Edgar Soberon Torchia "Saludos Amigos" (1942) and "The Three Caballeros" (1944) are really dreadful Walt Disney productions, which were made during World War II supposedly to improve relations between the United States and Latin American countries. Luckily in "The Three Caballeros" the action only takes place in Mexico and Brazil. Of course, there are some attractive things, such as the proto-psychedelic animation of Mary Blair that would flourish in "Alice in Wonderland" (Disney's most "stoned" feature, if you ask me), but almost by rule all is offensive: stereotypes, ridiculous characters or cultural mockery. All the plot offers is Donald Duck opening presents on his birthday, from two Latin American friends: Brazilian José Carioca (from "Saludos Amigos") and Mexican Panchito (Villa, I suppose). Each time a box is open you watch an animated sequence of native songs (including a horrendous English version of maestro Manuel Esperón's "Ay Jalisco no te rajes"). Donald Duck (who looks a lot like Donald Trump in his arrogant behavior) even harasses several Latin women, anticipating the days of his namesake. The only thing that seemed fantastic to me (and it's personal taste, of course) was Carmen Miranda's sister, the sinuous Aurora Miranda who sings and dances in a beautiful and colorful musical sequence composed by Ary Barroso. If Disney has kept "Song of the South" out of circulation because of "offensive treatment of African-American" this film could deserve the same medicine. However, the only thing Disney executives seem to find objectionable is that the characters smoke, so in the DVD edition cigars and cigarettes were deleted, except the one in José Carioca's peak... As "Saludos Amigos", it is a schematic, silly and ugly Disney you can ignore.

OllieSuave-007 This is Walt Disney's seven full-length animated feature film, starring Donald Duck celebrating his birthday with his two Latin American friends, José Carioca, the cigar-smoking parrot, and Panchito Pistoles, the pistol-packing rooster. The film is storied in segments, each one starting when Donald unwraps each of his presents. The segmented stories include Donald's trips to Brazil and Mexico, filmed in a combination of animation and live action.It is fun seeing Donald in a full-length animated movie; his feisty characteristics and bad luck-prone personality always generate a lot of humor and non-stop laughs. His adventures throughout Latin America was potentially a treat to watch and the featured music (courtesy of singers Aurora Miranda, Dora Luz and Carmen Molina) was somewhat catchy and enjoyable. However, I thought the overall movie was a little on the dull side and not very magically captivating like you would expect in many of Disney's feature films.While Fantasia was also filmed in segments (like this movie) and consists of music and animation only and no dialog, that movie will make you at least appreciate classical music and beautiful animation and, while no dialog, each segment is filmed in a way that represents charm and personality where you could actually follow its purpose. This film really has no plot, just a mash of animation and live action in a huge dance fest and party in Latin America. It's like a never-ending parade with nothing too intriguing to grab your attention. In addition, some of the animation looked washed-out against the live action.Overall, it's nice to see Donald Duck in a motion picture, but is not one of the better Disney films.Grade D+

TheLittleSongbird I don't consider this one of the best of Disney, but I do think it is delightful and I also think it is a little better than Saludos Amigos. The Three Caballeros is a little too short and the opening scenes are a tad too coy for my liking, but it gets much better when and if you bear with it. The animation is stunning, with rich bold colours and the characters and backgrounds are beautifully realised. The music is also memorable and give real flavour to some of the scenes. There is also much to enjoy scenes wise, the title number is filled with energy, and You Belong to My Heart is lovely. As entertaining as Jose and Panchito are, what made the movie for me was Donald falls in love with Aurora(sister of Carmen) Miranda and gets caught up in the soundtrack. The whole scene is very charming and funny, and the animated choreography is incredible. Overall, a delightful film and worth seeing for more reasons than just historical value. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Ted If your kids like this film, IMDb recommends Fellini's 8½! Yeah, this one's weirder than you thought.The Three Caballeros is essentially a barely narrative series of experimental animated shorts, starting in nature film parody, progressing to a couple of early live-action/animation hybrids, and ending in a lustful interspecies psychedelic freakout--needless to say, it's an influential film. You might have to gag through some touristy Latinisms, but there's some prime Disney surrealism waiting for you if you do.-TK 11/2/10