The Three Caballeros is a 1944 animated movie produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The movie premiered in Mexico City on December 12, 1944. 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.
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
Worldwide release dates
Mexico: December 12, 1944 (Mexico City) Brazil: February 4, 1945 Australia: December 7, 1945 Canada: January 17, 1946 U.K.: March 18, 1946 Kowloon Lok Sin Tong: September 12, 1946 Spain: February 17, 1947 Sweden: March 28, 1947 France: April 21, 1948 Netherlands: October 7, 1948 Hong Kong: March 17, 1949 Italy: July 14, 1949 Finland: May 18, 1951 Argentina/Chile: August 20, 1954 West Germany: December 14, 1954 Austria: September 2, 1955 Philippines: December 13, 1956 Japan: March 10, 1959 Senegal: May 9, 1967 Kuwait: November 22, 1989 Central African Republic: October 16, 1994 Armenia: December 24, 1996 Mandarin Chinese: July 12, 2001 Cuba: November 31, 2004 United States: February 24, 2006 Greek: April 18, 2007 Croatian: October 31, 2008 Serbian: January 24, 2009 Turkish: December 13, 2010 Greek: September 31, 2011 Slovak: March 15, 2012 Danish: May 23, 2013 Hindi: February 6, 2014
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)