Pro wrestling had the infamous "Monday Night Wars" from 1996-2001. The unofficial "Saturday Morning Wars" began in 2002, but, in this case, it was one-sided from the go.
We previously reviewed Fox's entry, the Japanese import, Ultimate Muscle. Kids' WB! answered with the flash-animated Mucha Lucha!, which was set in a fictional Mexican village where Lucha Libre wrestling was the be-all and end-all to the entire community, such that, everyone who lived there wore a mask and tights and had a specific finishing move. Now, that would be a fun place to visit on vacation, no?
If you can get past the gimmick of the characters' shape-shifting to illustrate their special moves, there's a lot to like. The focus is on three kids: Rikochet, who is the leader of this triad, Buena Girl, and The Flea, a criss-cross satire of The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Pig Pen from the Peanuts strip and TV specials. In this regard, Kids' WB! was aiming this series more against Teamo Supremo over on ABC, which also had a trio of juvenile protagonists.
Mucha Lucha! lasted three seasons, overall, with the final season seeing a title change to Mucha Lucha Gigante, which was really a cosmetic change, nothing more, which viewers translated into jumping the shark. Currently, Mucha Lucha! is buried deep in Cartoon Network's vaults, unlikely to return unless current management finds an excuse to bring it back.
Edit, 12/9/21: The video was deleted by Dailymotion. YouTube provides a short pilot clip:
Rating: B.
5 comments:
I would love to see Warner Bros. release a Mucha Lucha: The Complete Series DVD in the future.
I don't think you'd be alone there, Steve.
This show premiered on Kids! WB 15 years ago today. Being 23 and being born on June 5, 1994, I was 8 years old when this show started. I got into this show when it was being rerunned on CN back in March of 2004, when I was 9.
Any word on the DVD?
Nope.
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