The Three Caballeros (1944)

Directed by Norman Ferguson, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts and Harold Young
Written by Homer Brightmen, Ernest Terrazas, Ted Sears, Bill Peet, Ralph Wright, Elmer Plummer, Roy Williams, William Cottrell, Del Connell, and James Bodrero
Premiered December 21, 1944
72 minutes
Rated G

Synopsis
American Hollywood star Donald Duck (Clarence Nash) celebrates his birthday with Brazilian parrot José "Joe" Carioca (José Oliveira) and Mexican rooster Panchito Pistoles (Joaquin Garay) by opening a collection of gifts which take them on wild south-of-the-border adventures.

Note: With the segmented films, I will be going further into plot points in my mötley müsings.

Before We Begin
I am aware in writing these reviews in My Chosen Order, we miss out on a lot of context, history, and natural evolution. The Three Caballeros needs explanation.

After the United States entered World War II, the Disney animation unit was left in a pickle. Animators and the like were drafted, money was tight, and the floors of the studio were strewn with half finished story lines and ideas. Those who stayed behind were recruited by the U.S. government to make propaganda films OR put to work on stitching together those half finished story lines into cohesive films. Today, the movies released between 1943-1949 are known as "The Package Films", because they are basically shorts packaged together.

The first of these, released in 1943, was Saludos Amigos, which is The Three Caballeros' older brother. Both of these films have South American settings and themes and were produced to keep "good will" with countries south of the border during war time.

This is my least favorite of the package films. (Spoiler: none of the others in the Bottom of the Barrel.) Let's see why.

Mötley Müsings
• Oh right! I bought a new tape because my Black Diamond edition was looking more and more like shit each time I watched it. FYI, The Three Caballeros was one of the first DAFs to be released on home video in 1982. It was then rereleased in 1987, 1994, and 2000, more than any other package film. By the way, 20 year old VHS + HD TV = shitty picture.

• Hey, what's a "caballero"? According to dictionary.com: "A Spanish gentleman". You will soon see, dear reader, than none of the three main characters are Spanish, nor gentlemen.

• You know, I didn't "grow up" with the Disney shorts. I recognized Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto as classic characters, but I have no special, nostalgic connection to them.

• Segment #1 -- Donald gets a film projector for a birthday present. He begins watching a short film on "Aves Raras" (strange birds) which segways into the best part of the whole movie "Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin", which is perhaps my favorite segment in all of the package films. Ironic.

• Sterling Holloway (who is most famous for voicing Winnie the Pooh) narrates the story of Pablo, a penguin who can never get warm. He decides to finally leave Antarctica for a sunny beach. He has many mishaps before finding his way to paradise. Just adorable.

• We forget that the tip of South America is cold enough for penguins.

• I love his skeptical friends.

• Oh, sort of geography lesson along with this. Name checking South American cities, left and right.

• I want more Pablo!

• Segment #2 -- "Aves Rares" for real this time. I'm learning, though!

• Fuck, the Aracuan bird. He causes mischief.

• Segment #3 -- "The Flying Gauchito" narrated by Frank Graham (who I have never heard of before or since.) This is about a little Uruguayan boy who discovers a flying donkey and uses him to win (re: cheat) at a donkey race. This donkey looks very similar to the baby Pegasi in Fantasia. And the donkeys in Pinocchio.

• Ay caramba! This one is fine.

• Segment #4 -- "Baía" . A pop-up book introduces (or reintroduces José Carioca, who first appeared in Saludos Amigos) who takes Donald to the Brazilian state of Bahia and shows him how lovely it is. Pretty drawings and a not-that-bad song.

• After that, it starts getting surreal. José Carioca is in drag.

• Segment #5 -- "Os Quindens de Yaya". Donald and José hop aboard a train and end up in animated Baía which is populated with live action people, including sexy Aurora Miranda who sells "cookies" and men attempt to gain her affections.

• 40s over drawn lipstick!

• I do not know was "Os Quindens de Yaya" means. But I do like this song.

• What am I watching? What am I watching?

• Segment #5 -- "The Three Caballeros". Donald is opening his next present: a box from Mexico which contains Panchito. Our trio is complete and they sing the best song of the movie.

• Segment #5.5 -- "Las Posadas". Panchito describes a Mexican Christmas tradition where children go door to door asking for shelter like Mary and Joseph. And the kids get a piñata when they get to a friendly house. Now Donald is trying to break his own birthday piñata. I'm not sure if this is offensive or not.

• Segment #6 -- "Mexico" . A song about Mexico while we see Mexican drawings. "Mexico/with all your romance..." some guy croons. Donald, José, and Panchito fly on a magic sarape through live action Mexico. I am learning so much!!!! Lots of dancing in long skirts! Uh oh, Donald is checking out the ladies and trying to impress them with his dancing skills. I think he's jitterbugging. #40s

• "Take the telescope and take a look at what you might call hot stuff." Oh Christ. Donald catcalling and literally chasing bathing suit clad women on Acapulco Beach.

• Don't encourage him, ladies!

• This is lurid.

• Why are there only [attractive] women on this beach? Oh right. It's still a movie.

• Segment #7 -- "You Belong to My Heart". Dora Luz sings torch song, Donald ogles and hallucinates.

• Truly psychedelic before psychedelia was a thing.

• "Purty girls. Purty girls. Purty girls."

• I don't quite know when Segment #7 officially becomes Segment #8 -- "El Viaje Misterioso de Neustro Donald" but now there's a tap dancing chick in mariachi gear dancing with cacti. Donald is dressed as a bull. Fireworks.

• Fin. Fim. The End.

Final Thoughts
Man, I do not like The Three Caballeros. It's just so...piecy. You will see (soon enough) how I feel about most of the package films, but this one grates on me. It's just so annoying. It is a headache of a movie. If you have a roommate you don't like who's constantly hungover, just pop this on the TV and get ready to laugh with demonic glee. And what really grinds my gears is its "popularity". If I happen to bring up the package film at say, a dinner party, the only one the guests will have heard of is The Three Caballeros. (Aside from certain famous segments like"Mickey and the Beanstalk" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" which have been released on their own.)

So why is this the one people remember? Well, Caballeros had four home video releases. Unsuspecting, ignorant parents saw the clamshell case and Donald Duck and assumed it was no different from the other Disney movies. It got purchased. It got watched. Some of the other package films had their first home video releases in bloody 2000.

But why so many releases in the first place?

The saga of Disney and Home Video is a long and involved one. You see, one of the many ways Disney made money before the 90s was to theatrically rerelease their classics every seven years. Parents who saw The Jungle Book in 1967 could take their own kids to see it in 1984. It was a system that worked. But then came the rise of home video. Disney realized they could make money by releasing some of the their movies on VHS (and Betamax), but the "good ones", the stone cold classics, they would jealously guard and reserve for theaters. So when they picked a few movies to put out on tape, The Three Caballeros seemed like a perfect candidate...because it wasn't that good and it wasn't like people were clamoring to see it on the big screen. (Although it did get a theatrical rerelease in 1958, 1966, 1973, and 1977. So I know nothing.)

I also have a theory about it being a "head movie". The psychedelic second half might have boosted home video sales. Or maybe it's because the kids like Donald Duck. I'm complicating it.

So there's a lack of story and character development. Most kids aren't going to care. Most parents aren't going to care. But I am floored, positively floored, The Three Caballeros wasn't boycotted by the parents who did paid attention. Check it out: you have José Carioca who smokes a cigar throughout the whole movie. You have Panchito who carelessly fires his pistols at the slightest provocation. And you have Donald who sexually harasses a beach full of women.

It's not kid friendly. Not by today's standards. Oh well. Not my problem.

Look, after "Pablo", The Three Caballeros goes down hill for me. Rapidly. I can't get into it. I didn't watch it as a kid, so I don't have nostalgia to lean on. It's just not my cup of tea.

Adios.


Favorite Character

Pablo

Favorite Moment -- All of "Pablo the Cold-Blooded Penguin"
Favorite Song -- "The Three Caballeros" performed by Joaquin Garay, Jose Oliviera, and Clarence Nash