Tuesday, May 31, 2011

'The Three Caballeros' Animatronics on Display during Destination D!

As many know, I'm a huge fan of The Three Caballeros so was a real treat while at Destination D at Walt Disney earlier this month to see animatronics of all three (Donald Duck, Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca) on display in the Archives room.

These animatronics have had a very long life and a very long journey.  They originally appeared in The Mickey Mouse Review in Fantasyland in Walt Disney World, one of three original attractions on opening day.

When they were removed from Walt Disney World they went to Toyko Disneyland and performed there until just about 2 years ago.  The show was finally replaced there by Mickey's Philharmagic just recently.

Below are photos of the animatronics while on display in the Archives Room.  Please click on each image for a larger view. Would love to see these put back in use as part of the Gran Fiesta Tour attraction located in the Mexican Pavillion of World Showcase in Epcot.




5 comments:

Timon said...

They'd look better in my office! :-)

I wish I could have seen them in action "live", so even if they don't make the attraction, they would fun inside of the Pavilion to draw people over.

Matthew said...

Don, I really appreciate you for posting these photos! I would have loved to have seen these in person. The Mickey Mouse Revue was one of my all-time favorite attractions at the Magic Kingdom and I was so disappointed when it was removed to Tokyo Disneyland. I have always loved the Three Caballeros and that was one of my favorite segments of the MMR. Was not able to get the original WDCC pieces. Hope that some day these characters are revisited.

DC Pop Fanatic said...

Tim - I like your idea! :) Can we have joint custody? :)

It's a shame they're in storage and not being used. I think your suggestion of featuring in the Mexican Pavillion (if no plans to include in the attraction) would make for a nice draw and bring more people in.

Matthew - I wasn't aware of these until Destination D. I never saw the Mickey Mouse Revue so was unfamiliar with them. Thought they were very cool and with the emergence of the Three Caballeros between the Gran Fiesta Tour Attraction in Epcot and their own float in the new Disneyland parade, would love for WDCC to revisit them in a future sculpture!

I have the original set, they're so colorful but always hoped they would do them again as a single sculpt, all three together.

Laura said...

I am so excited to see your blog. My husband and I are show finishers at Animal Kingdom and got to rehab these guys before they headed over to Destination D. It was such an honor to work on a piece of Disney History. We didn't get to see them dressed since we were only in charge of shell repairs and paint. It is so nice getting to see them in completion.

DC Pop Fanatic said...

Hi Laura,

Being a HUGE Three Caballero fan, was such a treat for me to see these! You and your husband did an awesome job in restoring them and it's truly a shame that they're not being used in the park.

Would love to talk to you more about them .. what condition they were in when you began working on them? What all was involved in the restoration process? Etc.