I'm not sure whether to call "Saludos Amigos" a film, a short, an educational piece or an experiment. It is, at the very least, an interesting endeavor. The snippets of information given in the segments are interesting, and it's nice to get a bit of culture. The aged, sepia tone video footage of the Central American areas visited (and South American) gives it a rustic feel, which makes me want to visit. Yes, this Disney cartoon made me wonder what it is like to live in Brazil, Argentina and so forth. That's impressive enough on its own."Saludos Amigos" isn't as such a whole story, but four segments. In all honesty, they don't seem like much to make up a movie, and while the first three are cute and well animated, they seem more like the Disney shorts for television. The style doesn't seem cinematically distinct, like the Golden or Dark Age of Disney. It's lovely to look at and masterfully done; the movements and comedic timing are sublime, and the backgrounds are gorgeous. It just seems a tad less special than Disney's other works.That is, until the last segment. Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it is called Aquarela do Brasil (Watercolour of Brasil). It's beautiful, artistic and inspired. The music is wonderful, and it showcases the animator's talent and imagination. It seems like the whole movie was interesting tidbits, leading up to a really cool piece of animation. The flamingos, waterfall and toucan-bananas were really cool! Not only that, but now I know where that green parrot originated from. José Carioca, needs to be brought back. He's suave, has a sexy accent, and smokes cigars. I demand more José! Also, seeing Donald getting drunk and nabbing some booty is rather hilarious.The segments include Donald and Goofy in all sorts of situations; Donald rides a grumpy llama at Lake Titicata, Goofy takes on the persona of an Argentinian gaucho. There's a sweet little short involving a plane named Pedro, who must deliver mail in Santiago. There is a few funny moments, such as when Donald and his llama get stuck on a bridge, or when he breaks the fourth wall in the fourth segment by using ink from José's outline to draw a silly stick figure. The educational aspects were pleasant, you can tell the animators had fun. It was neat to see Uncle Walt! Overall, "Saludos Amigos" is a passable little feature. It sports some decent and amazing animation, and introduces a cool character. It was genuinely interesting. I'm not sure if the information is outdated, but it show cultures of days gone by, and that is worth a lot. It's nothing amazing, but it's cute, you can see the effort put into it. It deserves to be checked out at least once.

This more than any other film shows the plight of the Disney studio in the years following "Snow White" and "Pinocchio".WWII had broken out, cutting off Disney's European market. In addition, striking cartoonists and their formation of a guild/union meant that the massive about of labor needed to create a "Snow White" or a "Pinocchio" now amounted to a substantially higher production cost then either of those two films (which had not been cheap to begin with).Thus, Disney was trying to explore new ways to both package his product for another market, as well as develop new product.They released this movie and capitalized on the then-popular South American craze. Now, however, it looks dated.You can still it watch it though and see the genesis for several of Disney's later films: "The Three Caballeros" and the whole "How-To" Goofy series are the most obvious.

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!!!

I vaguely remember this cartoon from my childhood. Personally, I don't even find it a particularly interesting piece of Disney fiction and magic. The movie is divided in four segments across the South America, I can only remember three of them though: one in Lake Titicaca where tourist Donald Duck fumbles with a stubborn llama; a rather dull segment about an airplane on a perilous journey across the Andes...This definitely is not the stuff Disney is famous for! However, the last segment, lovely titled 'Aquarelas do Brazil' makes the whole show worthwhile. It follows nothing less than the birth of the amazing José Carioca, a Brazilian parrot who'd go on to become one of the most famous Disney characters in South America! I fondly remember reading his adventures in comics as a child. The cartoon doesn't yet show Carioca with his characteristic traits, namely a mixture of tramp/conman figure who's always broke but always succeeds through luck and wit.In 'Saludos Amigos' he's still in his infancy although one already sees his love for fun and folly. Priceless is watching him teach Donald Duck how to do the Samba and both hitting all the nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro bringing to life the exuberant life of the '40's Brazil! Also beautiful is the song 'Aquarela do Brazil,' which Terry Gilliam would later use in his masterpiece, 'Brazil,' which I've recently seen and made me reminisce about this long-forgotten piece of my childhood.