Saludos Amigos Movie Review (1943)

It may be spring but with snow outside, I decided to head far down south for this next picture. Saludos Amigos is the first of six ‘Package’ films that were made during the 1940s and also the first of two films that were created from the Goodwill tour taken by Walt and El Grupo. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc. Updated: February 14, 2021

Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.

A Brief Summary 

In the early 1940s, Walt Disney and a select group of artists, writers and more went to South America on a Goodwill Tour. While there, a collection of shorts were created that resulted in this film and in the later picture, The Three Caballeros. In Saludos Amigos, Donald Duck is a tourist in the high mountains surrounding Lake Titicaca, a young airplane named Pedro crosses the Andes in pursuit of the mail and Goofy learns all about being a Gaucho in the Pampas. Finally, Donald makes one more appearance with a charming new friend in beautiful Brazil. Includes Walt Disney, lots of pottery and

What works

• Similar in style to The Reluctant Dragon, with live-action bits mixed with some cartoon shorts. However, this film has more of a travel show feel to it, with more of an educational feel than the Reluctant Dragon but still fun for the audience.
• The live-action narrator has a pleasant sounding voice, with dialogue that doesn’t feel too out of reach for the audience (myself). Instead, it’s easy to understand and I find myself actually learning more about the South American cultures.
• As I mentioned in ‘The Reluctant Dragon’, Donald is a great one for explaining things. Of course, in this film, while he is the primary focus of the first short, he isn’t explaining what’s going, but rather that narrator narrates and Donald…experiences it.
• Lake Titicaca
  • Unlike two of the other shorts, this particular short is similar to a travel vlog, a tale of a tourist (Donald Duck) experiencing the people, animals, and culture of Lake Titicaca.
• Pedro
  • Similar to a traditional fairy-tale, with Three Little Bears coming to mind (with a large angry Mountain in the place of Goldilocks, jk but not jk).
  • It is a simple story that focuses on the mail planes that went from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina, and back. With Pedro as the adorable hero, it feels much like a bedtime story, something light, easy to follow yet with plenty of action to keep me on the edge of my seat.
• El Gaucho Goofy
  • Very similar in style and story to ‘How to Ride a Horse’ from The Reluctant Dragon, with the difference being that it focuses on a different culture and occupation, versus just riding a horse.
  • On its own, it is a complete storyline. It has an intro and an ending both in Texas, and plenty of middle conflicts and info that keep the story moving.
• Aquarela Do Brasil (Watercolor of Brazil)
  • The most unique of the four sketches, with no set storyline, yet with a story present (I believe that was the 2nd type of segment discussed in Fantasia). It actually works really well as the final segment of the film, with a focus more on music and an easy learning curve, rather than something complex.

What may or may not Work

• Despite being only 42 minutes long (holding the record for the shortest Disney feature-length film*), it feels longer than it is. Which is good in some ways, but in the case of El Gaucho Goofy, something just doesn’t seem to click. It’s a fun short, with the playful idea of a Texan cowboy getting to experience what the life of a Gaucho is like. However because it does take its time, when set within a short film, it exaggerates the length of the story. Lengthwise, it kind of reminds me of the Greek mythology segment from Fantasia. However, as Fantasia was about 2 hours in length, whereas this is less than an hour, it changes the speed and feel of the story segment to something that feels overdrawn.

Honorable Mentions

• All of the live-action bits. It was fun getting to see what things really looked like and to see some of the talented artists who captured the images. I’ve mentioned before that I’m a sucker for Disney history and ‘El Grupo’ (as this team was called) is one of my favorite parts of the Disney story. There’s actually a documentary that was made just a few years ago called Walt and El Grupo, which I look forward to watching.
• the instrumental for ‘the stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas’ that played during El Gaucho Goofy.

Side Questions

• Does Donald get to keep the pottery since he technically rolled/bounced away with it, rather than pay for it?
• What really did happen to Pedro after he fell back into the mist?

What I learned from watching this film

• I love to travel and the style and design of this film is a great idea for future trips. It could include historical bits and pieces of wherever I am, and then short little stories inspired by something on the said trip. I have a few potential trips coming up this year so that could be fun to play around with.

*actually at 42 minutes, this movie is too short to be considered a feature-length film. As far as Disney movies go, Dumbo holds the record for the shortest feature-length film. Saludos Amigos, instead, would be categorized as a live-action animated featurette (as it is too short for a feature-length film but too long for a short film).

@jocelynnielson

DFP Review No.7: Saludos Amigos! Hop a flight and take a tour through Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil with Walt Disney, Donald Duck and Goofy. #mondaymoviereviews #moviereview #disneymovies #disneyfilmproject #disneysaludosamigos #saludosamigos #filmreview #disneyfilms #disney

♬ original sound – Jocelyn Nielson

If you’ve seen Saludos Amigos, what were your thoughts? Share in the comments below!

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