¡Mucha Lucha!

¡Mucha Lucha!
Also known as	¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante (season 3)
Genre	Animation Comedy Slapstick Sports Action
Created by	Eddie Mort Lili Chin
Directed by	Alfred Gimeno (season 1) Ken Kessel (seasons 2-3) Collette Sunderman (voice director)
Voices of	Carlos Alazraqui (Season 1-2) Jason Marsden (Season 3) Kimberly Brooks Candi Milo
Theme music composer	Chicos de Barrio
Opening theme	¡Mucha Lucha! by Chicos de Barrio
Composers	Michael Tavera (seasons 1-2) Nicolas Barry (season 3 (as Mambotron)) Tomas Jacobi (season 3 (as Mambotron)) Rene Garza Aldape (season 3 (as Mambotron)) Chuy Flores (season 3 (as Mambotron))
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Sander Schwartz
Producers	Ken Kessel Eddie Mort Lili Chin Alfred Gimeno James Krieg
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Warner Bros. Animation Bardel Entertainment
Distributor	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	Kids' WB
Audio format	Dolby Surround (2002–03) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound (2003–05)
Original release	August 17, 2002 (2002-08-17) – February 26, 2005 (2005-02-26)

¡Mucha Lucha! (known as ¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante during its third season) is an American animated television series that premiered on Kids' WB, Teletoon, and Canal 5 on August 17, 2002.^[1] It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin and produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Bardel Entertainment. It is the first animated television series intended for children created with Adobe Flash, a program which became widely used as a medium for animation in the years following until its closure in 2020.^[2]

On October 5, 2004, the direct-to-video feature film ¡Mucha Lucha!: The Return of El Maléfico was produced from the series. 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.

Premise[]

The show is set in Luchaville, a fictional town in Southern California centered on lucha libre where nearly everyone in that town wears a mask (which they are never seen without) and costume and a well-known 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.

Episodes[]

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	13		August 17, 2002 (2002-08-17)	February 8, 2003 (2003-02-08)
	2	22		September 13, 2003 (2003-09-13)	May 8, 2004 (2004-05-08)
	Gigante	17		September 11, 2004 (2004-09-11)	February 26, 2005 (2005-02-26)
	Movie			October 5, 2004

Characters[]

• Rikochet (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui)– A young wrestler who is the protagonist. He considers himself the bravest of the group, but sometimes leaps before he finds.
• Buena Girl (Kimberly Brooks)– A smart, young female wrestler who always plays by the rules. She can also be very arrogant and obnoxious at times.
• The Flea (voiced by Candi Milo)– A friend of Rikochet and Buena Girl who is always dirty and refers to himself in the third person. As well as having a few disgusting habits, he is also the most nervous but often proves to be a useful ally.
• El Rey (voiced by Michael Donovan)– An action figure which represents Rikochet's conscience. He carries a backpack 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 Santo). Alongside the series, several other El Rey toys appear and often causes trouble with Rikochet.

English Voices[]

• Carlos Alazraqui
• Jason Marsden as Rikochet and Mr. Midcarda and Tiki God and Steely Don, Roman Holiday and Cupid, Narrator and Pogo and Minion #1
• Kimberly Brooks
• Candi Milo
• Hector Elizondo
• Erik Estrada
• Benito Martinez
• George Lopez
• Lorenzo Lamas
• Paul Rodriguez
• Wilmer Valderrama
• Lee Majors

Also Starring[]

• Kathleen Barr
• Garry Chalk
• Michael Donovan
• Terry Klassen
• Scott McNeil
• Lee Tockar
• Alessandro Juliani
• Patricia Idlette
• Colin Murdock
• Brian Drummond
• Tabitha St. Germain
• John Payne
• Richard Newman
• Nicole Oliver
• Ellen Kennedy
• Don Brown as King Prawn
• as Kyoto
• Gabe Khouth as Futboloco and Little Dipper and Baby and Mexican Soldier and French Soldier
• as Soccer Coach and Pierre Del Fuego and Ratman and Challenger Ape and Coffee Guy and Cop and Miguel and Pharmacist and Masked Santa
• Sam Vincent as Wilbur
• Louis Chirillo as King of Radishes and Hobo
• Jay Brazeau as Ring Master
• Phil Hayes as Reporter, Announcer and Chopper Cop
• Janyse Jaud as Dragonfly, Pep Girl and Zebrita Twin
• Dee Bradley Baker as Rick O' Shea, Troll and Sr. Stinky, Hulk Penny and Black Widower and Hueve-O and King Ape, Sprinkles, Tiber The Terrible and Parrot and Mysterioso Grande and Kid and Dr. Siniestro and Spleen, Big Nerd, El Rey #2 and Doomien and Irgwin and Counselor, Quetzalcoatl, Bobo and Orphan
• Peter Kelamis as Big Dopey Slamazon and Tourist
• Tara Strong as Slamazon #1 and Rollerita
• Matt Hill as Timmy of a Thousand Masks
• Fred Tatasciore as Rudo Claws, Santo Claus and MC Goatlover
• as Niko Sushi and Biggus Dorkus
• Freddy Rodriguez as Announcer, Robot Car Voice and Newsboy
  And
• Blue Demon Jr. as Himself

Broadcast[]

The show was also seen on Kids' WB in the United States, Teletoon in Canada, Kix in the United Kingdom, and Canal 5 in Mexico from August 17, 2002, until February 26, 2005. It also premiered on Cartoon Network internationally in 2003, and in U.S in 2004. In March 2007, the show began its first rerun on Miguzi, and was later replaced with Ben 10 for the last slot before Miguzi was shut down in the same year. The final rerun of the show lasted from 2008 to 2009, and it was removed from the lineup in 2010.

Home media[]

In Region 1, Warner Home Video has released one compilation that contained the first six segment-episodes from season one, titled Heart of Lucha, on August 23, 2003. The direct-to-video movie The Return of El Maléfico, was released on October 5, 2004, exclusively at Walmart, while other retailers released it on January 4, 2005, during the third and final season.

In 2019, ¡Mucha Lucha! was available remastered for the first time in High Definition for home viewers and became available on demand through Amazon Prime.

Merchandise[]

A toy line based on the show was released by Jakks Pacific in 2004.^[3] 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, and also a Sony PlayStation 2 video game, Mysterioso Grande, was slated for release, but was cancelled around 2004 as the creators could not find a publisher.^[4]

Proposed revival[]

In 2014, a revival called ¡Mucha Lucha! Para Siempre was proposed which would have centered on Rikochet, Buena Girl, and the Flea as teenagers.^[5][6][7]

See also[]

• Lucha libre (Mexican wrestling)
• El Santo
• Chicos de Barrio

References[]

External links[]

• ¡Mucha Lucha! at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• ¡Mucha Lucha! at IMDb