Saludos Amigos (Disney Gold Classic Collection)

Starring:Lee Blair, Mary Blair, Pinto Colvig, Walt Disney, Norman Ferguson, Frank Graham, Clarence Nash, JosÃ© Oliviera, Fred Shields, Frank Thomas
Director: Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

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The first of two features Walt Disney made at the behest of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, Saludos Amigos consists of four cartoons linked by live-action travel footage. The very funny "Lake Titicaca" finds Donald Duck high in the Bolivian Andes, struggling with a recalcitrant llama. "Pedro," the story of a little airplane replacing his father on a mail run across the Andes, is a variation on "The Little Engine That Could." "El Gaucho Goofy" continues the popular "How To" cartoon series that juxtaposes a deadpan narration with increasing physical mayhem. Here, Goofy demonstrates Pampas-style riding and the use of the bola. The jaunty parrot Jose Carioca makes his debut in "Aquarela do Brasil." Although largely eclipsed by the wilder The Three Caballeros (1944), Saludos Amigos retains its charm. Included in the supplemental material is South of the Border with Disney, which chronicles the Good Will Tour Walt and a group of his artists made in 1941. The 16mm footage has darkened, but this featurette offers rare glimpses of some of these artists at work, including Frank Thomas, Norm Ferguson, and Mary Blair, whose stylized drawings set the look for much of Saludos Amigos and Caballeros. --Charles Solomon

Description

Direct from the vault, Disney's 6th full-length animated film SALUDOS AMIGOS is available for the first time on video! Loosely translated as "Greetings, Friends," it features the Academy Award(R)-nominated song of the same title and showcases the brilliance of Disney's legendary animators. A whimsical blend of live action and animation, SALUDOS AMIGOS is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, adventure, and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. Your south-of-the-border traveling companions are none other than famous funny friends Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn llama and "El Gaucho" Goofy tries out the cowboy way of life ... South American-style. From high Andes peaks to Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, SALUDOS AMIGOS is a hilarious visual feast that will entertain and delight the whole family.

Customer Reviews:

Disney's Sixth "Full-Length" Animated Feature.......2007-06-25

This movie was one of two movies made at the request of the Office of Inter-American Affairs during World War II. The goal of the trip that created this movie was to help improve relations with South America during the war. Some countries in South America had little reason to be friendly with the United States during the war, and some of these countries had relatively friendly relations with the Axis powers. Walt Disney's goodwill trip was a relatively low-key way for the United States to show South Americans how friendly the Unites States was.

There are three problems with this "full-length" animated feature. First, the animation is actually four cartoons that Disney wove into the visit by Walt Disney and a team of artists to South America. The second problem is that this feature is only 42 minutes long, which is well short of feature length. The 75 minutes shown on the box includes a documentary titled "South of the Border with Disney." The third problem with this "full-length" animated feature is that it is very dated. South America has changed a lot in the six-plus decades since this movie was initially released. The result of these problems is that the movie falls well short of being a "must-have," unless you are a die-hard Disney fan and you must have everything created by Disney.

This DVD does have two redeeming features.

First, the four cartoons woven into this feature are cute and clever. "Lake Titicaca" shows Donald Duck in various locations in South America. Donald shows some interesting and exciting aspects of riding a llama on suspension bridges, among other things. This short is funny, clever and worth watching multiple times. "El Gaucho Goofy" has Goofy showing the similarity between American cowboys and South American gauchos. The demonstration is hilarious. "Pedro" is similar to "The Little Engine That Could," only Pedro is a small mail plane rather than a train. This short is quite clever and is one of the best reasons to have this DVD. The fourth short is "Aquarela do Brasil," or "Watercolor of Brazil." Donald Duck and José Carioca experience the wonders of 1942 Brazil in colorful and clever ways.

Second, the film shows Disney and a team of artists in action as they gather information and sketch scenes. Though this portion of the feature is dated, fans of Disney Studios and Disney artists may find scenes of their favorite artists from this era that they would be unable to find anywhere else.

I am a huge fan of Disney movies, with a collection of probably more than 300 movies. There are parts of this one that I like a lot. However, most modern audiences will consider this "feature" to be four cartoons connected by a lot of boring stuff. You may want to consider just how valuable this feature is to your collection considering how difficult and relatively expensive it will be to add it to your collection.

Good luck!

Good artistry...that's all you need from this........2006-01-14

Coming from the perspective of an animation student,I found these four shorts to be very entertaining. The old Disney animators were at it again with their sense of portraying brilliant draftsmanship coupled with colors and shapes purely from observation. A timeless trade lost in a capsule of a nostalgia (when patience and human touch were the very fabric of the animation industry). These films, thought not entertianing by contemporary standards, are still one of the best resources for the learning animator. With that said, I don't know what that leaves for the 4 year old. Perhaps, artistic inspiration could be rubbed off than mere children's entertainment and parental escape!!

Regarding this piece as educational material? I don't know what level-headed person is going to watch these films and then complain about its short comings of political accuracy. Give me a break, they were done over 50 years ago during the prewar period??? Besides, those reviewers forgot to mention the fact that Disney was producing these films for the U.S. government. By no means should anyone consider these productions as educational material on accurate Latin American culture or History. They were simply produced as promotional material to inspire "good neighbor" policy, while Hitler was threating the world...cmon guys.

Not as lively and exciting as The Three Cabelleros........2004-05-25

In this film, we see Disney and his fellow animators travel to Latin America. In this however, you feel as if you are watching the Discovery channel with a little Disney thrown in. The film is whimsical when you come across a Disney cartoon, but all the inbetween bits are lackluster and boring. If maybe you traveled along with Mickey or Goofy it may have been more exciting. Sorry. Good but lacks.

For True Disney Fans.......2004-01-23

This film was made during the war and Walt didn't have the money to turn out another full length animated film. To appease his fans, he made a film which is basically a trip with him and some of his best animators "South of the Border." The animators where then inspired to make several short animated films, which are all packaged together to make this feature. The back of the box says "Total Running Time: Approc. 75 Minuites." By total running time, the mean with special features. The film is only 45 minuites, and the bonus "South of the Border With Disney" was a television show he did. If you are not a Disney fan, I don't recomend this film to you, because it is not like the other well known animated films you are used to. The picture and sound are not very good. Disney didn't feel the need to tough it up because hardley anyone knew of it's existance.

Greetings Friends..........2003-12-13

This rather cute collection of four Disney cartoons are kinda interconnected with a travelogue of South America that is very dated by today's standards, but entertaining nevertheless.

The best of the four cartoons is "El Gaucho Goofy". Previously unavailable on DVD, "Gaucho Goofy" is Goofy at his all time best. Watch the bit with the bolas - simply hilarious.

The next best is "Pedro". The story of the little airplane that could (think "The Little Engine That Could" with wings) is very good at telling a story - and you almost believe for a moment that Pedro didn't get through the Andes.

Next best is "Lake Titicaca". This hilarious romp with Donald Duck fighting a reluctant Llama (could this be the inspiration for "The Emperor's New Groove"?) will leave most anyone laughing.

Finally, there's "Aquarela do Brasil" - probably closest to the material that links the four stories and introducing the great Jose Carioca.

It's kind of a mystery to me why Disney considers this mixture of animation with live-action to be a "canon" movie. It's simply a collection of four Disney cartoons joined together with a live-action look at travelling in parts of South America.

The supplementary material, about Disney artists travelling in South America is a nice addition to the material on this disc, and also helps explain that this material is presented as a courtesy to the Office of Inter-American Affairs.

The interconnecting material that tries to tie together these four Disney cartoons is sadly dated, and is live-action and not animation. It also does not do near as good a job at tying together the various cartoons as "Three Caballeros" would later do.

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