Day 6: Saludos Amigos

Today's movie starts a new era of Disney animation: the World War II years, otherwise known as the Package Film Era.

Saludos Amigos (1942)

Starring: Fred Shields, Clarence "Ducky" Nash, Pinto Colvig, José Oliveira, plus Walt Disney and Disney Studios artists/animators Lee Blair, Mary Blair, Norman Ferguson, Frank Graham, and Frank Thomas

Songs: "Saludos Amigos," "Aquarela Do Brasil," "Tico-Tico no Fubá"

In 1941, the US government asked Walt Disney to take a team of artists to several South American countries on a good will tour that would eventually lead to a movie to be shown in these countries, in the hopes of counteracting the Nazi influence.  That trip yielded two feature films and several shorts.  The first of them (and the first package film) was 1942's Saludos Amigos.

Given the nature of the package films, what I'm going to do is discuss the segments separately, and then discuss the movie as a whole a bit before doing my quick and dirty tl;dr questions at the end.

• "Lake Titicaca" is the first segment, and it stars Donald Duck as a tourist who visits the lake and gets into a couple of scrapes with a llama.  This segment was cute and funny.  However, it felt more like a short than a segment in a feature film.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as it would have been great as a short.
• "Pedro" is the story of a heavily anthropomorphized young plane who must deliver the mail when his father is unable to do it.  He ends up being caught in a storm and things look pretty bad.  This was a cute story, but as the only one of the four segments that didn't star established Disney favorites, it felt sort of thrown in.
• "El Gaucho Goofy" features cowboy Goofy being transported to Argentina to become a gaucho.  This segment was really fun and reminded me of two things -- Goofy's series of How To cartoons (such as "How to Play Baseball," also from 1942), and one of the earliest Mickey shorts, "The Gallopin' Gaucho," from 1928 (technically made before "Steamboat Willie," just as an aside).
• "Aquarela do Brasil" features Donald Duck again and introduces José Carioca, who teaches Donald all about the samba. This is the shortest segment of the four, but the music and art in this one make it the most beautiful of the lot.

Overall, this was a fun movie. It's very short -- at just forty-two minutes, it's even shorter than Dumbo. But I like the use of live action and animated elements, though I wouldn't consider this movie to have blended live art and animation like, say, Mary Poppins or The Three Caballeros. The two styles merely coexist.

In style, length, and structure, this movie reminded me of The Reluctant Dragon or, better yet, an episode of the Wonderful World of Disney TV show. It's charming, fun, and a bit educational. From what I've read, it actually opened a lot of Americans' eyes to how beautiful South America is... and really, no film could have a better legacy than that.

Believe it or not, this is one film I never saw as a child. Furthermore, I had never seen it at all before today. But I really enjoyed it a lot. As a kid, I did like The Three Caballeros, and since this film is a sister film to that one, I'd have probably liked this as well.

What I Liked: The live action segments telling about the various South American countries. Seeing Walt Disney as a fairly young man. The samba music.

What I Disliked: The length. Too short... another segment without Donald or Goofy would have been nice, that way "Pedro" wouldn't have stuck out so. Also it has always annoyed me anytime José Carioca is called Joe, but that's more of a pet peeve.

Favorite Segment: "Aquarela do Brasil!" The combination of the music and the art paired with really cute interaction between José Carioca and Donald Duck made this, the brief closing section, the highlight of the movie.

Least Favorite Segment: "Pedro." I didn't dislike it... it was really cute, actually. It reminds me a bit of "Little Toot," a segment that will feature in Melody Time, and I'll probably revisit that comparison on day ten, when I watch that film. This just unfortunately wasn't as exciting or funny as the other segments.

Should You Watch This Movie: Yes for kids, adults, and Disney fans.