After Saludos Amigos, another short film collection was commissioned, because Disney had forgotten to say anything about Mexico. That's pretty much the reason for this film's existence, but it rises above that.For one, the segments are all much stronger than in Saludos Amigos. It's still mainly just an ad campaign for South America, but I like that they have a framing story where Donald is celebrating his birthday and gets a present from his South American friends. José is also back, and we get another new great character, Panchito Pistoles, a Mexican rooster. And yes, the name is kind of awful, but the character itself is a lot of fun.The first two segments, The Cold-Blooded Penguin and The Flying Gauchito, are both very good. The comedy is mostly silent and/or physical, the characters are sympathetic and the animation is very nice. There's also a piece about Aracuan Bird, one of the worst earworms in existence. You have been warned.The few following segments, Baía, Mexico: Pátzcuaro, Veracruz and Acapulco and You Belong To My Heart are merely more gallivanting around like in Saludos Amigos. They're fun to watch in their own way, the music is very nice, but they drag on for a bit too long and nothing much happens in them.Though at least we get the piñata scene and Las Posadas, which are some of my favourite short segments Disney has ever done. Great mood, great atmosphere, flawless animation and all around enjoyment.And then we have Donald's Surreal Reverie, which is probably the reason you should see this film. Think Pink Elephants on Parade, but much, much longer and ever crazier. I swear the animators were under some sort of influence, they had to be. It's a mind trip unlike anything Disney has ever produced. And yeah, it's a truckload of fun to watch, not gonna lie.The Three Caballeros is still not what I would call a good film. It is better than Saludos Amigos, if only because it's so weird that you cannot help but be intrigued by it. Definitely worth a watch, though, especially if you want to say you've seen them all.

This is the seventh animated feature done by Walt Disney Animation Studio. There will be spoilers ahead:This film had its genesis from the success of Saludos Amigos, the film which came out of Walt Disney's decision to accept the US Department of State's request to go on a goodwill tour of South America. Disney saw it as a smart move from a business standpoint and the success of Amigos proved him right. From that success, The Three Caballeros was made.The structure of Caballeros is is a mix of live action and animation done in segments like Fantasia. It's episodic in nature within a framing sequence. It's Donald Duck's birthday and he receives several presents. A projector showing a documentary on birds leads things off. The appearances by the Aracaun Bird are enjoyable and make the film for me.Donald's friend Jose Carioca, a parrot from Brazil who first appeared in Saludos Amigos. He gives Donald a book through which they travel to Bahia, in Brazil. Donald falls in love there with a woman played by Carmen Miranda's sister Aurora.The third present is a rooster named Panchito, from Mexico, followed by a fourth present, a piñata. Panchito takes the three of them through a tour of Mexico, where Donald falls in love repeatedly with pretty girls in Mexico, lots of beautiful music is heard and lovely scenery is beheld.There are also a couple of short animated segments, one about a penguin named Pablo, who dreams of living someplace warm. Narrated by Sterling Holloway, it tells of Pablo's determined efforts to travel to someplace warmer than the South Pole and the other about a little boy in Uruguay, Gauchito and his flying donkey, Burrito. Both cartoons are cute and charming.The film as a whole is very effective and the music is excellently incorporated into the film segments, particularly in sync with the animation.This film is available on DVD, solo and in combination with Saludos Amigos and is well worth finding. Recommended.

Disney's 7th animated feature film combines animation and live action in a movie which purports to be a travelogue of Latin America in which Donald Duck sees the world, makes a couple of feathered friends, and lusts after a variety of comely young human women.There are a number of different sequences in the film, some musical and some not and, to be frank, not only do they not all fit well, they aren't all up to Disney's usual standard. The penguin sequence is out of place, and much of the central musical sequence, while highly imaginative, is overlong and lacks the discipline which benefited the later Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo, for instance. And the animation itself isn't always as good as one would expect.And then we have the title song, about three quarters of the way through, in which it all comes gloriously together. Jam packed full of gags, musically full of joy, lyrically clever and witty, and furiously and surrealistically animated, it is a sequence of genius.If only the rest of the film had been as good.

While little known, this is one of Disney's most inventive and delightful films, superior in imagination and sheer movie magic to all but a few of the studio's great classics. I think it was less successful than most Disney films because the subject matter -- like its near-twin Saludos Amigos, a cartoon tour of Latin America -- was and is less engaging for most people than fairy tales.I've traveled a bit in Latin America, and still find that this clever little film captures something sumptuous, wondrous and oddly truthful about those distant places, even if seen through a distinctly American lens. What's more, it's the most sensuous G-rate movie I've ever seen. Sambas, wild orchids, wow. I was four when it came out, and it immediately became my favorite movie. Indeed, I was obsessed. In the 40s and 50s, I kept up with movie-theater schedules for miles around just on the off-chance that this, and one or two other favorites, might be playing somewhere, usually at a Saturday matinée within driving distance. Every few years, my vigilance paid off and I would bug my mother to chauffeur me miles from home to see my beloved Caballeros.When I had children, in the early days of VCRs, we bought all the Disneys as they were released. When The Three Caballeros came out, I brought it home. I was careful not to tell my three young daughters how much I loved this old treasure, but when I played it for them they all shrieked, "This is our favorite movie, Pop!" And it still is, for all of us.