Movie #6 of The Disney Discussion
Saludos Amigos (1943)
Featuring the voice talents of Clarence Nash, Pinto Colvig, José Oliveira, and Fred Shields as the narrator
Directed by Norman Ferguson (production supervisor)
A poster from long ago when the tagline "His gayest musical feature" could be produced and not be a laughing stock. Oh, how the times have changed.
Summary (in 150 words or less):
Saludos Amigos is essentially a “mini-travelogue” of South America. It does this through a series of cartoon shorts strewn together with the help of a narrator where the only tenuous connection is "South America."
Let the Discussion Begin...
Saludos Amigos is the Walt Disney Company's sixth full length animated feature film and it was released in the United States on February 6, 1943, to a moderately successful profit. The film led to a sequel of sorts in The Three Caballeros (which we'll be discussing next week).
Saludos Amigos was nominated for three Oscars(!!!) -- Best Musical Score, Best Sound Recording, and Best Original Song for "Saludos Amigos" -- but it did not walk away with a win.
The film itself came about in a unique way. Walt and his animators were hired by the US State Department to travel to South America and create a film to showcase the Good Neighbor Policy that was in effect between North and South America in the early 1940s. The US government was trying to sway South American countries to sever ties with Nazi Germany with films like this that showcased America's appreciation for its southern neighbors.
The film itself came about in a unique way. Walt and his animators were hired by the US State Department to travel to South America and create a film to showcase the Good Neighbor Policy that was in effect between North and South America in the early 1940s. The US government was trying to sway South American countries to sever ties with Nazi Germany with films like this that showcased America's appreciation for its southern neighbors.
This is of course when I'd typically break into a character study, but like Fantasia, Saludos Amigos (and the next several Disney feature films) don't follow a narrative structure like "regular" movies. Because of this, we have to do things a bit differently. Let's take a look at each short with my brief thoughts.
A) Lake Titicaca is the first short of Saludos Amigos and it features Donald Duck as he visits the title lake that borders Peru and Bolivia. This is a typical Donald short, although he doesn't get quite as agitated as usual. Lake Titicaca is certainly pleasant, but I'm not sure it's worthy of being in a feature film.
B) We then travel to Chile and view Pedro, a short where our title character is a small mail airplane who takes his first flight over the country's treacherous mountains. Featuring a main character created particularly for this film, the short is perfectly pleasant.
C) El Gaucho Goofy – In this third shot, Goofy learns the ways of the Argentine gauchos in comedic fashion. This is very similar to many of the other Goofy shorts that came later (known has the "How To..." series) in which Goofy learned specifics about particular cultures or tasks. Admittedly, these later cartoons are better than this one.
D) Aquarela do Brasil (Watercolor of Brazil) takes us off to Brazil as parrot Jose Carioca is introduced and he along with his fellow avian buddy Donald Duck samba their way across the country. This is rather uniquely animated and at least a bit different from the typical (though not bad) shorts that precede it.
So, while I really didn't lambast any of the four shorts, Saludos Amigos is just a huge disappointment. As mentioned above, the Disney company was essentially hired to create this film and the travelogue aspects that begin the film and then are interspersed throughout heavily date everything. Seeing Walt Disney and his animators open their eyes wide at South American culture simply isn't exciting.
The Music
With the exception of the title song, there isn't a whole lot Saludos Amigos brings to the table in terms of music. The final short has a nice song "Brazil," but it's fairly short and melds into the repetitive and somewhat obnoxious "Tico Tico." Needless to say, you don't come away from this one with much admiration for its music.
My Favorite Scene
Out of the four shorts, Pedro is the only one that tells a story and it does so succinctly to nice effect. I did enjoy the first half of the Aquarela do Brazil scene, but as I mentioned above, it devolves into an annoying song that had me longing for the already short film to end. However, animation-wise, at least the Aquarela scene provides a kick that this film sorely needs.
Random Thoughts
- I'm just shocked at how little there is here. This film is 41 minutes long…that’s it. About 30 minutes of cartoons and 11 minutes of live action interstitials. Not much to go on here. I can't comprehend how this is considered a "feature length" film.
- Animated characters getting drunk always just seems kind of wrong...but funny at the same time.
Final Analysis
(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)
Yes, Walt Disney's animation department found itself in trouble as WWII infringed upon their market in Europe and they needed to explore cheaper options. In the grand scheme of things, I'm certainly happy they decided to go this route so they could continue on as a company, but it's obvious that this travelogue is propaganda.
However, by no means does Saludos Amigos belong in the revered Disney Pantheon. The shorts themselves are fine, but they're not exemplary in any way. While I certainly didn't want the film to go on any longer, I'm also flabbergasted that this is even considered one of Disney's feature length animated films. How is that possible? And how in the heck did the public eat this up enough to want a sequel?
The RyMickey Rating: D
Join us next Wednesday for The Three Caballeros, the seventh film in The Disney Discussion.
No comments:
Post a Comment