Saludos Amigos

iHola! Que tal? (sorry, I can't do an upside-down "?" on my keyboard) iMuy bien, gracias! Yeah, I'm doing very well, indeed! Why the Spanish? Because today, we are looking at the other 1942 Disney animated movie, "Saludos Amigos!" This is one of many 1940s Disney short cartoon compilations released into theaters. So, we see a few short cartoons that take us south of the border and in between these shorts, we see a travel agent telling us about the many places of Latin America and such. Come to think of it, I actually remember seeing the last part of this on the Disney Channel back nine years ago from this month of writing this (yes, you DCOM fans, we forefathers had old stuff on this network back in the days of yore), and though I didn't get to see this movie in whole, I still thought that this was good, among many other Mickey and Friends movies. "Saludos Amigos" - iSi! Diez estrellas (10 stars).

'Saludos Amigos (1942)' is clearly Disney's weirdest 'classic', acting as a live-action travelogue with an anthology of animated shorts peppered throughout. At the time it was released, it apparently enlightened a lot of North Americans about life in South America; now, the information is more than common knowledge. That's perhaps why this piece has aged more than its peers. The actual animated shorts aren't particularly bad, but they don't exactly grip you, either. Still, they're a decent amount of fun in their own right. The best is probably the musical finale, which introduces José Carioca - essentially the Brazillian Donald Duck - and features some inventive 'real-time painting' visuals. As a whole, the movie is rather uninspiring. It's odd and poorly paced, sticking out like a sore thumb in the studio's catalogue. It isn't terrible, of course, but it isn't particularly good, either. 5/10

Watching through the entire Disney animated canon and finally took the time to watch this short film. It is simply, okay. Interesting for its historical context, but hardly a good standalone movie. It's nice that it is only 42min long.

When I first heard that Disney was going to release a number of films from the early years which had been "almost forgotten," I was very intrigued. Would there be another Sleeping Beauty or Fantasia hiding out there? Sadly, Saludos Amigos falls very short of "Disney classic" status. It is basically forgettable. There are a few smile-inducing moments, but overall the piece really does feel like a "keep the Sudamericanos on our side against the Nazis" period piece from the WW2 era. It's strange to watch a movie made in 1943 with live action sequences of South America looking so peaceful and unaffected by the world's events. Sure, the region was less involved in WW2 than many other regions... but, it is still strange to watch. Anyway, I'd sum it up thusly: 1. Worth buying if you are a Disney collector and 2. Worthy of note simply to see live shots of Buenos Aires, Lago Titicaca, and Rio de Janeiro, filmed almost 60 years ago. Other than that, you can skip this one.

I have been a huge Disney fan for as long as I can remember, and I enjoyed Saludos Amigos. I did think it could have been longer(just a bit), one or two parts could have been better paced and Pedro the Aeroplane in my opinion isn't that funny and takes me out of the setting. That said, the animation is very lush with gorgeous colours and colourful settings and backgrounds. Plus all the characters are drawn very well. The title song is also memorable and the score is marvellous with some catchy rhythms. There are several entertaining sequences, Goofy comes very close to stealing the movie, and there is a hilarious meeting with a pesky llama. Donald himself is great with a wonderful cantankerous attitude, but as he teaches him to samba Jose Carioca steals the show as he is funny and delightfully chirpy. Overall, entertaining if not among the best of Disney. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This feature was made to improve relations with South America. It features a few animated shorts with live action breaking the scenes up. The live action is designed to teach about South American culture. I am someone who really likes this feature (even though it is short). I love the scene with Jose Caricoa (sp?) where Donald can't pronounce his name. "Joe-say...". I would watch this at my old job at a video store every chance I got! I would recommend it to everyone, but since some people are not impressed with this feature I would suggest renting it first. Overall very good!!!