Panchito is a friend of Donald Duck and José Carioca. He lives in Mexico and rides on a horse called Señor Martinez.
Name
Panchito's full name is Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González III. 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 or María del Rosario Mercedes Laura Jennifer Pilar Martínez Molina Baeza'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" means guns, specifically handguns or pistols. Presumably, the -E in "Pistoles" was a phonetic adaptation to ease pronunciation for non-Spanish-speakers in the United States. His surname "Pistoles" is based on the fact that he is seen with two handguns in some scenes of The Three Caballeros.
Personality
Panchito is extremely boisterous, trigger-happy, fast-talking and fun-loving. He enjoys chasing women, just like his best amigos Donald Duck and José Carioca, and always carries two revolvers and a magical flying serape.
Physical appearance
Panchito is covered with auburn feathers, which are white on his hands and upper arms. He normally wears red charro pants, a short bolero jacket, spurs, and a belt with holsters, all topped off with a giant sombrero. He is the tallest of the three Caballeros and is also the most slender of the three. In more recent renditions, his holsters and guns are often absent.
Panchito is first introduced when he bursts out of Donald Duck's final birthday present. Making a dazzling entrance, he presents Donald and José Carioca with sombreros to create The Three Caballeros. After performing a musical number, Panchito takes his new friends on his magical flying serape to tour Mexico, ending with a mock bull fight and a fireworks finale.
Panchito appeared in the House of Mouse episode "The Three Caballeros", where he is asked to perform as part of the Three Caballeros. However, problems arise when Donald realizes that no one remembers that he is part of the group. To this end, Donald takes various measures meant to ensure that he isn't forgotten, such as changing his name and identity to The Duck Formerly Known As Donald. Finally, Mickey calls upon José and Panchito to solve the problem. The duo plays their favorite brand of tricks on Donald, and he soon comes around.
In most later episodes, Panchito can be seen in certain crowd shots with José. He later appears again with José and Donald to perform another song, titled "My Name is Panchito", in the episode "Not So Goofy", revealing his full long name - Panchito Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González.
Mickey and the Roadster Racers
Panchito appears alongside his fellow Caballeros in "Mickey's Perfecto Day!". The group reunites for a performance only for Donald to lose the ability to do so, leading to Daisy taking his place.
Alongside Donald and José, he is one of the Three Caballeros, distant descendants of three knights that defeated Lord Felldrake. Compared to his previous appearances, Panchito is more dimwitted here, and makes fourth-wall breaking observations like Donald's tail being frozen because he does not wear pants and the fact that they can't fly because "they're not birds".
Panchito, along with José, will make his debut in the reboot's second season as a member of the DuckTales incarnation of the Three Caballeros.[1]
Other appearances
In Minnie's Bow-Toons, Panchito made a special appearance in the episode Fiesta Follies, where he was the host of a fiesta in Mexico, which happened to be visited by Minnie, Daisy, and Clarabelle.
In Mickey Mouse, Panchito appears alongside José and Donald in "¡Feliz Cumpleaños!", as part of the band hosting Mickey's birthday party.
Printed media
Comics
Panchito appeared in many comic book stories, most notably his own series of newspaper comics drawn by Paul Murry. His comic debut, as well as one of his very first printed adventures, was a self-titled 1943 story in which he met and fell for Clara Cluck. A few months earlier he appeared in a text story titled La Piñata. More recently, Panchito appeared in Don Rosa's The Three Caballeros Ride Again and The Magnificent Seven (Minus 4) Caballeros.
Panchito appears as an extremely rare meet-and-greet character in the United States, but he can be found regularly at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. In recent years, Panchito tends to appear semi-regularly throughout the year at various parks around the world, always alongside José.
Panchito also appears daily in Mickey's Soundsational Parade at Disneyland. He and José join Donald as they dance along the parade with female dancers. Panchito carries a long stick for breaking pinatas
In World of Color: Season of Light, Panchito leads a performance of "Feliz Navidad", accompanied by Donald and José.
In the former attraction, Mickey Mouse Revue, Panchito joined Donald and José in the former animatronic show as a part of the Caballeros.
Panchito appears in Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at Epcot, along with Donald and José. In the ride, The Three Caballeros plan to perform a concert in Mexico City. When Donald goes missing, Panchito and José go on a search for their missing friend. After a wild tour through the sites of Mexico, the Caballeros are reunited just in time for their big show.
Panchito's full name from House of Mouse remained in the Mickey Mouse canon as it was brought up again in the Mickey and the Roadster Racers episode "Mickey's Perfecto Day!" (2017) over a decade later.
Panchito's full name was revealed in the episode's song "My Name is Panchito". The "III" ("the third") part was actually never mentioned in the episode, although the lyric "that's me" at the end of the song was misheard as this.[4] Regardless, this addition occurred in later appearances, such as Legend of the Three Caballeros.[3]
In "Panchito", a 1943 comic book story (see W WDC 38-03 on I.N.D.U.C.K.S.), Panchito's full name is El Gayo (or Gallo) José Francisco Alisandro de Lima y de la Loma Pancho Alegre, with "Panchito" being the diminutive of his middle name, Francisco.
