Week 6: Saludos Amigos (1942)

Now that I have finally seen this movie I can understand why I have never seen it before. Saludos Amigos is not a traditional Disney animated film.

What Saludos Amigos essentially amounts to is a quick documentary about the Disney animators traveling to South America to capture the essence of life in another part of the world. Drawing on this venture (surprise pun), they create four short stories that aim to capture the essence of four South American regions: Lake Titicaca, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The runtime of each segment lasts no more than about ten minutes, with two to three minutes spent chronicling what unique qualities the animators found in each area. In all, Saludos Amigos runs 42 minutes and it's not really enough time to dig deep or to grow very attached to any of the ideas. It's purely surface level.

I remember discussing this film with my friend, who just so happens to come from Brazil, a couple of years ago. She spoke fondly of the film, having appreciated its commitment to her country, her continent, and its culture. By the way, in the film Brazil is represented with its own character, Jose Carioca, who I believe is based on a character from Brazilian folklore.

For me, the film wasn't nearly as appealing. I have always considered myself to be a story-first type of person. I like a narrative or character that I can get behind. Sometimes a familiar setting will draw me in, but that can only get me so far.

I wouldn't necessarily say that the film has a narrow appeal, but as one of few Disney films to be made more or less specifically about the culture of a few regions and not a long one at that, it hasn't maintained the popularity or name recognition of many of Disney's early works. Obviously, many Disney movies have found a way to introduce their audiences to different cultures and environments, but most do so in a secondary manner, with story serving as the conduit through which the audience is educated. Maybe someday soon we will have a new Disney animated film that has a South American backdrop, because it has certainly been a while.

In a way this movie serves as a reminder (much in the way that Fantasia did) that when Disney animation started out, it wasn't nearly as clear-cut or decisive as it is today. It makes sense, though, because when it began, there wasn't really a market for animated films. Everything they were doing was ground-breaking and new. Maybe if films of this nature had caught on, Disney would still be profiling various countries in a similar manner, but they didn't find quite as much success and over time they more or less ceased to exist. Today, new takes on classic fairy tales or other such stories seem to be the bread and butter of Disney.

But before I get back into that style of Disney film, I move onto The Three Caballeros, which this film set the stage for by introducing Jose Carioca to Donald Duck.