Where to watch The Three Caballeros (1944)

Trivia & production notes

• Walt Disney was personally called by Manuel Esperón, a successful Mexican composer, after the latter saw Disney's interest in Latin American music and agreed to contribute to the film's score.
• The title song's melody was based on a 1941 Mexican film song called "Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes!" composed by Manuel Esperón, with new English lyrics written by Ray Gilbert.
• "Mexico" is the only completely original song written for the film, composed by Charles Wolcott with lyrics by Ray Gilbert and sung by Carlos Ramírez.
• The song "Have You Been to Bahia?" had its original Portuguese lyric "nega" replaced with "Donald" to address the character in the film.
• Nelson Rockefeller, Chief Coordinator of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, specifically asked Walt Disney to produce films with Latin American themes as part of a U.S. propaganda effort to counter Nazi influence in the Americas.
• The film premiered in Mexico City on December 21, 1944, before its United States release on February 3, 1945.
• The Three Caballeros was edited down to 41 minutes and retitled "A Present for Donald" when it aired as the ninth episode of ABC's Disneyland television series on December 22, 1954, with the story reframed around Christmas gifts instead of a birthday.
• The instrumental piece "Pandeiro Flute" was licensed to Disney rather than written for the film, though composer Benedito Lacerda went uncredited and the piece was developed by Charles Wolcott.
• The film features "Sobre las olas," a composition by Mexican songwriter Juventino Rosas published in 1888, which plays during the "Cold-Blooded Penguin" segment.
• The film introduced Panchito Pistoles, a gun-toting Mexican rooster character, alongside returning characters Donald Duck and José Carioca from the earlier Disney film Saludos Amigos.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article The Three Caballeros, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.