The Joy of Positivity: The Three Caballeros (1944)

The delightful 1944 romp The Three Caballeros was created with a very specific goal in mind. Like Disney’s Saludos Amigos, it was an animated olive branch to our neighbors to the South, particularly Mexico and Brazil, the homelands of Donald Duck’s feathered friends José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles respectively. The Three Caballeros’ noble aims did not keep it from being a wild, shockingly raunchy gallop through the warped imagination of Disney writers and animators.

The Three Caballeros combines live action and animation decades before Who Framed Roger Rabbit so that its randy cartoon birds can chase after sexy live-action babes like special guest Carmen Miranda with a shamelessness worthy of Tex Avery’s lascivious Wolf. It’s a feast for the eyes and ears, international cooperation at its best.