Title: Saludos Amigos (Hello Friends)Release Date: August 24th, 1942
Voice Cast: Clarence Nash, Fred Shields, Pinto Colvig, Jose Oliveira
Plot: Four segments all centrally themed in the culture of South America.
Review: Saludos Amigos was the first of six "package" films released by Disney in the 1940s. It is, at least as I consider it, the first film in the Disney classics series not to have "classic" status today. It was also a cultural side effect of the Good Neighbor Policy, promoting better relations between the U.S. and Latin America. So naturally, the film feels forced, like Disney only made it just for propaganda reasons.
Even worse, Saludos Amigos doesn't follow previous Disney format. It's pretty much a dull, half-animated documentary on South American culture. And I hate to say it, but Disney should stay away from education. I felt like I should have been taking notes on the Spanish vocabulary listed off for me. It became one of those boring, cheesy movies you watch in history class when your teacher is too lazy to do their job.
The first segment is a shame to Donald Duck's debut in the animated classics series. There are no funny moments, and the narrator doesn't do Disney justice. He drones on and on; and unfortunately, he has the burden of entertainment. While the second segment sheds some elements of documentaries (it's a story of a tiny plane whose duty is to take mail from Chile to Argentina; also, there was some Goldilocks and the Three Bears in there...), it doesn't fill that void with amusement.
The third and fourth segment follow generally the same pattern, so it's a bit of a waste to really dive into them. The third is Goofy's Disney classic debut, and it isn't any better than his duck friend's. The fourth tries to rely on colors and music to captivate you, which is something that Disney can get away with a lot of the time-- but it falls flat here.
I can only say two things: 1) if you haven't seen this movie, don't bother; 2) thank God it was only 43 minutes.
Crocodile "Tick Tock"
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