The Three Caballeros

The Three Caballerosis a 1944 American live-action and animatedmusicalpropagandaanthology filmproduced byWalt Disneyand released byRKO Radio Pictures. The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on February 3, 1945 and in the United Kingdom in March 1945. It marks the tenth anniversary ofDonald Duckand plots an adventure through parts of Latin America, combining live-action and animation. This is the second of the six package films released byWalt Disney Productionsin the 1940s, followingSaludos Amigos(1942). It is also notable for being one of the first feature-length films to incorporate traditional animation with live-action actors.
The film is plotted as a series of self-contained segments, strung together by the device ofDonald Duckopening birthday gifts from his Latin American friends. Several Latin American stars of the period appear, including singersAurora Miranda(sister ofCarmen Miranda) andDora Luz, as well as singer and dancerCarmen Molina.
The film was produced as part of the studio'sgoodwill messagefor Latin America.The film starsDonald Duck, who in the course of the film is joined by old friendJosé Carioca, the cigar-smoking parrot fromSaludos Amigos, who representsBrazil, and later becomes friends with a pistol-packing rooster namedPanchito Pistoles, who representsMexico.
The film, celebrating Donald Duck's 10th anniversary, consists of seven segments, each connected by a common theme. In the film, it isDonald Duck's birthday (namely Friday the 13th), and he receives three presents from friends inLatin America. The first present is afilm projector, which shows him a documentary about birds called"Aves Raras". The first segment of the documentary tells the story of Pablo, a penguin seeking the warm weather of Equatorial South America. The next segment details some of the odd birds of Latin America. During this part of the documentary, he learns about theAracuan Bird, who received his name because of his eccentric song. The documentary then shifts to the perspective of a man narrating a story from his childhood, where he discovers and befriends a donkey with the wings of a condor inUruguay.
The next present is a book given to Donald by José, a native of Brazil. This book tells ofBahia(spelled "Baía" in the film), which is one of Brazil's 26 states. José shrinks them both down so that they can enter the book. Donald and José meet up with several of the locals, who dance a livelysamba, and Donald ends up pining for one girl Yaya, the cookie seller, but fails and gets jealous of another man. After the journey, Donald and José leave the book.
Upon returning, Donald realizes that he is too small to open his third present. José shows Donald how to use "black magic" to return himself to the proper size. After opening the present, he meets Panchito, a native of Mexico. The trio take the name "The Three Caballeros" and have a short celebration. Panchito then presents Donald's next present, apiñata. Panchito tells Donald of the tradition behind the piñata. José and Panchito then blindfold Donald, and have him attempt to break open the piñata, eventually revealing many surprises. The celebration draws to a close when Donald is fired away by firecrackers in the shape of a ferocious toy bull (with which thefirecrackersare lit by José with his cigar).
Throughout the film, theAracuan Birdappears at random moments. He usually taunts everyone with his madcap antics, sometimes stealing José's cigar and trying to make José jealous. His most famous gag is when he re-routes a train that Donald and José are riding on by drawing new tracks, causing the train to disassemble.
The film consists of seven segments:
This segment is narrated bySterling Holloway, reproducing images of the penguins of inAntarctica. In the segment, a penguin named Pablo is so fed up with the freezing conditions of theSouth Polethat he decides to leave his home for warmer climates, navigating the long coast of Chile (including theJuan Fernández IslandsandViña del Mar), passing byLima(the capital ofPeru) andQuito(the capital ofEcuador) before landing on theGalápagos Islands.
This segment, with adult narration provided by Fred Shields, involves the adventures of a little boy from Uruguay and a winged donkey, who goes by the name of Burrito (which is Spanish for "little donkey").
This segment involves a pop-up book trip through the Brazilian state ofBahia(spelled Baía in the film), as Donald and José meet up with some of the locals who dance a samba and Donald pining for one of the women, acookieseller named Yaya (portrayed by singerAurora Miranda), who later gives Donald a kiss after he gives her a bouquet of flowers.
This is the story of a group of Mexican children who celebratedChristmasby re-enacting the journey ofMary, the mother of JesusandSaint Josephsearching for room at the inn."Posada"meant "inn", or "shelter", and their parents told them "noposada" at each house until they came to one where they were offered shelter in a stable. This leads to festivities including the breaking of thepiñata, which in turn leads to Donald Duck trying to break hisownpiñataas well.
Panchito gives Donald and José a tour ofMexico Cityand the country of Mexico on a flyingsarape, or magic carpet. Several Mexican dances and songs are learned here. Later Donald pines for more women, tries to pursue every one he sees and gain return affections, but once more he fails every time and ends up kissing José while blindfolded.
The skies of Mexico City result in Donald falling in love with singerDora Luz. The lyrics in the song itself play parts in the scenarios as well. Then several imagined kisses lead to Donald going into the "Love is a drug" scene. Donald constantly envisions sugar rush colors, flowers, and Panchito and José popping in at the worst moments, making chaos. The scene changes after Donald manages to dance withCarmen Molinafrom thestate of Oaxaca, from theIsthmus of Tehuantepec. The two dance and sing the song"La Zandunga". Carmen begins by singing the song, with Donald "quacking" out the rest of the chorus with her. The "drunkenness" slows down for a second after Donald multiplies himself while dancing, but speeds up again when Carmen reappears dressed in aCharro's outfit and uses a horsewhip as a conductor's baton to makecactiappear in many different forms while dancing to"Jesusita en Chihuahua", a trademark song of theMexican Revolution. This scene is notable for providing the masterful combination of live-action and cartoon animation, as well as animation among the cacti.
The scene is interrupted when Panchito and José suddenly spice things up for the finale of the film, and Donald ends up battling the same toy bull with wheels on its legs the day before from earlier. The catch is that it is now loaded with fireworks and other explosives, following with a fireworks finale with the words "The End" exploding from the fireworks, first inSpanish(Fin), in the colors of theflag of Mexico, then the second inPortuguese(Fim), in the colors of theflag of Brazil, and finally in English, in the colors of theflag of the United States(The End).
TheGood Neighbor policywas a campaign by theUnited Statesto improve its relations withLatin America. A special concern in the late 1930s was the mounting program ofNazi propagandadesigned to increaseNazism in the Americas, which would weaken US control and divide the Americas. To counter the Nazis, PresidentFranklin Delano Rooseveltfounded in 1940–1941 theOffice of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairsthrough which US propaganda efforts could be coordinated. Chief CoordinatorNelson RockefelleraskedWalt Disneyto produce a few short films with themes friendly to Latin America, and Disney traveled to Brazil with a creative team to collect images and inspire ideas for such films.
The first Disney product of this propaganda program was the animated filmSaludos Amigosin 1942. This film introduced the characterJosé Carioca—a Brazilian businessman taking the form of a parrot—who led Donald Duck around South America.The next major film wasThe Three Caballeroswhich brought together Donald Duck, José Carioca, and a new character from Mexico:Panchito Pistoles, a gun-toting revolutionary rooster.These Disney films were much more successful than previous propaganda efforts.
The film's world premiere took place in Mexico City on December 21, 1944. It was released in the United States on February 3, 1945, and in the United Kingdom in March of that year.
The Three Caballeroswas re-released to theaters on April 15, 1977. For this re-issue, the film was edited significantly and re-released infeaturetteform at 41 minutes, to accompany a re-issue ofNever a Dull Moment.
For the film's television premiere,The Three Caballerosaired as the ninth episode of the first season ofABC'sDisneylandtelevision series. Edited, shortened, and re-titledA Present for Donaldfor this December 22, 1954, broadcast and subsequent re-runs, Donald receives gifts from his friends for Christmas, instead of for his birthday as in the original.
The film returned rentals to RKO by 1951 of $3,355,000 with $1,595,000 being generated in the U.S. and Canada.The film generated in excess of $700,000 in Mexico.
The Three Caballerosreceived mixed reviews upon its original release. Most critics were relatively perplexed by the "technological razzle-dazzle" of the film, thinking that, in contrast to the previous feature films up to this time, "it displayed more flash than substance, more technique than artistry."Bosley Crowtherfor one wrote inThe New York Times, "Dizzy Disney and his playmates have let their technical talents run wild."Other reviewers were taken aback by the sexual dynamics of the film, particularly the idea of Donald Duck lusting towards flesh-and-blood women. AsWolcott Gibbsput itin a negative review of the film forThe New Yorker, such a concept "is one of those things that might disconcert less squeamish authorities than the Hays office. It might even be said that a sequence involving the duck, the young lady, and a long alley of animated cactus plants would probably be considered suggestive in a less innocent medium."
The film holds an 84% approval rating onRotten Tomatoesbased on 19 reviews, with an average score of 6.50/10. The site's consensus reads, "One of Disney's more abstract creations,The Three Caballerosis a dazzling, colorful picture that shows the company at an artistic acme."
The film's original score was composed byEdward H. Plumb,Paul J. Smith, andCharles Wolcott.