Advice Concerning New World Zorro DVDs

The people who have been selling bootlegs of the New World Zorro shows for years are still selling them. Since it now looks like we have a very good chance of seeing the New World Zorro series on DVD this year, please do not give the bootleggers your money. If you have waited nearly 20 years to see the shows again, you can wait a few more months.

Over the years, I have ignored the bootleggers and in some ways was glad that they made copies of the shows. By other people making and selling copies, it kept me from being harassed quite so much by people wanting DVDs. Of course people still harassed me, so I had to place a message near the top of my New World Zorro page. I also placed that message there because someone thought I was the one selling copies on eBay because an early bootlegger used my collage image on the sets and later bootleggers continued to use that image. I didn't want people to think I was the one selling copies. Some people do not understand that anybody can swipe an image off a website and use it however they want.

As I stated, I have not cared what the bootleggers did. My opinion has now changed. It would be a shame for someone to pay a lot of money for a bootleg set now when we have a good shot of seeing a legitimate release.

The bootleg sets are not the quality of an official release. There are three known sources of the bootleg DVDs. The first source is from tapes recorded from the Family Channel that have good picture quality and no missing parts, but the sound quality is not so good.

A second source of the bootlegs is from someone who recorded the shows from the Family Channel in a very sloppy fashion, cutting off much of the beginning and ending credits. The picture quality also has problems aside from the missing parts.

A third source of the bootlegs, which I have only heard about and never seen, is from tapes recorded from a station in Canada during the last ten years. I do not know the quality of this source, but it may be better than the other two. Even so, it cannot be the quality of an official release.

A prospective buyer has no way of knowing which source a set of DVDs has, so it would be unwise to buy one of the DVD sets at this point in time. Wait for the official release.

New World Zorro on TV and DVD

Zorro Productions announced via its Facebook account that it has acquired the rights to the New World Zorro television series. Here is the announcement:

[ZPI] is excited to spread the news - Zorro Productions (ZPI) announces that it has acquired the rights in the eighty-eight (88) half-hour live-action episodes of "Zorro" television series created by New World Television. Most recently, the series was controlled by Fox Home Entertainment for most markets in the world. ZPI’s rights cover most of the world but not Spain, France, or Germany.

Here is an additional update:

We just acquired the rights, and now we are looking for a distributor. The company CEO is going to NAPTE next week, so keep your fingers crossed.

ZPI also has added a page to its site that mentions its acquirement of the rights.

http://www.zorro.com/new_world.html

ZPI is looking to get the series out on DVD and back on television.

First and foremost, I would love to see the series back on television. This series has been absent from the airwaves since either late 1993 or early 1994... nearly two decades. A return to television would bring new fans to the series and to Zorro.

Second, it would be great to finally be able to purchase quality copies of the episodes. I have been very negative over the years about the prospects of NWZ getting released on DVD because nobody seemed to know who had the rights to the series. With the rights in question, there was never a chance of getting the series released. Now that ZPI controls the United States rights and is looking to pursue a DVD release, I feel much more positive. I feel like we now have a fighting chance to see the series on DVD.

The Rights to the New World Zorro

Apparently Zorro Productions, Inc. has purchased the rights to the New World Zorro. Keep your fingers crossed...