¡Mucha Lucha!

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¡Mucha Lucha! (later known as ¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante) was an animated television series. It premiered on Kids' WB on August 17, 2002. It was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It is the first animated television series created with Adobe Flash, a program often used for Internet cartoons. The show was also seen on Teletoon in Canada, CITV and Kix! in the UK, and Cartoon Network worldwide (including the US).

The show is set in a town centered around Lucha libre (nearly everyone in the town has a mask and costume and a signature move) and is essentially about the adventures of three children, Rikochet, The Flea and Buena Girl, as they struggle through the Foremost World-Renowned International School of Lucha, where they study.

Main characters

• Rikochet - A young wrestler who is the main protagonist. He considers himself the bravest of the group, but sometimes leaps before he looks.
• The Flea - A friend of Rikochet who is always dirty. As well as having a few disgusting habits, he is also the most nervous, but often proves to be a useful ally.
• Buena Girl - A smart young female wrestler who always plays by 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 1970s loving 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 strict 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.

Season list (Episodes)

Season 1: 2002-2003

1. Back to School / Weight Gaining
2. How Rikochet Got His Move Back / Heart of Lucha (also known as Big Bad Flea)
3. Woulda Coulda Hasbeena / The Anger of Cindy Slam
4. The Fantastic Backpack / The Naked and the Masked
5. The Curse of the Masked Toilet / The Mummy
6. Bring Your Dad to Lucha Day / Our Founder
7. Tooth or Dare / Mask Mitzvah
8. Flea's Fighting Fish (also known as A Little Fishy) / La Flamencita
9. Will the Real El Rey Please Stand Up? / The Musica Man
10. Pinball Wizard / Not So Buena Girl
11. Honor Thy Lucha / Chinche
12. Timmy of 1,000 Masks / All Creatures Masked and Small
13. Mask Away

Note: "Back to School" was originally planned to be the pilot episode and was originally intended to be shown with, "How Rikochet Got His Move Back", 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.

Season 2: 2003-2004

1. Lone Stars / The Littlest Luchadora
2. The Man from M.A.S.K. / The Flea's Bueno Twin
3. Nightmare on Lucha Street / Revenge of the Masked Toilet
4. Calling All Monsters / Pig Out
5. Thrills and Skills / Party Animal
6. Dancing with Bugs / Chain of Fools
7. You Look Radishing
8. War of the Donuts / Show Me the Funny
9. French Twisted / Hungry Like Los Lobos
10. Big Buena Sellout / Laying in Ruins
11. Getting Ahead / Los Fabulosos
12. Meet the Muertos / Mask Maker
13. Undercover Flea / Kid Wombat
14. Churro Overload / Mini Mercado of Doom
15. La Bruja / El Niño Loco
16. The Collector
17. The Brat in the Hat / Election Daze
18. Late Night Lucha / Flea at Last
19. Flea's Personal Demons / Virtual Luchadores
20. Cinco De Piñata / Poocha Lucha
21. Run, Lucha, Run / An Epic Tale Of Heroes And Donuts
22. Attack Of The Luchabots

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.

Season 3: 2004-2005 (¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante)

1. My Hairy Knuckles / Brains Meets Brawn
2. Asphalt of Doom / Hot Hot Hot
3. I Was a Pre-Teenage Chupacabra / Carnival of Masked Terror
4. Getting His Goat / 10 Rounds of Trouble
5. Buena Basura / Shamrock and Roll
6. Spider and the Flea / The Incredible Penny Plutonium
7. Dare to Lucha / Monkey Business
8. Dawn of the… Donuts / Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Horchata
9. Big Worm / Medico Mayhem
10. Banditos de los Muertos / Field of Screams
11. Slamazon and On… / Buena on Wheels
12. A Whole Lotta El Reys / Doomien
13. The Match Before Xmas
14. The Call of the Mild
15. Niko Sushi's Happy Battle Funtime Dome 3000 / Smarticus
16. Mars Madness / Fears of a Clown
17. The Magnificent 3

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.

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 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.

See also

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

External links

• ¡Mucha Lucha! at Kids WB!
• ¡Mucha Lucha! at TV.com
• Fwak! Animation
• Bardel Entertainment Inc., Vancouver, BC, Canada