The New Adventures of Zorro is the 1981 Filmation Animated Adaptation of the black-clad, sword-wielding character. It was co-animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and thus has a slightly better art style and animation quality than most typical Filmation cartoons preceding or following it.
Don Diego de la Vega dons the outfit, and is often accompanied by his amigo, Miguel, who has his own costume. Together they fight crime, but the criminals in question just happen to be the Governor General, who is backed up by the soldiers in his garrison under the command of Captain Ramon.
Unlike most versions, Zorro calls his horse Tempest rather than Tornado, his archenemy is Captain Ramon rather than Captain Monastario, and Ramon's aide is Sgt. Gonzales rather than Sgt. Garcia. The names Ramon and Gonzales for these characters harken back to the first Zorro film, The Mark of Zorro (1920) with Douglas Fairbanks.
The New Adventures of Zorro provides examples of:
- Animated Adaptation: Of Zorro.
- Antagonistic Governor: the unnamed Governor-General of California.
- Badass Normal: Zorro
- Bash Brothers: Zorro and Miguel.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Sergeant Pedro Gonzales, to Captain Ramon.
- Cowardly Sidekick: Sgt. Gonzales.
- Calling Card: the Z that Zorro etches with his sword.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Don Diego
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Even Evil Has Standards: Captain Ramon is only too happy to arrest General Dalamentes after Zorro exposed him as a thief in "The Tyrant". Though to be fair, that probably had more to do with the General's harsh discipline regimen he imposed on both Captain Ramon and Sergeant Gonzales. Later in the episode, Sgt. Gonzales expressed disgust that the General robbed everybody in the name of the King.
- Flynning: Every sword fight comes down to this, especially with the cheap animation.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Played with. Sgt. Gonzales is a family friend to the de la Vegas, including Don Diego, and Don Diego is dating Maria, the Governor-General's daughter.
- Gratuitous Spanish: To make it seem more like Spanish Colonial California. In the And Knowing Is Half the Battle segment after every episode, Zorro teaches the audience a Spanish word.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Sgt. Gonzales. He's almost Zorro's answer to Sgt. Schultz of Hogan's Heroes.
- No Name Given: The Governor-General
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Anytime Captain Ramon and Sgt. Gonzales find themselves having to work with Zorro.
- Opening Narration
- Pirate Girl: Lucia.
- President Evil: The Governor-General.
- Secret Underground Passage: Don Diego shifts a brick on his fireplace to gain access to his secret underground lair.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Zorro's Secret-Keeper and Side Kick in this version is Miguel rather than the mute Bernardo.
- Sword Fight: At the drop of a hat.
- Transformation Sequence: A more subdued version than most, as it shows Diego physically putting on his outfit rather than it appearing in a flash like Kaiketsu Zorro.
