Los tres caballeros

This was my favorite movie when I was four. Now that I'm older, I still watch it every once in awhile, even though there are movies I like better. The Three Caballeros is full of cute humor early in the movie, and the rapport between Donald Duck and Joe Carioca is wonderful. The animated short `The Cold-Blooded Penguin' is *very* cute, and the song `Baia' is one of my favorite Disney songs of all time. Then Panchito arrives, and after the wonderful `Three Caballeros' song, things start to go a little bit crazy. The plot, such as it was, completely evaporates as Donald seems to descend into a girl-crazy madness. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, however; the final part of the movie is very entertaining, even though it's odd at the same time. I gave this movie an 8 out of 10.

Similar to it's predecessor, but with higher highs and lower lows. The first segment (Pablo the penguin) is my favorite and I gladly go back to it. It gives me cozy vibes and drives me down memory lane. The second segment (the flying donkey) is also good but not at the same level. The third one (Brazil) has great songs and interesting animation, but introduces the issues of the film. First, the blend between live-action and animation is subpar, as we are now used to the post-Roger Rabbit standard; secondly, Donald Duck turns into a horny beast who just wants to hunt pretty girls (??). And then comes the nail in the coffin, the final needlessly lengthy segment about Mexico: boring, uninspired, and with a Donald as turned on as he can get. It didn't age well, and I'm sorry because the first part is just so good.

The Three Caballeros is a lot of fun, using a mix of live action and animation to bring Brazil and Mexico alive to birthday boy Donald Duck. As he's joined by Panchito and José he realises what he has been missing all these years, falls in love with Aurora Miranda (sister of Carmen), learns to dance, and much more.

With eye-poppingly beautiful animation and lovely colours, it is no surprise that that was the one cartoon Disney veteran Ward Kimball claimed he was truly proud of. The idea of the three birds as international musketeers living the good life is inspired and the running time is just about right.

It was a cold January Saturday evening. The park was beautifully lit. People were cheery. We could see the Matterhorn on our right hand side. Magical is the best description I could find.

Suddenly, I started singing...

"Somos los tres carros, los Tres Caballeros, y nadie es igual a nosotros..."

What do I know. My friends all knew the words. 4 guys, ranging from 27 to 31 years old, began forming a chrous line and singing off the top of our lungs...

I don't know how this happened. This is not, by any stretch of imagination, a popular or wildly succesful film. I guess it just touched us, the way Donald Duck had a mexican friend (Panchito), or the wild "Piñata" scene, or the strong latin flavour of the film.

Memories notwithstanding, we kept on singing... and singing... and singing.

People around us seemed to enjoy the show, too.

"Valientes brillamos, como brilla un peso

-Quien dice?!?

NOSOTROS, LOS TRES CABALLEROS!"

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.