Disney Classics Marathon :pound_symbol:7

Second of the "War Time Package Movies" and at least a slight upgrade to its predecessor.

While not a direct sequel to "Saludos Amigos" (we wouldn’t get one of those until "The Rescuers Down Under") it is more of a spiritual successor to the former one.

Both movies were made with the same intend, to strengthen The U.S.A‘s relationship with South American countries during WWII and I‘m not entirely sure that was the was to handle it.

Nowadays the Film comes with a trigger warning on Disney+ to apologize for all the stereotyping and while definitely appropriate, it’s thankfully not as bad as "Saludos Amigos."

This time Disney at least tried to tie the segments together with some coherence by using Donald Duck‘s 10th year anniversary as a frame narrative.

Donald receives three presents that take him on an adventure to discover several kinds of birds and learn more about South American cultures. Or at least that’s what it’s supposed to be.

Donald is joined again by José Carioca, who is first introduced in "Saludos Amigos," and a new friend, Panchito Pistoles, a Mexican rooster. Those three form the title giving "Three Caballeros."

I'll be honest, if it weren’t for the seriously off-putting live action sequences thrown into the film, I‘d probably enjoy it way more. The animation is really nice and colorful and gets very creative especially towards the end (though it is reminiscent of some kind of acid trip). But the live action parts take you completely out of the movie, they don’t fit in and the real life people interacting with the cartoon characters just looks weird. Disney wouldn’t manage that for a couple of years. Especially off ö-putting, Donald chasing after real women for some reason. Yikes.

While I enjoy this one more than the last film, I‘m still not a big fan of it. It has some fun moments, but overall it’s just a jumbled mess with not much substance.

Favorite Segment: Probably Donald and José meeting Panchito for the first time.

4.5 out of 10 stars.