Saludos Amigos

1942  NR  ANIMATED  42min

CAST— Lee Blair, Mary Blair, Pinto Colvig, Walt Disney, Norman Ferguson, Frank Graham, Clarence Nash, José Oliveira, Frank Thomas

MUSIC— Paul Smith, Edward H. Plumb  DIRECTORS— Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts

     Prepare for some flavor and flair in Walt Disney's first anthology film. The narrator explains that this will be a tribute to various regions and countries of South America, a travelogue of sorts, which several animators and musicians documented while touring the region. Along with live action footage of traditional dances and local peoples of the area, the film consists of a few animated segments showcasing Latin American culture. In Lake Titicaca, Donald Duck tours the lake and the surrounding Andes Mountains by way of reed boat and long-suffering llama. Pedro tells the tale of a young airplane in Chile who is finally given the assignment to deliver the mail, come heck or high water. Next, El Gaucho Goofy transplants Texas cowboy Goofy to Argentina, where he learns about the similarities and the differences of the Argentinean cowboy, the gaucho. Finally, Donald Duck is back, now making acquaintance with a Brazilian parrot named José Carioca, who shows Donald how to samba in Aquarela do Brasil. Though no doubt intended to be entertaining yet informative, honestly the film barely registers on the radar. Whether that's because of its super short running time or just because of rather bland animated sequences should be left to the viewer to decide. Adios.

OUR RATING— **

FOLLOWED BY— The Three Caballeros (1944)