The Aracuan Bird is a character created by The Walt Disney Company. The Aracuan, is also called the Clown of the Jungle and first appeared in the feature film "The Three Caballeros" (1945); though, despite his apparent on-screen popularity, strangely he did not appear in the comicbook adaptation of that film. During the segment "Aves Raras" (or "rare birds") Donald Duck is watching a film about South American birds when the film's narrator introduces the Aracuan as "one of the most eccentric birds you have ever seen." The Aracuan proceeds to walk right out of the film along the projectors' light beam and into Donald's life. This crazy bird drives Donald nuts not only in this film, but again in the cartoon short "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), and then once more in the feature film "Melody Time" segment called "Blame it on the Samba" (1948) where he attempts to cheer up the "blue" (literally) Donald Duck and Jose Carioca. Like Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca, the Aracuan's presence is primarily known only from these three films in the USA. However, he has found some success in comics from Brazil where he is known as Folião. More recently the Aracuan Bird has appeared in Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse. He causes hilarious practical jokes and dons various disguises (including posing as Donald Duck), and most of the gags are highly impossible. Often Donald is shown trying to take a photo of the bird, with it evading his efforts. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... The Three Caballeros is a 1944 animated feature film, produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. ... Year 1945and died 2007 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Donald Duck is an animated cartoon and comic-book character from Walt Disney Productions. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Donald Duck and José Carioca in Saludos Amigos José Carioca is a Disney cartoon character drawn as an anthropomorphized parrot from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (thus Carioca, a term which refers to a person born there). ... From left to right: José Carioca, Panchito Pistoles and Donald Duck Panchito Pistoles, often called Panchito (and sometimes Panchito Pistolas), is a cartoon character drawn as an anthropomorphized rooster. ... Mickey Mouse Works is a television show that features Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animated segments. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The crazy Aracuan, with its flaming red hair, hot pink face and fluorescent yellow feet, appears at first to be a completely fictional creation. However, there actually is a South American bird called the Araucuan (note the slightly different spelling). The araucuan is the local name for the eastern Brazilian sub-species of the Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis guttata). Chachalacas are moderately large tree-dwelling birds that belong the Cracid family which also include guans and currassows. Cracids are related to other galliformes, such as turkeys, and also share some characteristics with megapodes (such as the Australian malleefowl and brush-turkey). The chachalacas, guans and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. ...

The very name 'chachalaca' refers to the noisy call of the bird, well-known in Brazil. Around dawn, groups emit hoarse screams and "arapapiyas" that are similar to those produced by the Aracuan bird in the Disney movie. However, the physical appearance of the bird is quite different, with a long tail, drab plumage and a much shorter beak.

In other words, the Disney animators in "Three Caballeros" took a real bird with a real name, modified its call into an infectiously catchy tune (that is, about as infectious and easy to forget as smallpox), and gave the creature a radical makeover to make it colourful and zany. Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a highly contagious disease unique to humans. ...