Saludos Amigos (1942)

Writers:

Homer Brightman (story) &
Ralph Wright (story) ...

Release Date:

6 February 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Family | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

Walt Disney goes South American in his gayest musical Technicolor feature

Plot:

Disney animators tour South America and present four animated shorts inspired by their trip.

Plot Keywords:

South America | Gaucho | Lake Titicaca | Tourist | Cowboy

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Fred Shields	...	Narrator
José Oliveira	...	Joe Carioca (voice)

Also Known As:

Hello Friends (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

40 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #8092) | USA:Not Rated (video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The shorts that form this movie were originally intended to be released separately, but were combined to form this movie because it had been decided that each short would only be of interest to the people whose country it depicted. Therefore, footage of the Disney team on location in South America was used to make the framing sequence around the original shorts.

Quotes:

[Pedro has just picked up the mail and is returning home]
Narrator: I'll bet his mother and dad will be proud of him. Just a natural born flier.
[Pedro then starts showing off, including flying upside-down, all while holding onto the mail]
Narrator: Hmm... Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mousie Come Home (1946)

Soundtrack:

Saludos Amigos

Buy it if you're a Disney collector. Other than that...

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.