List Price: $19.99 Our Price: $15.99YOU SAVE $4!
Buy it
DVD The Three Caballeros (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
As a Disney oddity, they don't get much odder than Three Caballeros. Donald Duck receives a birthday package from South America, and the film proceeds to unravel like some peyote-induced hallucination. It starts out reminiscent of other Disney films, where shorts are cobbled together, such as "Make Mine Music" or "Fun and Fancy Free." The film has vignettes such as "The Cold-Blooded Penguin" and "The Flying Guachito." After them it careens straight into part-travelogue, part-stream-of-consciousness animation. Not helping out much are Donald's "friends," Joe Carioca (a parrot) and Panchito (a rooster). They spend most of the rest of the film watching Donald chase skirt. That's right, Donald Duck is a wolf in this movie, and he chases every live-action señorita who bustles across the screen. Although some will say otherwise, Caballeros is for die-hard Disney, Donald, or psychedelia fans only. --Keith Simanton
Review(s): DVD The Three Caballeros (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Latin Music Fun!
The insight into the two latin cultures of Brazil and Mexico are informative and entertaining. The Brazilian and Mexican style of music and dance is educational and a smart way of introducing children into the history behind these two latin cultures. Although the styles of dress are dated, the songs are fun to sing along to, especailly Panchito with his Mexican spirit, engery, and style. The three caballeros dancing and singing their way through this movie reflect a comradary among the two American continents that exists today. Mr. Disney was truly ahead of his time when he created this cartoon in the forties.
Maybe not the best movie....
It might not be Disney's best movie, but I remember as a child I
watched this movie and I really liked it.And I didn't really get
the "Skirt Chasing" as a sexual thing.For me it was just a fun movie, and I don't think kids will get the wrong impression from
it.
The Best of the "Anthology" Films (with one of Animation's Greatest Sequences Thrown In for Good Measure!)
THE THREE CABELLEROS was Disney's 2nd foray into the world of Latin America during World War II. Working alongside the State Department to help foster goodwill in the Western hemisphere (and using Disney's iconic characters to help promote American values), the film is a huge improvement over the previous venture, SALUDOS AMIGOS. And while it may not tell a story, per se, the film introduced several songs that have gone on to become classics, contains several rousing moments, features some fun short subjects, all in a nicely diverting package film.
The film itself is supposedly set on Donald's birthday (here we find he was born on Friday 13th). From his many friends in Latin America (Donald was far more popular south of the border than his more even-tempered costars), he has received a box of presents, and the first present he opens is a movie projector and some movies. (Not very original, but it works.) After some trouble with the projector, Donald sits down to watch the show.
Sterling Holloway (a famous Disney voice, having appeared in films from DUMBO all the way to THE JUNGLE BOOK) narrates the story of Pablo the Penguin. Pablo is cold so he decides to float to a warmer climate. The story is no great shakes, but it cute and some of the stylized maps as he floats up the South American coast are quite nice.
A narrator introduces Donald to other birds of South America, including the Aracuan, one of Donald's costars in the "Blame it on the Samba" section of MELODY TIME. After some craziness with the Aracuan, we are told the story of the little Gauchito who went hunting and ended up with a flying burrito. A cute story, with a great narrator, plus several funny sight gags as the narrator reminds himself of the tale he is telling. The characters were popular enough that Disney began working on a (never released) sequel.
Joe Carioca, a Brazillian parrot, sings the beauty of "Baia," just one of the big hits from the movie, and takes Donald to the beautiful, magical country. They journey on a train through a sequence designed by the amazing Mary Blair, one of the few Disney inspirational artists to take the trip to South America with Walt to research the subject. Her highly stylized designs were a favorite with Disney, much to the chagrin of animators who had to bring the thing to life.
Interaction with human costars begins here, as Aurora Miranda and company sing a tune as Donald and Joe fight for her affections. Considering the film was released in 1945, the blend of animation and live action is quite seamless and very impressive.
The highlight of the film is the title number, "The Three Caballeros," which animator Ward Kimball turned into a tour de force of non sequitirs, sight gags, and amazing silliness. Throughout the song, as Panchito the Rooster sings and dances, Donald is constantly frustrated at his own lack of ability, and the gags pile on one after another. Truly a masterpiece of animation, and one of Kimball's most highly regarded works.
The rest of the movie is a travelogue through Mexico, with some great period film (shot by Disney animators on their goodwill tour), more great music ("You Belong to My Heart" was another big hit from the film), and a wonderful expression of Christmas celebrations highlighted by the first appearence (on film) of Mary Blair's distinctive "children" characters. (These would go on to be the stars of one of Disney's most popular and enduring attractions, "It's a Small World," also designed by Blair.)
All in all, a delightful period piece featuring some outstanding animation by the Disney artists, and the wonderful design work of Mary Blair. If you are a fan of Disney's earlier films (SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO) or the later output (ALADDIN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), you may want to skip this one. It's not story driven, is not a true musical, and feature some highly surreal animation toward the grand finale.
For true Disneyphiles, this is a MUST for your collection.
Related DVD's The Three Caballeros (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
The first of two features Walt Disney made at the behest of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, Saludos Amigos consists of four cartoons linked by live-action travel footage. The very funny "Lake Titicaca" finds Donald Duck high in the Bolivian Andes, struggling with a recalcitrant llama. "Pedro," the story of a little airplane replacing his father on a mail run across the Andes, is a variation on "The Little Engine That Could." "El Gaucho Goofy" continues the popular "How To" cartoon series that juxtaposes a deadpan narration with increasing physical mayhem. Here, Goofy demonstrates Pampas-style riding and the use of the bola. The jaunty parrot Jose Carioca makes his debut in "Aquarela do Brasil." Although largely eclipsed by the wilder The Three Caballeros... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jack Kinney - Bill Roberts - Hamilton Luske - Wilfred Jackson - Norman Ferguson DVD Release Date: Released the 02 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
This 1949 Disney feature has never been available on video in its original form until now. The 68-minute film contains two shorts: The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The former is a lively version of Kenneth Grahame's book of animal adventures, including Mr. Toad, a rambunctious sort with a passion for motorcars. Basil Rathbone narrates the story. Sleepy Hollow is the Washington Irving story of a stuffy schoolmaster and his ability to win the love of the fair Katrina from the brutish Brom Van Brunt. Many fans will see a resemblance to Disney's masterpiece created some 40 years later, Beauty and the Beast, in style and story. The end is still scary enough to send youngsters under the table. Bing Crosby supplies the narration,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): James Algar - Clyde Geronimi - Jack Kinney DVD Release Date: Released the 03 October 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $13.88YOU SAVE $6.11!
Buy it
Fun is probably worth the purchase for "Mickey and the Beanstalk," the second half of this combo-film. "Beanstalk" includes the last performance by Walt Disney of Mickey Mouse. It also has Donald Duck and Goofy as comrades who climb the beanstalk in their back yard to face Willy the Giant. This segment actually achieves the goals of the film's title. The first half, however, is "Bongo," the story of a addlepated circus bear. "Bongo" is more poky and interest-free. Dinah Shore warbles and narrates the segment, and it goes on much too long for its purpose. Don't trade your cow in for it. --Keith SimantonMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Jack Kinney - William Morgan - Hamilton Luske DVD Release Date: Released the 20 June 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
This is another collection of Disney shorts set to music, but this time the formula works. That's predicated on the inherent strength of the individual pieces and almost all of them come through. Surprisingly, two American folk heroes, Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill, are the stars of this show, with rousty little tunes, humor, and compelling linear story lines (a rarity in most of these shorts). Even the shorts that are weak in one area, thematically or musically, make up for it in another. There's very little of the Disney animators attempting to be 1940s modern, thank goodness, and there's a sterling quality in the depth of the art work. A definite plus to an animation (or Disney) collection. --Keith SimantonMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Hamilton Luske - Jack Kinney - Wilfred Jackson - Clyde Geronimi DVD Release Date: Released the 06 June 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
Based upon T.H. White's beloved novel, this Disney-fied version chronicles the tutoring of the Once and Future King, Arthur, as handled by the magician Merlin. Sword was a portent of things to come, with slapstick upbraiding storytelling, and cultural in-jokes substituting for wonder. But there's much to enjoy here as Merlin shows Newt, the young Arthur, things that will help him become the ruler of the Britons. The transformation sequences, where the boy is turned into a fish, a bird, and a squirrel are vintage Disney. The oft-repeated scene of Merlin battling it out with the mean old Madame Mim still is worth a few chuckles, but it belies the problem with most of the film--the scenes are only there for the chuckles. References by Merlin to television and other items of modern... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Wolfgang Reitherman - Les Perkins DVD Release Date: Released the 20 March 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $19.99 Your Price: $17.99YOU SAVE $2!
Buy it
