieves and Native Americans to the sequel. Some of them knew Zorro's identity, which invisibly strengthened Zorro's local image, in stark contrast to the cynical white manor owner of the estate.
As a native hero, Zorro's opponents are often colonizers from their cultural mother states
A prototype full of rebellious spirit
Zorro's story was inspired by Ireland, which came under British rule in the 17th century
Another source of inspiration for McCully Zorro was likely William Lamport, nicknamed "The Fox". Born in 1615 in the southern port of Wexford, Ireland, he was arrested as a teenager for treason for promoting Catholicism in the Protestant suburbs. However, he managed to break through the tight garrison and escape from prison, and worked as a pirate for a while.
In Ireland at the time, the Catholic majority was of humble status and far less popular than the British Protestants from across the sea. The relationship between the two has long since transcended religious differences and has become a feud with seriously hedged interests. So there are quite a few radicals like Lampport, driven by class hatred and national hatred, seeking revenge. He plundered Protestant ships and later simply joined the French army in the war against the British.
Rumored to be a portrait of William Lamport
In 1630, Lambert was recommended to the palace by Count Olivares of Spain. He continued to be active under aliases such as Guillén Lombardo, and participated in many battles as the captain of the Phalanx Legion. Nine years later, he accepted the dual mission of diplomacy + espionage given by Olivares, preparing to obtain funds and troops to return to Ireland to sedition the rebellion. Soon he was transferred to Mexico, reportedly because he couldn't control his lower body, so he got pregnant with a noble lady unmarried. As a result, he was exiled by the angry Spanish aristocracy.
In fact, Lambert was only given a new task to spy on the new governor who was suspected of sympathizing with the Portuguese traitors. Two years later, he was arrested by the Inquisition on charges of collusion with natives, black slaves and native whites, practicing Indian witch doctors and astrology, impersonating the illegitimate son of Philip III, plotting a rebellion, and establishing himself king of Mexico. So he became the leader of the prisoners during the squatting and escaped from prison with their assistance. Then he defiantly stayed in Mexico City, posting big-character posters proclaiming that he was going to bombard the magistrates. It was not until 1659 that he was arrested for the second time, and before he was burned at the stake, he was sentenced to death with a rope that bound him.
Father Miguel Hidalgo, known as the father of the Mexican nation
There are many metaphorical elements in Alainderon's version of Zorro that pay homage to it
Such a legendary figure of his own nature naturally became a natural source of Mexican nationalist literature. In 1872, the Mexican writer Vicente wrote a novel based on it, and works on the same subject sprung up, and the fame of "El Zorro" spread by that time.
These creations laid the foundation for the later Zorro culture. In Alaindelon's version of the film, there is also an element of homage to it and the history of Mexico's liberation. For example, the governor who sympathizes with the low, the character name derived from Miguel, the father of the Mexican nation, the upright and charismatic monk, the bell ringing by the servants, and the folk legend of the "black fox fairy" full of American paganism.
California
Experience a change from Spain to Mexico to the territory of the United States
Of course, no matter how much Mexicans value Lamport, his legend remains a niche culture on a global scale. Except for some residents of the New World, only Irish natives would approve of him. Coincidentally, McCully, the author of Zorro's novel, happens to be of Irish descent. Therefore, you will be familiar with the above legends, and upgrade the Mexican fox fairy to a chivalrous IP that is common to the world.
But problems followed. California, which gave birth to Zorro, not only became independent from the Spanish Empire with Mexico, but also defected to the United States a few years later. This makes the heroic story inevitably overshadowed by neocolonialism. What's more, in the 2005 version of the "The Legend of Zorro" movie, Zorro blatantly supported the annexation of California to the United States, which is comparable to the three domestic slaves who ceded land and betrayed the country.
The 2005 version of Zorro starred in Banderas as Spaniard
It is interesting to note that Spain and Mexico, which have been hacked one after another, have no sense of the tendencies of the movie. The former happily produced Zorro film and television productions, and even allowed his own film star Antonio Banderas to star in the role. The latter simply allowed works such as "The Legend of Zorro" to be filmed and released within their own territory.
It can be seen that the changes of the times are enough to smooth out many G-spots that have caused people to climax. As the victorious side, the United States is not only unable to prevent Latin American immigrants from entering the country, but also unable to prevent Spanish from becoming the common vernacularity of the southern states. Mexico, as the loser, never wanted to retake California. Otherwise, we may turn around and face similar demands from the Spaniards......