Panchito Pistoles, often called Panchito (and sometimes Panchito Pistolas), is a cartoon character drawn as an anthropomorphized rooster. He appeared in the film The Three Caballeros. Later he appeared in several Disney comics, including Don Rosa's The Three Caballeros Ride Again and The Magnificent Seven (minus four) Caballeros. Panchito was the only one of the three caballeros never to appear in Saludos Amigos, in fact, he did not exist yet when the 1943 movie was released.

He is a friend of Donald Duck and José Carioca. He lives in Mexico and rides on a horse called Señor Martinez. He had some appearances in Disney's House of Mouse. Among his other appearances is the tale properly called "Panchito" where he meets and falls for Clara Cluck.

Panchito's full name is Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González III ^[1] . Panchito or Pancho, as well as Paco or Paquito are nicknames for Francisco, which is also his fifth name. The unusually large name is making fun of the fact that, in many Spanish speaking countries, people use two last names (which, in some cases, are composed of two or more words) and commonly has one or even more middle names, and in some cases, like Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez-Rulfo Vizcaíno's they are pretty large. Quintero González is Panchito's last name; according to Spanish naming, Quintero would be his father's last name and González his mother's.

As there is no reference to his surname "Pistoles", some people assume that it is another nickname. The word "Pistoles" does not exist in Spanish, although "Pistolas" would mean guns, specifically handguns or pistols. Probably the -E in Pistoles was a phonetical adaptation to ease pronunciation for non-Spanish-speakers in the United States. His surname is likely Pistoles because he is seen with two handguns in some scenes of The Three Caballeros.

The merchandise location at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World is named Panchito's Gifts and Sundries, and features Panchito's likeness on its sign.

In April 2007, Walt Disney World re-introduced Panchito (along with the second Caballero, José Carioca), in the newly-revamped ride at Epcot's Mexico Pavilion with entirely new animation and a new storyline. It has been dubbed "The Gran Fiesta Tour". In the storyline, the reunited Three Caballeros are set to play a show in Mexico City. Donald Duck goes missing, and José and Panchito must search throughout Mexico for Donald as he takes in various sights around Mexico. The animation was apparently directed by Eric Goldberg. ^[2]

Panchito can also be seen in the Hong Kong Disneyland version of It's a Small World, which opened on April 28, 2008, as well as the Disneyland (in California) version of It's a Small World, installed during major refurbishments between January and November 2008.

[edit] Señor Martinez

Señor Martinez is the non-anthropomorphic horse of Panchito Pistoles. Señor Martinez first appeared in a 1944 newspaper strip, written by Bill Walsh and drawn by Paul Murry.^[3] Recently the horse made appearances in "The Three Caballeros Ride Again" and "The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros", both stories written and drawn by Don Rosa. However, Don Rosa chose to draw Señor Martinez as a 'realistic' horse, instead of sticking with his more cartoonish original appearance.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Panchito Pistoles at the INDUCKS