This Day in Pop Culture for February 3

1944: Donald Duck Goes to Mexico

It’s fitting that Walt Disney’s 7th animated full-length movie premiered on this day in 1944. The Three Caballeros celebrates Donald Duck’s 10th anniversary. He stars alongside his Latin America friend, parrot Jose Carioca and rooster Panchito Pistoles who is a native of Mexico. While lacking a plot, the movie features a mix of live-action and animation segments which sometimes collide.

The Three Caballeros was Disney’s first attempt to incorporate live action actors and animated characters together. This film is unique in that was filmed during Disney’s South America goodwill tour. Unlike traditional movies, this one only vaguely follows a story line and instead features a collection of musical numbers and short stories including The Cold-Blooded Penguin, The Flying Gauchito, Baia and Las Posadas.

Disney produced the limited series, Legend of the Three Caballeros that paired the trio once again for new adventures. The show was first released in the Philippines in 2018 and then Disney Channel is Southeast Asia in 2019 before making it stateside. The series was released on Disney+ in November 2019 and did not appear on Disney XD until August of 2021. (Image: TVDB)

1959: The Music Died on This Day

(L-R) Winter Dance Party poster, Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and J. P. Richardson *(Wikipedia)*

Buddy Holly’s Winter Dance Party tour began in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 23, 1959. With him was Waylon Jennings (electric bass), Tommy Allsup (guitar), and Carl Bunch (drums). Traveling for the band was a nightmare on an unheated bus with long distances between venues. The bus broke down twice and Bunch had to be hospitalized for frostbite. Holly charted a small plane to fly from Clear Lake, Iowa to Moorhead, Minnesota for himself, Jennings and Allsup.

However, Allsup lost a coin toss and gave up his seat to Ritchie Valens and Jennings gave up his seat to J. P. Richardson (aka the “Big Bopper”) who was suffering from the flu. Not long after takeoff and shortly after 1:00 a.m., the plane crashed in a cornfield where all the performers flew out of the plane and died. This day in 1959 was soon branded “the day that the music died” and was featured in the song, “American Pie” by Don McLean from the album of the same name released in 1971.

1882: Jumbo

Circus owner P. T. Barnum bought the elephant Jumbo from the Royal Zoological Society in London for $10,000. Children cried and Queen Victoria was not amused.

1953: J Fred

Long before NBC’s Today Show became the powerful morning news show that it is today, a chimpanzee, J Fred Muggs, became a regular.

1963: Shadow, Sassy, Chance

Don Ameche, Sally Field and Michael J. Fox lent their voices for Disney’s remake of The Incredible Journey as Shadow, Sassy and Chance.

1863: Samuel Clemens Changes His Name – Again

Mark Twain *(A.F. Bradley/Wikimedia Commons)*

American novelist Samuel Clemens first used his famous pen name Mark Twain when appearing in the Territorial Enterprise, a Virginia City newspaper. That is the name he is most known for, but it wasn’t his first. Clemens also went by Sieur Louis de Conte, John Snook, Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass, and the very simple “Josh” before settling on Twain.