The Three Caballeros (1944)

Director:

Norman Ferguson

Writers:

Homer Brightman (story) &
Ernest Terrazas (story) ...

Release Date:

3 February 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

UTTERLY FASCINATING! ENTIRELY DIFFERENT! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Donald receives his birthday gifts, which include traditional gifts and information about Brazil (hosted by Zé Carioca) and Mexico (by Panchito, a Mexican Charro Rooster).

Plot Keywords:

Brazil | Bird | Mexico | Birthday | Bahia

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Aurora Miranda	...	The Brazilian Girl (as Aurora Miranda of Brazil)
Carmen Molina	...	Mexico Girl (as Carmen Molina of Mexico)
Dora Luz	...	Mexico Girl (as Dora Luz of Mexico)
Sterling Holloway	...	Narrator for 'The Cold-Blooded Penguin' / Professor Holloway
Clarence Nash	...	Donald Duck (voice)
Joaquin Garay	...	Panchito (voice)
José Oliveira	...	José Carioca / Zé Carioca (voice)
Frank Graham	...	Narrator
Fred Shields	...	Narrator
Nestor Amaral
Almirante
Trío Calaveras		(as Trio Calaveras)
Trío Ascencio del Río		(as Ascencio Del Rio Trio)
Padua Hills Players	...	Actors

Runtime:

69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1976) | UK:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Clarence Nash also provides the voice of Donald Duck in the Spanish-dubbed version, giving Donald a charming American accent that complements José Carioca's Brazilian and Panchito's Northern Mexican ones.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: During the flying zarape ride, Panchito tells Donald and Joe about the town of Patzcuaro and its lake Janitzio. Actually the lake is also named Patzcuaro; Janitzio is the main island in the lake.

Quotes:

[the young gaucho goes hunting in the mountains]
Narrator: Now, the best place to hunt the wild ostrich is out on the wide open plains, on the broad, flat land of the... Flat land? Say, what am I doing here? Oh, now I remember! This day, I was hunting for condor birds high up in the mountains. While looking around for the condors, I climbed to the top of a rock. No, come to think of it, it was a tree. Let's see, maybe it was a rock after all, although I could swear it was a tree. Oh, what's the difference? Let it go, let it go.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Many Faces of Donald Duck (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Three Caballeros

South America-mania!

Wildly colorful, almost hallucinogenic offering from Walt Disney plays like "Fantasia" on speed. Though not much more than a hodgepodge of story ideas, the film mixes live-action with animation in saluting Mexican and South American cultures. Donald Duck is the star this time, and his title musical number alongside Joe Carioca and Panchito is a head-swirling collage of colors. The Disney animators were obviously full of inspiration, but the entire movie plays like that drunken elephant sequence from "Dumbo": manic, fruity, sometimes quite fabulous. Entertaining to be sure, and better than its predecessor "Saludos Amigos", but certainly odd and never very popular from the 1940s thru the 1960s since Disney rarely circulated it as a whole. *** from ****