History and Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland
Year Released: 1942
Michael's Movie Grade: C+
History
In 1941 the U.S. Government hired Walt Disney, and his studio to create films about Latin America to help with the U.S.A.'s current Good Neighbor Policy. The Good Neighbor Policy was founded by the Roosevelt Administration to improve relationships between the U.S. and Latin America. For this assignment the Disney staff was offered a tour of Latin America. Because of this some of the film was a live action travelogue, this was footage the Disney staff took themselves during their tour.
However most of the film was taken up by 4 cartoon shorts, these shorts were originally meant to be released by themselves, but because of fear about each one only appealing to a small portion of Latin America, the were all released together with the live action travelogue used as a wrap around. As such these cartoons are much less extravagant than the average Disney feature, and they look much more like Disney's short subjects. Also because of this each short had a different director. The 4 directors were Jack Kinney (El Gaucho Goofy), Wilfred Jackson (Aquarela do Brasil), Bill Roberts (Lake Titicaca), Hamilton Luske (Pedro).
An important change to Disney Animation occurred during this trip. Mary Blair sister in-law of animator Preston Blair, went along for the trip. Inspired by Latin America she made many water colors paintings of the landscape. Walt loved these paintings and for this film made her an art director for this film. Often times she would provide concept art for these films, that the other artists would use as references. Although she worked on repetitively few films, and her art rarely appeared directly on screen, if you know her art, her influence is unmistakably. Other than work on films, Mary Blair also helped make the designs for the It's A Small World ride. Rather than me try to explain visual art with words, watch the video below.
Saludos Amigos became the first Disney film to be released in South America, before in the U.S.A..
The film was a box office success in both places though. Because of this Walt decided that his studio should be making more features like this one, at least for the time being. These became known as Disney's package features.
Review
Since this film is multiple segments put together, in this section I will review each segment and give them each their own grade, along with the movie's grade as a whole, which you can see near the top of this post.
Live Action Wraparounds: These wraparounds are quite educational, and provide an interesting background to the cartoons. However on their own they are not very entertaining, but they serve their purpose fairly well. Grade: C
Donald Duck Visits Lake Titicaca: Donald Duck cartoon features some really good jokes, and some great cartoony animation, but is uneven. A few educational moments are featured however they don't fit in well with the slapstick humor, and really slow the cartoon down. Grade: C
Pedro: Definitely the low point of the film, This cartoon is just plain boring. The characters do not give any feeling of sympathy, and the story contains no suspense. One really good joke about Pedro learning anatomy, but other than that if you skip this segment when watching the movie, I would fully understand. Grade: D
El Gaucho Goofy: The highlight of the film. Every Jack Kinney directed Goofy cartoon is well worth watching, and this is no exception. While maybe not his best Goofy cartoon (and that says how good his others are) this is a very fast and funny cartoon. Nearly all the jokes work here, and are pulled off with amazing execution. Full of great slapstick this cartoon will definitely put a smile on your face. Grade: A
Aquarela do Brasil: Probably the most inventive segment of the film. The opening of this cartoon is highly beautiful and imaginative, and Disney at it's best. While the rest of this cartoon may not be as great as the opening, it is still highly entertaining, and introduces a fun character by the name of José Carioca (Who would play a bigger part in The Three Caballeros). Well worth your time. Grade: B+
Film Credits
Directors: Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts
Writers: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer, Ted Sears, William Cottrell, Webb Smith, Homer Brightman, Ralph Wright, Roy Williams, Harry Reeves
Voices: Fred Shields (Narrator), Clarence Nash (Donald Duck), Pinto Colvig (Goofy), José Oliveira (José Carioca)
Producer: Walt Disney
Songwriters: Saludos Amigos: Ned Washington (Lyrics), Charles Wolcott (Music). Aquarela do Brasil: Ary Barroso (Music and Lyrics). Tico Tico No Fubá: Zequinha De Abreu (Music and Lyrics)
Music: Edward H. Plumb, Paul J. Smith, Charles Wolcott
Production Supervisor: Norm Ferguson
Art Supervisors: Lee Blair, Mary Blair, James Bodrero, John P. Miller, Herbert Ryman
Live Action Cameramen: Lee Blair, Walt Disney, Larry Lansburgh
Background Artists: Ken Anderson, Dick Anthony, Claude Coats, Al Dempster, Merle Cox, Yale Gracey, Hugh Hennesy, Art Riley, McLaren Stewart, Al Zinnen
Backgrounds inspired by F. Molina Campos
Layout Artist: Ken Anderson
Ink and Paint: Jeanne Lee Keil
Animators: Paul Allen, Les Clark, Andy Engman, Hugh Fraser, Bill Justice, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Dan MacManus, John McManus, Joshua Meador, Fred Moore, Milt Neil, Wolfgang Reitherman, John Sibley, Bill Tytla, Hamilton Luske, Paul Murry, Art Palmer, Harvey Toombs
Resourses Used
The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036326/?ref_=ttsnd_snd_tt
-Michael J. Ruhland
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