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Less a movie than a series of cutesy vignettes, these add up to something close to a travelogue, but not a very good one. Granted, with the power and artistry of the Disney animation branch behind it even the lesser moments are extremely well done. The intention of the film was to bolster friendly relations between the Allies and Latin American, but Saludos Amigos (Hello Friends, in English) is actually more interesting for revealing the artistic process involved in making a Disney feature or short.
The live-action footage of the creative minds of Disney traveling across Latin America, producing preliminary ideas and production designs, even seeing the evolution of certain characters from rough sketches to fleshed out creations is engaging and interesting. There’s a solid documentary short to be made from these materials. But the film keeps going, introducing various locales with documentary footage, narration, and then an animated sequence based on what they witnessed. While this isn’t bad in theory, in practice it comes across as muddled and confusing.
The vastness of Latin American, namely Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, is condensed into a 42 minute feature. One of which actually engages with the mythology, colors, and flavor of the locale in any meaningful way. The prior two segments are too cutesy, bordering on condescension. Donald Duck traveling through Lake Titicaca is a fine enough premise, but instead of actively involving him in learning about the culture, the creators preferred to have him fight it out with a stubborn llama. It feels like a wasted opportunity. Same goes for an extended segment that has Goofy as a transplanted Texas cowboy learning to be a gaucho in Argentina, which feels like it’s taking the piss out of the customs and dances of the culture instead of embracing or celebrating them.
Odder still is the choice to represent Chile in the form of a mail-carrying airplane. The most interesting moments are when we’re introduced to figures from Chilean mythology, but they’re too quickly glossed over or insufficiently engaged with. A better short would have seen the Disney animators taking the time and care they’ve given to numerous European tales and creating a memorable spin on an Chilean one.
Saludos Amigos perks up greatly once we land in Brazil. Finally, the creators have done what I believe was the goal the entire time, merged the Disney brand with the flavors of the country they’re engaging with into something special. We return to Donald Duck, but this time he meets a Brazilian parrot named José Carioca. This short is the most experimental and vivid. Saludos Amigos had threatened to become sleepy and too formulaic before this climax. This segment, called “Aquarela do Brasil” (“Watercolor of Brazil” in English), is one of the great underrated and undervalued masterpieces of the Disney animation catalog.
Like many short film collections, Saludos Amigos is hit-and-miss. There’s nothing truly terrible here, but a lot of it is underwhelming. It’s only when they let loose with the crazy, surrealistic images and break free from a concentrated narrative structure that the film really begins to breathe. We could have used more segments like the Brazilian climax or the behind-the-scenes footage, and less of the well-known Disney characters wrecking havoc in South America.
