Review of Saludos Amigos (1942) by Jonny P — 05 Apr 2012

One would expect that Disney could make any subject matter interesting, even geography! "Saludos Amigos" is evidence against this, creating a boring geography lesson that cannot even be saved by Goofy.

It has been forgotten (or ignored) by most Disney fans and marks a low point for Disney Animation Studios. I understand that much of Disney's animation staff was serving in World War II and the rest of the animators needed something to do, but they could've come up with something better than this.

The four animated segments are tied together through live-action footage of the countries, but the quality of each section is hit or miss. Of course the comedy of Donald and Goofy was entertaining but the plot still managed to be boring.

And Pedro the airplane? What was up with that? The watercolor animation and samba music of the Brasil finale is colorful, flashy, and exciting - why couldn't the entire film have been that way? This sequence is the film's only redeeming quality, saving it from the dreaded half-star.

The only other thing that I gained from this movie was getting to meet Jose Carico for the sequel "The Three Caballeros." It is tough to justify watching this film when there are 50 better Disney Animated Films out there - I would only recommend this to the most dedicated of Disney fans.