WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 I want to start by setting a very specific scene 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:06.580 for you. It's 2002. You are waking up on a Saturday 00:00:06.580 --> 00:00:08.560 morning. You grab a bowl of cereal that is probably 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.460 like 40 % sugar. And you tune into Kids WB. Right. 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:14.919 You're expecting the usual stuffed superheroes, 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:17.699 maybe some talking animals. But instead, you 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:21.480 get dropped into this Southern California suburb 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:25.219 where the laws of physics are just... Different 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:28.359 is putting it mildly. You're talking about a 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:31.699 world where the school principal, the local dog, 00:00:31.859 --> 00:00:35.020 the mailman. They're all wearing wrestling masks. 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:37.740 And they never take them off. Never. Exactly. 00:00:37.820 --> 00:00:40.000 We are talking about Mucha Lucha. It's a show 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.020 that I feel like a lot of people have this vague 00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.200 fever dream memory of. Like, wait, was that the 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:45.920 show with the flea? Yeah, that's the one. But 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:47.640 looking at the research we've pulled today, this 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:50.619 isn't just a nostalgic trip. This show was actually 00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:53.939 a massive gamble that kind of changed the way 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:56.380 cartoons are made. It really was. It's so easy 00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:58.479 to look back now and just see another colorful 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:02.479 Y2K cartoon. But Mucha Lucha. is a legitimate 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.140 historical milestone. Okay, how so? It was the 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:08.280 very first animated television series intended 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:11.060 for children to be created using Macromedia Flash. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.299 Okay, let's unpack that because I think for a 00:01:13.299 --> 00:01:16.519 modern audience, Flash just sounds like old internet. 00:01:16.780 --> 00:01:18.719 Right, like old games or something. Yeah, we 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:20.980 think of grainy YouTube videos or those games 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:23.739 on Newgrounds. Why was it such a big deal for 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:26.049 a TV network to use it? You have to understand 00:01:26.049 --> 00:01:29.109 the stigma at the time. In the early 2000s, broadcast 00:01:29.109 --> 00:01:33.670 animation was pretty binary. You either paid 00:01:33.670 --> 00:01:37.069 a fortune for hand -drawn cell animation, think 00:01:37.069 --> 00:01:40.629 Batman, the animated series, or early SpongeBob. 00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:42.769 The expensive stuff. The really expensive stuff. 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:45.849 Or you were experimenting with high -end 3D CGI. 00:01:46.790 --> 00:01:49.709 Flash was seen as the cheap option. It was for 00:01:49.709 --> 00:01:52.549 low bandwidth, for dial -up connections. So pitching 00:01:52.549 --> 00:01:55.310 a network show built entirely in this... This 00:01:55.310 --> 00:01:58.030 web tool must have sounded insane to executives. 00:01:58.269 --> 00:01:59.750 Oh, completely. They probably thought it would 00:01:59.750 --> 00:02:02.030 look like a screensaver. The perception was that 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:03.930 Flash just couldn't handle broadcast resolution. 00:02:04.069 --> 00:02:06.870 It looked flat. It looked jerky. Mucha lucha 00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:09.810 was the proof of concept that changed the whole 00:02:09.810 --> 00:02:13.009 industry pipeline. The creators used vector -based 00:02:13.009 --> 00:02:16.289 animation, which lets you scale images infinitely 00:02:16.289 --> 00:02:18.930 without losing quality. They proved you could 00:02:18.930 --> 00:02:21.830 get that crisp, thick -lined look on a TV budget. 00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:25.330 And it didn't just work. It became the standard. 00:02:25.669 --> 00:02:27.889 Reading through the production legacy, this show 00:02:27.889 --> 00:02:31.210 basically built the highway that later hits like 00:02:31.210 --> 00:02:34.310 Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and My Little 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:37.050 Pony drove on. It streamlined the whole process. 00:02:37.090 --> 00:02:39.650 It moved animation away from physical cells and 00:02:39.650 --> 00:02:42.509 into a purely digital workflow. So even if you've 00:02:42.509 --> 00:02:44.810 never seen a single episode, if you like modern 00:02:44.810 --> 00:02:47.189 2D animation, you kind of owe a debt to this 00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:49.729 show. That's the technical side, which is huge. 00:02:49.870 --> 00:02:51.849 But we have a mission to explore the world itself 00:02:51.849 --> 00:02:55.370 today because LuchaVille is one of the weirdest 00:02:55.370 --> 00:02:57.129 fictional towns I've ever encountered. It is 00:02:57.129 --> 00:02:59.270 delightful. The entire society is structured 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:01.949 around Lucha Libre. The kids attend the foremost 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:04.150 world -renowned international school of lucha. 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:06.250 Which is a mouthful, but I love it. And the magic 00:03:06.250 --> 00:03:07.870 system, if you can call it that, is fascinating. 00:03:07.990 --> 00:03:10.729 It's all based on signature moves. In this universe, 00:03:11.030 --> 00:03:13.669 wrestling moves aren't just, you know, grappling 00:03:13.669 --> 00:03:16.879 or throwing. They are metaphysical. If you call 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.879 out a move name, you physically transform to 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.599 embody that move. That's my favorite part. It's 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.340 like taking a pun and making it a superpower. 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.599 If your move is the spinning top, you don't just 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.800 spin, you become a human top. It adds this layer 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.960 of surrealism where language dictates reality. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.879 It also tells us a lot about the characters. 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.740 The show focuses on the three masqueritas, and 00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:40.580 they are textbook examples of how to build a 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:43.000 balanced trio. You have Ricochet, the protagonist. 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:46.219 Ten years old. He thinks of himself as the bravest. 00:03:46.419 --> 00:03:48.479 But the source material always highlights his 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.439 fatal flaw. He leaps before he looks. Classic. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.500 He is the engine of chaos. He wants to be a hero 00:03:54.500 --> 00:03:57.180 so badly that he usually ignores the consequences 00:03:57.180 --> 00:03:59.740 until it's way too late. Then you have his foil, 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.280 Buena Girl. She's the rule follower. She's the 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:04.780 super ego, if we're getting psychological. She 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.879 is nine, incredibly capable, but the creators 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.819 gave her this great flaw where her strict adherence 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.939 to the code of masked wrestling makes her kind 00:04:13.939 --> 00:04:16.920 of arrogant. Oh, totally. She can't stand it 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:19.100 when people do things the wrong way. She's the 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:21.100 kid who reminds the teacher to collect the homework. 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:23.060 Yes, but she's also the one who actually knows 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:24.959 how to get them out of trouble. Exactly. And 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.709 then we have the flea. You cannot talk about 00:04:28.709 --> 00:04:31.370 this show without talking about the flea. I feel 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:33.170 like the flea is the character everyone remembers, 00:04:33.230 --> 00:04:35.610 even if they forgot the actual plot. He's eight 00:04:35.610 --> 00:04:37.829 years old. He refers to himself in the third 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:41.790 person, and his defining trait is just filth. 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:44.589 He is the pigpen of this universe. Yeah. But 00:04:44.589 --> 00:04:46.269 what I love about the character breakdown is 00:04:46.269 --> 00:04:49.370 that his gross habits are his superpowers. His 00:04:49.370 --> 00:04:51.389 suit is supposed to be white, but it's permanently 00:04:51.389 --> 00:04:53.850 stained brown. He never bathes. Which is gross, 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:56.470 for sure. But looking at the notes, there's a 00:04:56.470 --> 00:04:59.529 surprisingly deep layer to him. He's actually 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:01.930 the most nervous member of the group. That's 00:05:01.930 --> 00:05:04.569 the key. The filth is almost a defense mechanism. 00:05:04.949 --> 00:05:07.689 He is terrified of everything. But because he's 00:05:07.689 --> 00:05:10.189 so repulsive to his enemies, he ends up being 00:05:10.189 --> 00:05:13.029 a useful ally. It's a great subversion of the 00:05:13.029 --> 00:05:15.430 cowardly lion trope. But speaking of allies, 00:05:15.649 --> 00:05:18.250 there's one character detail in these notes that 00:05:18.250 --> 00:05:20.310 I think is the single smartest piece of writing 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.889 in the whole show. And that is El Rey. Oh, absolutely. 00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:25.949 This is where the show gets incredibly meta. 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:29.949 Usually a hero has a mentor, a wise old master, 00:05:30.129 --> 00:05:33.430 a spirit guide. Ricochet has an action figure. 00:05:33.529 --> 00:05:36.290 A little plastic toy. It's an action figure of 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:39.459 a supreme undefeated Mexican wrestler. which 00:05:39.459 --> 00:05:42.120 is a clear nod to the real -life legend El Santo. 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:44.759 And he carries it in his backpack. But it's not 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.699 just a prop. It talks. It's fully sentient. And 00:05:47.699 --> 00:05:49.779 it is not a supportive mentor. Not at all. It 00:05:49.779 --> 00:05:51.639 calls him Chico. It insults him. It calls him 00:05:51.639 --> 00:05:53.920 a disgrace. It's this tiny, aggressive plastic 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.100 man living in his backpack telling him he's not 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:58.129 good enough. But here's the layer that I think 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.209 goes over kids' heads but hits hard for adults. 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:04.389 The show explicitly acknowledges that El Rey 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:06.689 is mass produced. Right. There are other ones. 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:08.649 There are episodes where other kids have their 00:06:08.649 --> 00:06:11.230 own El Rey toys. And those toys also come to 00:06:11.230 --> 00:06:13.470 life and cause trouble. So his conscience is 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:16.550 literally a piece of merchandise. Exactly. It's 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:19.389 a commentary on consumerism right inside a cartoon 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:22.810 that is designed to sell you toys. Ricochet is 00:06:22.810 --> 00:06:25.569 taking moral guidance from a product that isn't 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:27.970 even unique to him. It's brilliant satire. It 00:06:27.970 --> 00:06:30.310 really is. It adds this layer of cynicism to 00:06:30.310 --> 00:06:32.410 the world that balances out the bright colors. 00:06:32.810 --> 00:06:34.930 But let's go back to what we started with, the 00:06:34.930 --> 00:06:37.589 violence issue. We established that the network, 00:06:37.769 --> 00:06:41.009 Kids WB, was very hesitant about a wrestling 00:06:41.009 --> 00:06:43.769 show. They rejected the initial pitch. The sources 00:06:43.769 --> 00:06:45.670 are really clear on this. They looked at the 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:48.209 concept and said, this is too violent for our 00:06:48.209 --> 00:06:51.060 demographic. Which, you know, makes sense. It's 00:06:51.060 --> 00:06:53.360 a show about fighting. So how do the creators, 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:56.199 Eddie Mort and Lily Chin, get around that? You 00:06:56.199 --> 00:06:58.560 can't have lucha libre without people, you know, 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.459 grabbing each other. Well, the solution was in 00:07:01.459 --> 00:07:04.079 the visual guides. Lily Chin had to create the 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:07.180 specific set of rules for the animators and for 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:09.100 the network's standards and practices department. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:11.779 They had to prove that what was happening on 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:14.040 screen wasn't fighting. It was choreography. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:17.759 That is a master class in framing. It's not violence. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:21.629 It's dance. It really is. By leaning into that 00:07:21.629 --> 00:07:24.629 exaggerated flash animation style, the transformations, 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:27.529 the impossible physics, they argued that these 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:29.990 weren't harmful acts of violence. Ah, because 00:07:29.990 --> 00:07:32.790 no one is really getting hurt. Right. Because 00:07:32.790 --> 00:07:35.170 the characters transform into objects or elemental 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:37.689 forces, nobody is actually getting punched in 00:07:37.689 --> 00:07:39.430 the face. They're getting hit by a metaphor. 00:07:39.689 --> 00:07:42.069 And honestly, watching it, you don't feel like 00:07:42.069 --> 00:07:44.629 you're missing the impact. It feels so energetic. 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:47.490 You don't realize they're pulling their punches 00:07:47.490 --> 00:07:50.399 because... The visuals are so loud. And that 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.279 energy isn't just visual. We have to talk about 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:54.579 the soundscape because this is another area where 00:07:54.579 --> 00:07:57.839 the show was just punching way above its weight 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.420 class for a Saturday morning cartoon. The music 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:02.399 is incredible. I was looking at the list of licensed 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:05.279 tracks and it's not your standard generic cartoon 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:07.939 rock. No, it's culturally specific. They didn't 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:10.879 just want it to sound vaguely Latin. They went 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:13.279 out and licensed tracks from massive artists. 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.740 The theme song alone was performed by Chico Estabario. 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:18.980 Which immediately sets a very specific tone. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.879 It's cumbia. It's super energetic. But look at 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.240 the other names in the production notes. They 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.040 had tracks from Cafe Quijano, specifically Des 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.040 de Brazil. They used music from Los Lobos, Good 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:33.500 Morning Esplan. I saw Cumbia Porter by Celso 00:08:33.500 --> 00:08:36.620 Pina on the list. Uh -huh. And Tito Neves. These 00:08:36.620 --> 00:08:40.230 are legends. By including cumbia, rock and espanol, 00:08:40.330 --> 00:08:43.389 and pop from artists like Plastico, they were 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:46.269 doing serious world building. They were signaling 00:08:46.269 --> 00:08:48.309 to the audience, especially the Latino audience, 00:08:48.629 --> 00:08:51.809 that this wasn't a caricature. It was a celebration. 00:08:52.250 --> 00:08:54.669 Exactly. It gave Luchaville a sonic identity 00:08:54.669 --> 00:08:57.350 that felt lived in. It respects the roots of 00:08:57.350 --> 00:08:59.370 the subject matter. It's not just wrestling is 00:08:59.370 --> 00:09:02.570 funny. It's Lucha Libre is a culture. Precisely. 00:09:02.570 --> 00:09:04.110 And of course, when you have a show about wrestling 00:09:04.110 --> 00:09:06.789 with distinct characters, the end goal is always 00:09:06.789 --> 00:09:09.690 the same. You want to sell the toys in the real 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:11.710 world. You want to sell the toys. And I remember 00:09:11.710 --> 00:09:14.190 seeing these. Jack Specific released the line 00:09:14.190 --> 00:09:16.590 in 2004. But looking at the description of the 00:09:16.590 --> 00:09:19.210 toys, they were kind of weird. They leaned into 00:09:19.210 --> 00:09:21.669 the surrealism of the show. The key gimmick was 00:09:21.669 --> 00:09:23.870 the mix -a -lot figures. Right. You can pull 00:09:23.870 --> 00:09:26.450 their limbs off. You could swap body parts between 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.960 characters. Which, again, fits the transformation 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.580 theme of the show, even if it is a little bit 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:34.399 body horror when you think about it. I'm going 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:36.980 to put the flea's head on Ricochet's body. That's 00:09:36.980 --> 00:09:39.379 the stuff of nightmares. It is a bit grotesque, 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:41.759 but kids loved it. They also had the signature 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.500 move figures and the wrestling ring. But the 00:09:44.500 --> 00:09:46.919 merchandise story actually gets more interesting 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.019 when you look outside the U .S. The sources mention 00:09:50.019 --> 00:09:52.419 a specific promotion in Mexico that was just 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.500 huge. The Sabritas snacks. Sabritas. In 2005, 00:09:56.620 --> 00:09:59.879 they ran this. massive promotion involving Tasos. 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:01.659 For those who don't know, Tasos are basically 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:04.679 pogs, right? Full of plastic discs. Yep. And 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:07.120 the scale of this collection was absurd. There 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.059 were 230 different Mucha Lucha Tasos to collect. 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:14.200 They had a classic series and a rematch series. 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:16.840 230. That is a lot of potato chips you have to 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.269 eat. It speaks to how popular the show was in 00:10:19.269 --> 00:10:21.830 Mexico. It resonated because it was reflecting 00:10:21.830 --> 00:10:24.990 the culture back in a fun, stylized way. Right. 00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:27.549 But while the snacks were successful, the digital 00:10:27.549 --> 00:10:30.259 side of things has a bit of a tragic story. You 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:33.580 mean the video games. Right. So, naturally, you'd 00:10:33.580 --> 00:10:35.200 assume a wrestling show makes for a great fighting 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.080 game. And we did get a Game Boy Advance Game 00:10:39.080 --> 00:10:41.539 Masqueridas of the Lost Code. That came out. 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:43.820 It exists. But there's supposed to be a console 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:46.960 game. A PlayStation 2 game titled Mysterioso 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.399 Grande. It was in development. It was slated 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:52.379 for a 2004 release. And it was going to use cel 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:55.360 shading to mimic that Flash look. Oh, which would 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:58.080 have looked incredible on the PS2. That cel shaded 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.539 style like... Wind Waker or Beautiful Joe, it 00:11:01.539 --> 00:11:04.299 ages really well. It would have. But the creators 00:11:04.299 --> 00:11:07.000 couldn't find a publisher. The project just died 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.019 on the vine. It's one of those what could have 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:11.940 been artifacts for collectors. We have screenshots, 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:14.100 but we'll never play it. That's a shame. I feel 00:11:14.100 --> 00:11:15.840 like a cel -shaded wrestling game with these 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.200 physics would be a cult classic today. Absolutely. 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:20.919 And speaking of what could have been, we need 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:23.159 to discuss the comics. Because apparently the 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.940 universe expanded into print, briefly. DC Comics, 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.399 right. Yes, a three -issue miniseries in the 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.059 summer of 2003. And what's interesting here is 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:32.799 that they were written by Eddie Mort, one of 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:34.700 the show's co -creators. So this wasn't just 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.419 a licensed cash grab written by a freelancer. 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:41.309 This was canon. It feels very canon. The story 00:11:41.309 --> 00:11:44.330 titles are dead giveaways. El Rey, come home, 00:11:44.490 --> 00:11:47.590 it's all buena and limbo of the lost luchadors. 00:11:48.269 --> 00:11:50.870 It suggests there were more stories to tell in 00:11:50.870 --> 00:11:52.929 this world than the TV show had time for. Well, 00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:55.389 that brings us to the biggest what if in the 00:11:55.389 --> 00:11:58.190 entire pile of notes. The revival that never 00:11:58.190 --> 00:12:00.330 happened. This one hurts a little. The sources 00:12:00.330 --> 00:12:03.370 detail a pitch from 2014 titled Mucha Lucha. 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:06.320 Par siempre. Par siempre forever. The concept 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:09.080 was to bring back Ricochet, Buena Girl, and The 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.559 Flea. but as teenagers. See, that is such a compelling 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:15.000 hook. We saw them as these little kids at a massive 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.039 school, seeing them navigate high school or young 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:19.960 adulthood while still having to wear the masks. 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:22.240 That's a totally different show. It changes the 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:24.460 entire dynamic. The code of masked wrestling 00:12:24.460 --> 00:12:27.519 is cute when you're 10, but when you're 16, when 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:29.820 you're trying to date or figure out your career 00:12:29.820 --> 00:12:33.039 or deal with real -world angst, that mask takes 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.240 on a totally different meaning. It's a metaphor 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:37.220 for identity that just gets richer as you age. 00:12:37.629 --> 00:12:40.269 Sadly, it wasn't produced. But it shows that 00:12:40.269 --> 00:12:42.830 the creators understood the depth of what they 00:12:42.830 --> 00:12:45.730 had built. They knew the core concept had legs 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:49.289 beyond just Saturday morning slapstick. At least 00:12:49.289 --> 00:12:51.490 the original show hasn't been lost to time. No, 00:12:51.570 --> 00:12:53.730 Warner Bros. has done a decent job of archiving 00:12:53.730 --> 00:12:57.710 it. In 2019, they finally remastered the series 00:12:57.710 --> 00:13:00.250 in high definition for streaming. Which is important 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:02.809 because, as we discussed, it's Flash. Flash scales 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:05.600 infinitely. It should look perfect in HD. And 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:07.919 it does. It's available on Amazon Prime and HBO 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.779 Max in Latin America. Though, a quick note for 00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:13.259 anyone looking it up. If you see season three 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:16.379 listed as Mucha Lucha, Gigante, don't be confused. 00:13:16.580 --> 00:13:18.700 That was just the rebrand for the final season. 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.159 Good catch. So when we step back and look at 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:23.980 the whole picture here, what is the legacy? We 00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:26.500 have a show that was technically risky, culturally 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:29.259 distinct, and battled censorship to even exist. 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:32.299 I think the legacy is twofold. Technologically, 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:34.460 it proved that digital animation could work for 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:37.899 TV. It break the stigma of flash. Without Mucha 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:41.539 Lucha, the visual landscape of 2000s and 2010s 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.039 cartoons looks very different. And culturally? 00:13:44.179 --> 00:13:47.000 It proved that specificity sells. You don't have 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.220 to make a generic show to appeal to a global 00:13:49.220 --> 00:13:51.299 audience. You can make a show about Lucha Libre 00:13:51.299 --> 00:13:54.220 with Spanglish and Latin music and specific cultural 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:56.539 references and kids in the U .S. and Europe and 00:13:56.539 --> 00:13:58.960 Asia will still love it because the characters 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:01.179 are strong. It didn't talk down to the audience. 00:14:01.379 --> 00:14:03.740 Never. I want to leave you with a thought based 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:08.250 on that unproduced teenager season. In LuchaVille, 00:14:08.350 --> 00:14:11.629 you are never seen without your mask. It is your 00:14:11.629 --> 00:14:14.289 face. Think about the masks we wear in our own 00:14:14.289 --> 00:14:17.049 lives, our professional personas, our social 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:20.509 media profiles. If Mucha Lucha had allowed its 00:14:20.509 --> 00:14:23.049 characters to grow up, would the mask have become 00:14:23.049 --> 00:14:26.610 a burden? At what point does the character you 00:14:26.610 --> 00:14:30.029 play stop being a game and start being a trap? 00:14:30.330 --> 00:14:32.710 And would Ricochet ever have worked up the courage 00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:35.090 to take it off? That is the ultimate question. 00:14:35.190 --> 00:14:37.309 Sometimes the hardest wrestling match is the 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:39.450 one you have with your own identity. Something 00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:41.190 to think about. Thanks for exploring the ring 00:14:41.190 --> 00:14:43.370 with us today. Adios, amigos. I'll see you next 00:14:43.370 --> 00:14:43.549 time.