José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of imag ...

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney in his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941.

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

then incorporated the idea, being introduced in the 1942 film ''

Saludos Amigos ''Saludos Amigos'' ( Spanish for "Greetings, Friends") is a 1942 American live-action/animated anthology film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the sixth Disney animated feature film and the first of the six pack ...

'' as a friend of Donald Duck, described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' as "a dapper Brazilian parrot, who is as superior to Donald Duck as the Duck was to Mickey Mouse". He speaks Brazilian Portuguese with a Brazilian Portuguese accent. He returned in the 1944 film '' The Three Caballeros'' along with Donald and a Mexican rooster named Panchito Pistoles. José is from

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil (thus the name " Carioca", which is a term used for a person born in Rio).

Animation

In addition to ''

'' and '' The Three Caballeros'' (the Latin American film pair), José appeared with Donald and the

Aracuan Bird This list of Donald Duck universe characters focuses on Disney cartoon and comics characters who typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or ...

in the "Blame It on the Samba" segment of the 1948 anthology feature '' Melody Time''. He also appeared in the segment "Two Happy Amigos" in a 1960 episode of the anthology television series '' Walt Disney Presents''. Much later, he was seen in the

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Comp ...

series '' Mickey Mouse Works'' and '' House of Mouse'', as well as in two episodes of ''

Mickey and the Roadster Racers ''Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures'' is an American CGI-animated preschool television series that was broadcast on Disney Junior. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series is the successor to '' Mickey Mouse Clubhouse''. Originally a ...

'' alongside Panchito ("Mickey's Perfecto Day!" and "Super-Charged: Daisy's Grande Goal"). He also made a brief cameo in the 1988 motion picture ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

''. In the '' Mickey Mouse'' short "O Futebol Clássico", José is seen as the announcer of a Brazilian soccer game. He later appears with Donald and Panchito in "¡Feliz Cumpleaños!" as performers at Mickey's birthday and in "Carnaval" as a performer in the parade. José starred in the main role of ''

Legend of the Three Caballeros ''Legend of the Three Caballeros'' is an animated television series based on the 1944 animated Disney film ''The Three Caballeros'' and features the characters Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles. It was first released in 2018 in th ...

'', alongside Panchito Pistoles and Donald Duck, which was released on the Disney Life app. He is voiced by Eric Bauza in this version. He also appeared in the 2017 ''DuckTales'' series, voiced by Bernardo de Paula.

Comics

In the early 1940s, the Sunday-only ''Silly Symphony'' comic strip featured José Carioca, in a series running from Oct 11, 1942 to October 1, 1944. This was replaced by a Panchito strip, which ran for another year. José is quite popular in Brazil, appearing alongside Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in the local Disney comics. In Brazil, he is known as Zé Carioca ("Zé" being a familiar form for Portuguese name "José", in much the same way "Joe" is a familiar form for the English name "Joseph"). Between 1961 and 2018, he had his Brazilian

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s, in which he is portrayed as living with his friends Nestor (an anthropomorphic crow), Afonsinho (an anthropomorphic duck), and Pedrão (an anthropomorphic dog), along with other characters: his nephews ''Zico'' and ''Zeca'' (also parrots), his girlfriend Maria Vaz (Portuguese: ''Rosinha Vaz'', another anthropomorphic parrot), daughter of rich entrepreneur Rocha Vaz (an anthropomorphic toucan), and his romantic rival ''Zé Galo'' (an anthropomorphic rooster). Local production ended in 2001, but was restarted in 2012. José now has a pet, Old Tom, an alligator originated from the 1960s Studio Program duck stories. Since September 2020, new José stories are published by Culturama in the comic book ''Aventuras Disney''. Comics featuring Joe Carioca, as he is called in the Netherlands, appear occasionally in the Dutch '' Donald Duck'' magazine. In these short stories, José occupies his time assuming false identities to impress girls (who usually see through him, leaving him brokenhearted), and wangling free dinners in expensive restaurants, a habit that often gets him into trouble. He appears extremely rarely in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Micky Maus ''Micky Maus'' is a German comics magazine containing Disney comics. It has been published since 1951 by Egmont Ehapa The Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company (officially named Egmont Ehapa Verlag GmbH) was created in 1951 as a subdivision of the ...

'' comics and :de: Lustiges Taschenbuch, having appeared around 10 times since his 1980 debut. In the Brazilian comics, Zé is also part of his neighborhood

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team and runs a samba school. He has a secret identity as a superhero, ''Morcego Verde'' (''Green Bat'', a

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

spoof), although he is easily recognized by his neighbors. In recent years, José Carioca has been used alongside Panchito and Donald in two comics by American artist Don Rosa, ''

The Three Caballeros Ride Again "The Three Caballeros Ride Again" is a 2000 Donald Duck comic by Don Rosa. The story was first published in the Danish '' Anders And & Co.'' #2000-40; the first American publication was in ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' #635, in August 200 ...

'' (2000) and ''

The Magnificent Seven (Minus 4) Caballeros "The Magnificent Seven (Minus 4) Caballeros" is a 2005 Disney comic written and drawn by Don Rosa. The story was first published in the Danish '' Anders And & Co.'' #2005-03; the first American publication was in ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stori ...

'' (2005). The creation of a

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian animated character during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

was part of a strategy called " Good Neighbor Policy" headed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

government to improve relations and gather support amongst its neighbor countries.

Recent uses

In April 2007, Disney re-introduced José Carioca (along with the third Caballero, Panchito) 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". After being reunited, The Three Caballeros are set to play a show in Mexico City. But Donald goes missing. José and Panchito must search throughout Mexico for Donald as he takes in various sights around Mexico. The character was previously voiced by Rob Paulsen, although in June 2020 Paulsen announced that, as a Caucasian voice actor, he will no longer play characters of color, including the Brazilian José. José 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 Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisio ...

(in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) version of It's a Small World, installed during major refurbishments between January and November 2008, also as the Tokyo Disneyland version of It's a Small World, installed during major refurbishments between March 2017 and April 2018. José and Panchito's costumes were extinct at the Disneyland Resort by 2011, but were re-Imagineered for Mickey's Soundsational Parade in May 2011. They now appear with Donald Duck and dancers with a float where Donald is trying to hit a Piñata. José and Panchito also regularly appear in the Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...

parade, "Move It! Shake It! MousekeDance It! Street Party", which debuted in 2014 and continues through 2020. He returned with Donald Duck and Panchito Pistoles in the 2018 series ''

''. José's cigar was removed along with Panchito's pistols. He makes two appearances in the 2017 ''DuckTales'' series where he and Panchito used to be Donald's old college bandmates who return to kickstart their band again. He's revealed to work as a flight attendant and uses his umbrella as a weapon against enemies.

In other media

Video games

In 2002, José Carioca appears in the games of the Disney Sports series produced by

Konami , is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has ca ...

for Nintendo's

GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the ...

and Game Boy Advance platforms, José is part of The TinyRockets teams alongside

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and the grand-neph ...

, the games are '' Disney Sports Soccer'' (

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

), ''

Disney Sports Basketball is a pair of 2002 sports video games released by Konami, one for the GameCube, and the other for the Game Boy Advance. Teams * The Superstars ( Mickey Mouse) * The Charmers (Minnie Mouse) * The Seaducks (Donald Duck) * The Belles ( Daisy ...

'' (

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

) and '' Disney Sports Football'' (

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

Animation

Comics

Recent uses

In other media

Video games

See also

References

External links