¡Mucha Lucha! (later known as ¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante) is an animated television series. It premiered on Kids' WB on August 17, 2002. It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin. It is one of the first animated television series created with Adobe Flash, a program often used for Internet cartoons. The show can also be seen on YTV in Canada , CITV in the UK, and Cartoon Network worldwide (including the US).
The show is set in a town centered around Lucha libre called "Luchaville, Mexico" (nearly everyone in the town has a mask and costume and a signature move) and is essentially about the adventures of three children, Rikochet, Buena Girl, and The Flea, as they struggle through the Foremost World-Renowned International School of Lucha, where they study.
[edit] Main characters
- Rikochet - The brave wrestler boy.
- The Flea - The filthy and disgusting wrestler. His main characteristic is he's always dirty and gross, even when he plays clean. It was later revealed that his brown costume is actually white underneath the massive amounts of dirt. The Flea is a compulsive illeistic.
- Buena Girl - The knowledgeable wrestler girl who always follows the rules.
- El Rey - An action figure which represents Rikochet's conscience. He's carried in a back pack, but can move and talk on his own, as if he were alive. It is stated that this action figure is just part of a large merchandising euphoria related to a supreme undefeated Mexican wrestler with the same name (an allusion to El Santo). Along in the series, several other El Rey toys appear and often causes trouble with Rikochet's.
- Señor Hasbeena - The creepy main trainer in the wrestling school. He once had the chance to become the greatest wrestler of all time, but he lost it due to an unexplainable paranormal event. Later in the show, it is revealed that it was himself traveling in time to prevent his loss that ruined his fight in the first place.
- The Headmistress - The evil leader and director of the Foremost World-Renowned International School of Lucha. She has a picky attitude with tendency to violence. She usually yells all the time, even when not needed.
[edit] Season list (Episodes)
[edit] Season 1: 2002-2003
- Back to School / Weight Gaining
- The Fantastic Backpack / The Naked and the Masked (also known as Got a little bit of obscene)
- How Rikochet Got His Move Back / Heart of Lucha (also known as Big Bad Flea)
- Woulda Coulda Hasbeena / The Anger of Cindy Slam (also Gerbil George's Masked world of Luchafun & Wrestletainment)
- The Curse of the Masked Toilet (also known as Pulgita or simply The 3 Babysitters) / The Mummy with the Golden Mask (also known as Buena Girl Gets Kidnapped)/(with Rikochet getting Kidnapped)
- Pinball Wizard (also known as Pinball Problems) / Not So Buena Girl (also known as The Fortune Donut or simply The Lonliest Buena Girl & why is Buena Girl Crying Tears of Joy?)
- Bring Your Dad to Lucha Day / Our Founder (with Flea, Rikochet, & Buena Girl getting Kidnapped)
- Tooth or Dare (also known as The Evil dentist who breaks Buena Girl's teeth)/(with a kidnapping scene of Buena Girl) / Mask Mitzvah
- Flea's Fighting Fish (also known as A Little Fishy) / La Flamencita (also known as Dance Disaster)
- Will the Real El Rey Please Stand Up? / The Musica Man (with Rikochet getting kidnapped)
- Timmy of 1,000 Masks (also known as EXPELED) / All Creatures Masked and Small (also known as Doggone It)
- Honor Thy Lucha (also known as Trading Card Trouble) / Chinche (also known as The Masked Bee)
- Mask Away
Note: "How Rikochet Got His Move Back" was originally intended to be shown with "Back to School", but ended up being paired with "Heart of Lucha" (while "Back to School" is shown with "Weight Gaining") for reasons unknown. Several episodes from this season were adaptated into children's storybooks, most of them being given titles different from the episodes themselves.
[edit] Season 2: 2003-2004
- Lone Stars / The Littlest Luchadora
- The Man from M.A.S.K. (with a kidnapping scene of Rikochet) / The Flea's Bueno Twin (also known as The Bueno flea who ate the magic apple or simply The New code of masked wrestling)
- Nightmare on Lucha Street / Revenge of the Masked Toilet
- Calling All Monsters (with a kidnapping scene of Rikochet & Buena Girl) / Pig Out
- Thrills and Skills / Party Animal
- Dancing with Bugs / Chain of Fools
- You Look Radishing (also known as Thief of Radishes) / Lucha, Rinse and Repeat (with a kidnapping scene of Rikochet & Buena Girl)
- War of the Donuts / Show Me the Funny
- French Twisted / Hungry Like Los Lobos (also known as Los Lobos De Lucha)
- Big Buena Sellout / Laying in Ruins
- Getting Ahead / Los Fabulosos
- Meet the Muertos (also known as The Luchatastico Halloween) / Mask Maker
- Undercover Flea / Kid Wombat
- Churro Overload (with Flea getting Kidnapped) / Mini Mercado of Doom
- La Bruja / El Niño Loco
- The Collector
- The Brat in the Hat (also known as Los Pantalones) / Election Daze
- Late Night Lucha / Flea at Last
- Flea's Personal Demons / Virtual Luchadores
- Cinco De Piñata (also known as Day of the Piñata) / Poocha Lucha
- Run, Lucha, Run / An Epic Tale Of Heroes And Donuts
- Attack Of The Luchabots
- My Hairy Knuckles / Brains Meets Brawn
- Asphalt of Doom / Hot Hot Hot
- I was a Pre-Teenage Chupacabra (also known as I Was a Pre-Teen Chupacarbra) / Carnival of Masked Terror (with a kidnapping scene of Buena Girl)
- Getting His Goat / 10 Rounds of Trouble
- Video Movie
- ¡Mucha Lucha!: The Return of El Maléfico
Note: The theme song from Chicos de Barrio was slightly changed this season. The last four episodes of this season were held over and ended up airing during season 3.
[edit] Season 3: 2004-2005 (¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante)
- Buena Basura / Shamrock and Roll
- Spider and the Flea / The Incredible Penny Plutonium
- Dare to Lucha / Monkey Business
- Dawn of the… Donuts (also known as Sprinkles) / Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Horchata
- Big Worm / Medico Mayhem (also known as Journey to the center of the Flea which is a parody of Fantastic Voyage)
- Banditos de los Muertos / Field of Screams
- Slamazon and On… / Buena on Wheels
- A Whole Lot of El Rey / Doomien
- The Match Before Xmas (also known as A ¡Mucha Mucha!: Gigante Lucha Christmas special or simply The Match Before Christmas)
- Call of the Mild
- Niko Sushi's Happy Battle Funtime Dome 3000 / Smarticus (also known as A Chicken in Luchaville, Mexico)/(with a kidnapping scene of Rikochet)
- Mars Madness / Fears of a Clown
- The Magnificent 3 (also known as Blue Demon)
[edit] Spin-off merchandise
A toy line based on the show was released by Jakks Pacific in 2003. 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 cancelled.
During 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.
- El Rey, Come Home!
- It's All Buena!
- Limbo of the Lost Luchadores!
The show was licensed for a Game Boy Advance video game in late 2003 - Mascaritas of the Lost Code, and also a Sony Playstation 2 video game was slated for release but was cancelled around 2004 - Mysterioso Grande.
Also Sabritas had two "tazos" collections of Mucha Lucha in Mexico, where due to the show's Mexican style, it raised a fever pitch. A card game was released in Mexico in early January 2006, however the card game was released on some Mexican states during late 2005.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Animation technique
