The Disney movie "Saludos Amigos", which runs for little under 45 minutes, came out in 1942 when World War II was in full force and a certain movie called Casablanca hit theaters as well. Basically, this Disney work is a collection of four cartoons, each under 10 minutes. Between these cartoons, we find out some information about life in South America at that point. I did not like the introduction about cartoonists traveling down south, but the other sequences between the cartoons very informative and certainly worth a watch already for the contemporary historical documents they are.
The four cartoons were all created by different directors and also work as stand-alone films. The first is about Donald experiencing South American in his usual slapstick fashion. We see his struggles with a llama and with dizzy heights. The second is about little mail plane who suddenly gets called to action after his parents suffer from high oil pressure. I found the ending a bit too melodramatic, but everything else about this short film is very good, possibly my favorite from the quartet. The third is another how-to short film featuring Goofy about how Argentinians/Gauchos live. I like especially the sports-related Goofy shorts, but this one did not do too much for me. Finally, Donald is back and meets a Brazilian bird. A fruitful collaboration as these two caballeros join two years later for "The Three Caballeros" with another bird not seen yet in this short film. Also, I would like to emphasize one scene, where a bee gets swallowed by a carnivorous plant, then transforms into Donald and spits out the bee again. This example that the bee is not just gone shows how family-friendly these cartoons were and really neglected the presence of death completely unlike animated films these days.
"Saludos Amigos" scored three Oscar-nominations in the music/sound categories, which is fairly uncommon for a short film looking at today's standards. It did not win an Oscar, but its success was probably one of the main reasons for the sequel. Worth a watch for cartoon enthusiasts or people interested in the history of South America. Lots of Latin music included here as well.
The four cartoons were all created by different directors and also work as stand-alone films. The first is about Donald experiencing South American in his usual slapstick fashion. We see his struggles with a llama and with dizzy heights. The second is about little mail plane who suddenly gets called to action after his parents suffer from high oil pressure. I found the ending a bit too melodramatic, but everything else about this short film is very good, possibly my favorite from the quartet. The third is another how-to short film featuring Goofy about how Argentinians/Gauchos live. I like especially the sports-related Goofy shorts, but this one did not do too much for me. Finally, Donald is back and meets a Brazilian bird. A fruitful collaboration as these two caballeros join two years later for "The Three Caballeros" with another bird not seen yet in this short film. Also, I would like to emphasize one scene, where a bee gets swallowed by a carnivorous plant, then transforms into Donald and spits out the bee again. This example that the bee is not just gone shows how family-friendly these cartoons were and really neglected the presence of death completely unlike animated films these days.
"Saludos Amigos" scored three Oscar-nominations in the music/sound categories, which is fairly uncommon for a short film looking at today's standards. It did not win an Oscar, but its success was probably one of the main reasons for the sequel. Worth a watch for cartoon enthusiasts or people interested in the history of South America. Lots of Latin music included here as well.