One of the earliest Disney Animated Classics celebrates an anniversary this week – The Three Caballeros. Released in the US on February 3, 1945 (though it saw a premiere in December of the previous year in Mexico City), the film stars Donald Duck as he’s joined by his old pal Jose Carioca and new compadre Panchito Pistoles.
The Three Caballeros features seven different segments – “The Cold-Blooded Penguin,” “The Flying Gauchito,” “Baia,” “Las Posadas,” “Mexico: Patzcuaro, Veracruz and Acapulco,” “You Belong to my Heart,” and “Donald’s Surreal Reverie.” The segments are connected by a narrative strung between them; it’s Donald’s birthday, and he’s receiving presents from his friends in Latin America. Along the way he meets up with Jose (who was previously introduced as a character in 1942’s Saludos Amigos), who tells him all about Brazil, and he meets Panchito, who is from Mexico. Once they’re all together, they begin calling themselves “The Three Caballeros.”
The film also featured the animated characters interacting with a live-action environment throughout the story, particularly when Panchito gives Donald a tour of Mexico on a flying serape, and when Donald falls in live with the singer Dora Luz.
Worth noting is how Jose and Panchito have been seriously toned down over the years. Jose could be seen smoking cigars in his 1940s appearances, while Panchito often whooped and shot off his pistols. Today, Jose has apparently broken his smoking habit, while Panchito’s guns are clearly fake (with little “bang” flags coming out of them now).
Though definitely not one of the more popular Disney films, The Three Caballeros has managed to retain a degree of prominence over the years; Don Rosa notably penned two comic book sequels in 2000 and 2006, The Three Caballeros Ride Again and The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros, respectively. The characters also regularly appear at Disney parks – at the Mexico pavilion at Epcot, and in parades at Disneyland. A ride, “The Gran Fiesta Tour,” featuring the trio can also be found at Epcot.
