The Three Caballeros is a 1944 anthology film featuring various live-action/animated musical films highlighting Latin America. It is a direct sequel to Saludos Amigos (1942) that features four live-action/animated shorts. These films were made to celebrate a decade of Donald Duck. Oddly enough, the U.S. government commissioned these films as a way to help counter Nazi Germany’s attempt at getting Latin America’s goodwill.

New Characters

Mascots unite groups of people and encourage community and solidarity. For Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros to fully connect with Latin American audiences, Disney created two characters: the Brazilian parrot, José Carioca, and the Mexican rooster, Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González III, or Pancho for short. Jose was introduced in Saludos Amigos, and Pancho was introduced in The Three Caballeros.

Celebrating Latin America

With the mission to get into Latin America’s good graces, Disney sent Donald on a tour of Latin America for his birthday. During this tour, Donald learns about various cultural aspects like posada and the piñata. There is also a documentary segment titled ‘Aves Raras’ (Strange Birds). It follows a penguin seeking a warm place to live and finds himself in South America. This leads to a segment where viewers learn about the birds native to South America.

In the middle of those animated shots, live-action shots from various locations across Latin America like Mexico City, Mexico, and Bahia, Brazil fill the spaces. Not only do viewers get to see videos from these countries, but they also see stars from Latin America.

The film features appearances from Aurora Miranda, Carmen Miranda’s sister, Mexican singer Dora Luz, and Carmen Molina, an actress from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. These singers and actresses appear to showcase cultural outfits while singing and dancing to music that represents the locales the group visits.

Animation Feat

At the time of its release, The Three Caballeros was one of the earliest films to blend live-action and animation. At the time of its release, many critics didn’t seem to enjoy it. One was taken aback by Donald “lusting” over the women. This lusting features Donald presenting the actresses with flowers and making heart-eyes at them.

Nowadays, the saturated colors, cultural insights, and fun animation sequences entertain viewers. While it can feel very dated for a modern audience because of its stereotypical depiction of Latin America as a whole, it still serves as a whimsical adventure filled with culturally important music and talents. It’s a fun film that celebrates parts of Latin America for an almost ignorant audience. One of the more iconic sequences features Carmen Molina in a charro outfit crooning in a desert amongst hypnotically moving cacti.

While it’s not a film someone would watch multiple times, it’s a film to experience at least once to admire the ways animation has evolved or learn something about Latin America.

DuckTales Revival

Jose and Pancho sporadically appeared in Disney shows and events throughout the years. Unfortunately, they were relatively unknown. The modern audience was reintroduced to the duo through DuckTales (2017).  The trio appears in a few episodes throughout the show’s run. As a result, they received a spin-off series titled Legend of the Three Caballeros. In this 13 episode series, Donald, José, and Pancho discover a magical book that houses Xandra, a goddess. While this happens, a staff containing an evil sorcerer, Felldrake, falls into the hands of one of his descendants. As the descendant begins the process to resurrect Felldrake, Donald, José, and Pancho band together to prevent his revival.

Where to Watch

Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros have been re-released various times since the 1940s. Disney+ is the easiest way people can watch the the short films, or they can find a DVD copy of the dual anthology.