The Three Caballeros

***The Three Caballeros*** is a 1945 animated movie produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The movie premiered in Mexico City on December 12, 1944 and was released on February 3, 1945. The 7th animated movie in the Disney animated features canon, it shows an adventure through parts of Latin America, combining live-action and animation. This is the second of the Disney package movies of the 1940s.

The movie is made up as a series of self-contained segments, strung together by the device of Donald Duck opening birthday gifts from his Latin American friends. Several Latin American stars of the movie's time appear, including singers Aurora Miranda (sister of Carmen Miranda) and Dora Luz, as well as dancer Carmen Molina. It again starred Donald Duck, who in the course of the movie is joined by old friend José Carioca, the cigar-smoking parrot from _Saludos Amigos_ (1943) representing Brazil, and later makes a new friend, a rooster, Panchito Pistoles, representing Mexico.

The music of the Mexican part of the movie was written by Mexican composer Manuel Esperon, who wrote the score for over 540 Mexican movies in the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Walt Disney, after having seen his success in the Mexican movie industry, called him personally to ask him to participate in the movie. The main song for the Mexican part is "Ay Jalisco, No Te Rajes!", one of Esperon's most famous songs. The movie received two Academy Award nominations for Original Music Score and Best Sound.

_The Three Caballeros_ was re-issued to theaters on April 15, 1977. For this re-issue, the film was edited significantly and re-released in featuretteform at 41 minutes, to accompany a re-issue of _Never a Dull Moment_.

## Plot

It is Donald Duck's birthday. He receives three presents. The first present is a movie projector, which shows him a documentary on birds. The next present is a book given to Donald by Jose Carioca himself. This book takes them to Bahia. The third present is a piñata given to Donald by Panchito Pistoles. In the piñata, there are many surprises. The celebration ends with Donald Duck being fired away by firecrackers in the shape of a bull (the firecrackers are lit by Jose with his cigar).

Throughout the movie, we see a voiceless character called the Aracuan Bird at random moments. He usually bothers everyone, sometimes stealing Jose's cigar. His most famous gag is when he re-routes the train by drawing new tracks. He returns three years later in Disney's _Melody Time_.

## Cast

- Clarence Nash - Donald Duck
- José Oliveira - José Carioca
- Joaquin Garay - Panchito Pistoles
- Aurora Miranda
- Carmen Molina
- Dora Luz
- Sterling Holloway - Narrator (_The Cold-Blooded Penguin_)
- Frank Graham - Narrator
- Fred Shields - Narrator
- Nestor Amarale
- Almirante
- Trío Calaveras
- Trío Ascencio del Río
- Padua Hills Players
- Carlos Ramírez (singing voice) - _México_

## Titles in other languages

- Chinese: _三骑士_
- Dutch: _De Drie Caballeros_
- Finnish: _3 Caballeroa_
- French: _Les Trois Caballeros_
- German: _Die Drei Caballeros_ (also _Donald Erobert Mexico_)
- Italian: _I Tre Caballeros_
- Japanese: _三人の騎士 (San'nin no Kishi)_
- Portuguese: _Você Já Foi à Bahia?_ (_Have you ever gone to Bahia?_)
- Russian: _Три кабальеро_
- Spanish: _Los Tres Caballeros_
- Swedish: _Tre caballeros_ (also _Kalle Anka i Sydamerika_)

## Other websites

- (Dead link)

## Infobox (movie)

- **name**: The Three Caballeros
- **caption**: Original theatrical release poster
- **director**: Bill Roberts
Clyde Geronimi
Harold Young
Jack Kinney
Norman Ferguson
- **producer**: Walt Disney
- **writer**: Homer Brightman
Ernest Terrazas
Ted Sears
Bill Peet
Ralph Wright
Elmer Plummer
Roy Williams
William Cottrell
Del Connell
James Bodrero
- **starring**: Clarence Nash
José Oliveira
Joaquin Garay
Aurora Miranda
Dora Luz
Carmen Molina
Sterling Holloway
Fred Shields
Frank Graham
- **studio**: RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures
- **distributor**: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions
- **runtime**: 71 minutes
- **country**: United States
- **language**: English
Spanish
Portuguese