The Three Caballeros

While little known, this is one of Disney's most inventive and delightful films, superior in imagination and sheer movie magic to all but a few of the studio's great classics. I think it was less successful than most Disney films because the subject matter -- like its near-twin Saludos Amigos, a cartoon tour of Latin America -- was and is less engaging for most people than fairy tales.

I've traveled a bit in Latin America, and still find that this clever little film captures something sumptuous, wondrous and oddly truthful about those distant places, even if seen through a distinctly American lens. What's more, it's the most sensuous G-rate movie I've ever seen. Sambas, wild orchids, wow.

I was four when it came out, and it immediately became my favorite movie. Indeed, I was obsessed. In the 40s and 50s, I kept up with movie-theater schedules for miles around just on the off-chance that this, and one or two other favorites, might be playing somewhere, usually at a Saturday matinée within driving distance. Every few years, my vigilance paid off and I would bug my mother to chauffeur me miles from home to see my beloved Caballeros.

When I had children, in the early days of VCRs, we bought all the Disneys as they were released. When The Three Caballeros came out, I brought it home. I was careful not to tell my three young daughters how much I loved this old treasure, but when I played it for them they all shrieked, "This is our favorite movie, Pop!"

And it still is, for all of us.