The Three Caballeros {1944}

{Animated Disney Film #7 of 52}

Nothing but movie reviews so far this week, huh? Sorry about that. :)

The Three Caballeros was the second "educational" film about Latin America that Disney released in the 40s. (For a bit more of the back story, click here.) But this one is less educational than Saludos Amigos.

The title refers to Donald Duck, Jose Carioca (returning from the previous film), and a rooster named Panchito Pistoles. There isn't much of a plot here...the basic story is supposed to be that it's Donald's birthday and he received presents from his friends in Latin America. And his friends are actually inside the presents...somehow? I don't know.

The beginning of the film focuses on birds...tropical birds, flamingos, etc. You guys know how I feel about birds. Oddly enough, there's a story about a little penguin named Pablo who just wants to go live where it's warm. (Edit: Maybe it's not so odd...apparently there is a breed of penguins in Argentina?? You learn something new everyday.) That section was narrated by Sterling Holloway. There are other parts that have stories that take place in Brazil, Uruguay, and Mexico.

This film doesn't have real life travel footage like Saludos Amigos. It's almost completely animated...there are only a handful of scenes that are a combination of live action and animation.

One part of the film looked so familiar, and then I realized it looked very Mary Blair-ish. Well, Mary Blair worked on this film so that makes sense. :) {If you didn't know, she was an artist with a gorgeous and unusual style who did concept work and character designs for Disney.}

So...this one wasn't my favorite. It didn't feel interesting and informative like the previous film. It was basically just a lot of singing, dancing, and nonsense with a Latin American theme. It didn't hold my attention at all.

P.S. There was a pretty interesting scene with Donald Duck chasing after a lot of sunbathing girls on a beach. That's not why it was interesting. Donald Duck and his two friends are the only animated aspects of this scene...the beach and the girls and everything else is live action. The effect of the interaction between the two was pretty awesome and seamless for a film made this early (think the animated penguins in Mary Poppins, but this was 20 years earlier).

Up next is Make Mine Music...I think it's supposed to be similar to these previous two in that it's not a set story. It's a lot of musical and story segments put into one film. I've never seen it before, so I'm curious! :)

Until next time,