World Wide Wrestling Web: Viva Lucha

Here’s an animated short film from a group of art students from the School of Visual Arts/ Computer Art department. It’s a pretty cool reminder that more animated CGI films (both short and feature-length) should be made about luchadores.

El Rey (The King) was a champion luchador who’s graced the cover of Time magazine and has also shaken hands with Bill Clinton. Clearly he was not only a big deal in Mexico, but the world over. Or, at the very least, in North America. But now, El Rey has traded in the lucha mask for a life of deadline-driven TPS reports.

Viva Lucha is basically The Incredibles, only with a mustachioed Mexican dude in place of Mr. Incredible. And no wife or kids to worry about. Unlike Mr. Incredible, El Rey doesn’t hide the fact that he was once a professional ass kicker. His cubicle is decorated with pictures of his luchador self; which, according to Scott Hall, makes you a mark for yourself.

My only gripe with this is that El Rey is not honoring the lucha code of keeping his identity a secret. And why did he unmask in the first place? Did he lose a “mascara contra mascara lucha de apuestas” match? Has El Rey never seen an El Santo vs. film? You keep that shit on inside and outside the ring.

Within the cubicles, El Rey is not a decorated employee. He’s just a massive paper pusher dealing with the everyday struggles of malfunctioning copiers and empty coffee makers. And dickhead coworkers. I wasn’t sure why people disliked him, but upon second viewing I noticed that everybody else in the workplace were white males. The answer was then all too clear. Racism.

So, Viva Lucha is not just about keeping the spirit of lucha libre alive and being true to yourself, but it’s also about the on-going struggle of corporate oppression/racism in the workplace. Or not, I don’t know. Check it out, it’s a cool-looking animated short which features one of the best-looking championship belts ever created, and a glorious mustache that would give Hulk Hogan and Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ mustaches a run for their money.