The Three Caballeros Ride Again! is a comic story by Don Rosa. It features the titular Three Caballeros (a group consisting of Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles), Señor Martinez, Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck and, in their debuts, Rosa, Alfonso Bedoya and Tara the Tarantula. Daisy Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and Gladstone Gander are mentioned.
Plot[]
Donald Duck takes his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, to El Divisadero, Mexico, where a bus will take them to the Junior Woodchucks Jamboree. The three feel bad for their uncle, knowing that he will likely be lonely while they are gone to the Jamboree. Meanwhile, nightclub singer José Carioca is threatened by the notorious outlaw Alfonso "Gold Hat" Bedoya for flirting with his girlfriend, Rosa. Coincidentally, Donald rides by the room José is in just as he jumps out of the window to escape Alfonso, falling right into Donald's car.
Donald and José flee from Alfonso and realize that they are not strangers to each other; they were good friends some time ago. The two get lost in the Barrancas del Cobre, where they are reunited with another old friend of theirs, Panchito Pistoles, who is searching for lost town of Tayopa, the home of a 17th century silver mine. With the help of Donald's historical knowledge gained from his various adventures with his uncle, the three find kegs of what appears to silver hidden in Tayopa's church.
The three take joy in their finding and arrange for the kegs of silver to be shipped to El Divisadero by train. Unfortunately, Alfonso, who had met Panchito previously while trying to ambush him, learns of their silver and hijacks the train that it's loaded on. Using Donald's car, Donald, José, and Panchito chase after the train in a wild race full of wackiness. Through sheer luck, Donald manages to either disarm or injure Alfonso several times, and the crook eventually gets José's umbrella stuck to his head and flies straight into a jail cell.
With Alfonso out of the way, Donald, José, and Panchito must focus on securing the flatcars that they are on, a difficult task to do as the flatcars are speeding down the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railway without a locomotive attached to it. Finally, with the help of Donald's quick thinking and Panchito's stash of habanero chiles, the group and their kegs survive. At the end of it all, they find that the kegs did not contain actual silver, instead only containing mercury.
Though their adventure did not bring any financial success to them, Donald, José, and Panchito are still satisfied. They perform at the Divisadero Hotel together.
References[]
- Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck state several times that Donald Duck has trouble making friends and has very few people in his life that he is close to.
- José Carioca refers to Donald as "Donaldo", while Panchito Pistoles refers to him as "Donal'".
- José Carioca is said to be from Rio de Janeiro.
- José states that he works as singer, singing in nightclubs in resort hotels in many places. Meanwhile, Panchito is a self-described "vaquero-minstrel", though the story also references his treasure hunting.
- Panchito states that he inherited the map to Tayopa, a lost 17th century silver mine, from his "Papacito".
- The story takes place before the completion of the Chihuaha al Pacifico Railway, which, in the real-world, was completed in 1961.[1] Alfonso Bedoya is seen watching a Zorro television series, likely a reference to the one which aired in the real-world from 1957 to 1959.[2] In The Don Rosa Library Vol. 9, Don Rosa, the author of the story, referred to The Three Caballeros Ride Again as a "1950's story". Putting all of these references together, it seems that the story takes place anywhere from 1957 to 1959.
Continuity[]
- The entire story was largely inspired by the film The Three Caballeros (1944), with its title arguably implying that it is a direct sequel to the film. One of the songs from that film is sung by Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles in the comic.
- Panchito's horse, Señor Martinez, originated in the 1940's Panchito comic strips by Bill Walsh.
- The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros (2005) was written as a sequel to this story.
Behind the scenes[]
The Three Caballeros Ride Again! was first released on September the 6th, 2000. It was originally released in three separate parts. The first part was first published on September the 6th in Aku Ankka #2000-36, the second part was first published on September the 13th in Aku Ankaa #200-37, and the third part was first published on September the 20th in Aku Ankaa #200-48. The story was both written and drawn by Don Rosa. The story was largely inspired by the 1944 film The Three Caballeros, while also reusing some aspects of the 1940's Panchito comic strips by Bill Walsh such as Panchito Pistoles's horse Señor Martinez.
According to Rosa's commentary featured in The Don Rosa Library Vol. 9, the characterization of Donald Duck, José Carioca, and Panchito Pistoles in this story was inspired by the characters in the Road to... film series featuring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. His depiction of Tayopa was inspired by the 1954 film Garden of Evil, and the comic story as a whole drew inspiration from the 1948 film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Notes & References[]
- ↑ Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico on Wikipeda
- ↑ Zorro on Wikipedia