Summer of Magic- "The Three Caballeros"

Jose Carioca and Donald Duck stole the show so much in Saludos Amigos that Disney could not resist giving them their own movie just two years later in 1944 with The Three Caballeros, and this time around, they added another partner to round out the trio in Panchito Pistoles. As the spiritual sequel to Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros is an absolute delight from beginning to end. Featuring some of the most infectious music ever for a Disney movie, the terrific trio sing and dance their way into our hearts on their way to becoming instant Disney legends.

The film is separated into seven different segments set in South and Central America. Our first short film is The Cold-Blooded Penguin, which is such a good short with the incomparable Sterling Holloway providing a hilarious narration. The story of a penguin journeying to live on a warm beach is a wholly original story that is a perfect addition to this package. The second segment, The Flying Gauchito, tells the story of a little boy and his flying donkey named Burrito. Essentially acting as a fable, this short is a nice, extremely unique addition to the package.  Then, the scene shifts to Brazil, the home of Jose Carioca, as he attempts to teach Donald the art of dancing the samba in Baia. Of course, Donald takes his advice and runs with it, eventually using the samba to woo one of the women dancing, portrayed here by Brazilian entertainer Aurora Miranda. This is a charming short that brings out the personalities of the two caballeros perfectly. 

Once this short concludes, the scene shifts again as Panchito transports us to Mexico for the remainder of the film. Las Posadas kicks off this section as Panchito tells Jose and Donald the story of a group of Mexican children re-enacting the Christmas story, leading to various festivities including the breaking of a piñata. It is a touching, sweet moment in this package film that is full of music and bright colors. Donald, as you would expect, is then challenged by Jose and Panchito to break his own piñata, which, of course, leads to some excellent physical comedy. The next short shows the three caballeros taking an aerial tour of Mexico. This is the simplest of the shorts, but the live action scenery is beautiful and makes the short worth it. The following two segments, You Belong to My Heart and Donald's Surreal Reverie are good, but nothing truly special beyond the typically breathtaking animation.

Overall, The Three Caballeros is a really good package film that boasts some stellar animation with incredible music and songs. The three main characters are hilarious and everything you would expect them to be in their own films. If you have experienced the attraction in the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot, do yourself a tremendous and give its source material a viewing as soon as possible.

Rating: 7.5/10

Historical Significance: Legendary voice actor Clarence Nash, who provided the voice of Donald Duck for fifty years, recorded Donald's voice in the Spanish-dubbed version in addition to the English version. The usual tactic for the filmmakers would be to cast a native Spanish speaker to provide the Spanish voice, but Nash's Spanish-dubbed version gave Donald a nice American accent to compliment Jose and Panchito's accent. Also, it is worth pointing out here that our star, Donald Duck, is the current leader in Disney history for the most appearances by a single character in feature films.

Behind the Scenes: The song "You Belong to My Heart" was such a hit that Disney later included it in another short called "Pluto's Blue Note" in 1947 (Watch the classic short here!). Furthermore, Bing Crosby recorded his own cover of the song, reaching as high as #4 on the Billboard magazine Best Seller chart in 1945. Additionally, it is revealed during the opening of the film that Donald is celebrating his birthday on the unspecified date of "Friday the 13th." In 1949, the short film "Donald's Happy Birthday," confirms that Donald's birthday is March 13 (don't believe me? Watch the fantastic short here!).

Favorite Character: As I wrote in my review of Saludos Amigos, it is just really difficult to pick someone other than Donald Duck for this section. If these two films were the only two experiences
you had with the famed duck, I think you would have a great taste of his character and what makes him go. As great as Jose and Panchito are in this film, Donald is one of the best characters of all-time, and he proves that in The Three Caballeros/

Favorite Scene: When Panchito first arrives on the scene, the famous scene wear the title song is performed for the first time
takes place, and it is pure magic. The chaos of this scene is spectacular as I would expect nothing less from these three caballeros when they come together to sing. The song itself is like "It's a Small World," in the sense that once you hear it, you cannot get it out of your head for the rest of the day. It is the highlight of the film, and it just may be the highlight of the package films (Watch it here!).

Miscues: While each scene is unique and expertly animated, some of the segments are a little lengthy. Baia and You Belong to My Heart segments, in particular, are two shorts that could have been cut down significantly and their purposes would not have been lost. However, the length of these two segments allow the animators to show off their skills even more, so I guess it is a minor miscue at best.

Updated Ranking: Like with Saludos Amigos, I really enjoy The Three Caballeros, but not as much as the first five.

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
2. Pinocchio
3. Dumbo
4. Bambi
5. Fantasia
6. The Three Caballeros
7. Saludos Amigos

The goodwill tour of Latin America is complete for Disney, but they are not finished with these package films. Although World War II ended in 1944 (the year The Three Caballeros was released), it took a while for the staff and resources to flood back into the studio and get a full-length motion picture back in theaters. Therefore, tomorrow, we introduce a new style of package film with Make Mine Music!

-Cody Fleenor