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It is clear that Disney’s Golden Age films were affected for many reasons by World War II, both financially and commercially. The Package films were no exception. Many of Disney’s production staff were drafted into the war, a bitter strike had occurred and the company’s resources massively decreased. Making high quality feature-length animated films was expensive and time-consuming. Like Dumbo, which temporarily protected Disney from potential financial ruin, the Package films would help to keep the company afloat during the 1940s, but inevitably at a creative price.

The infamous ‘Package Film’ era begins with Saludos Amigos, Disney’s sixth animated film in the canon. Saludos Amigos is more like a travelogue film that features cartoons than a full feature-length film. The film translates as ‘Hello Friends’, although reviewer Bosley Crowther translated the title into ‘Hiya Pals’, which instantly made us think of this:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Good Neighbour Policy was a foreign policy that was implemented to establish peace among Latin America and to improve relations between the USA and South America. Not only Disney, but Hollywood itself had lost much of their European market, therefore they turned to Latin America to make up for any financial and commercial loss. Several Latin American governments allegedly bore close ties with Nazi Germany, thus the United States government wished to counteract those ties. The United States Department of State commissioned Walt Disney to make a film that would satisfy the Good Neighbour Policy, in the form of a two-month tour of South America facilitated by Nelson Rockefeller (who had oil interests in parts of Latin America). That film would become Saludos Amigos, a travelogue / propaganda film / cluster of shorts thrown together, lasting only a minuscule 42 minutes, with the overly-friendly trying-so-hard-to-show-love-between-nations title of ‘Hello Friends’ (or ‘Hiya Pals’). Let’s begin!

And now … ORIGINAL TRAILER TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

–          Hilarious 1940s voiceover man … we’ve missed you!

–          And the over-eager Disney chorus … err we’ve missed you too (ish)

–          Extreme close-ups of people awkwardly enjoying ‘carnival in Rio’, especially those ‘carefree dancers’

–          A two second shot of Walt looking critical as he flips through an animator’s work clearly unfazed by the camera’s presence.

‘Good God Fantasia and Snow White seem like distant memories now …’

–          Typically, the trailer narration would gloss over plot details, but with Saludos Amigos, it pretty much delivers the entire plot (‘Pedro, the baby aeroplane who has to fly the mail all by himself because his papa has a cold’ – yes that really is all there is to it!)

–          Or maybe not – ‘Bringing you Goofy in a new setting’ … yes that’s all you’re getting! Fail.

–          Donald Duck, overtaken by the samba beat, starts to wiggle his bottom. Alas an uneventful trailer.

The film is divided into four shorts, so akin to Fantasia, we will review each section. But first of all, intro!

‘Saluuuuuuuudos Amiiiiiiiiiiiiiigos!’ The Disney chorus has never sounded as happy as this.

They had only decided after the tour that they wanted to use home-video footage to link the shorts together. However, by that point, they discovered that they had no filmed footage of the crew boarding the plane. Therefore it was staged and shot after the trip; the entire crew got dressed up in the same outfits and boarded the plane again.

  

Snazzy! P.S. Nice sunglasses 

Thank God that was the case because we see some animation of some wacky and REALLY SCARY flying.

It may not look scary here but check it out in motion! 

It is a commercial airplane literally bouncing up and down on the map and twirling, almost bashing into mountains, scaring the crap out of cows and somehow NOT destroying all the buildings in Cordoba. We don’t care if it’s animation. All we can think of are those poor grinning snazzy dressed animators. If the real flight had been like this, we don’t think they would have been grinning this much! Also one plane divides into two separate planes midflight!

Lake Titicaca

 

The first of the four sequences: Lake Titicaca is an animated short featuring Donald Duck as an over-eager (obnoxious) tourist, sampling the culture. The sequence plays out very much like a user’s guide to Lake Titicaca, so the matter-of-fact deadpan narration is juxtaposed very nicely with Donald’s erratic behaviour and increasing frustration.

(Special Note from David: Donald Duck shouting ‘shut up!’ to the narrator after being condescendingly told to ‘never lose one’s temper’ was my favourite bit of the sequence! I also enjoyed the line about how the basket boat can withstand anything except for the ‘inquisitive tourist’)

The live-action sections are a pleasant look into a time in history, underscored by guide-book style narration. Although the film attempts to be culturally sensitive, there is the odd awkward one-liner that emphasises the idea of ‘othering’, e.g. ‘Their music is strange and exotic’. Although it delightfully makes it up for it by pointing out the vulgarity of certain tourist types: ‘Note how the crude sign language of our tourist is quickly interpreted by this wide-awake youngster’. The sequence concludes with Donald swiftly exiting Lake Titicaca by water, stealing some local handicrafts along the way. What a cheapskate.

(Special Note from David: To be fair, it’s probably safer to swim away from Lake Titicaca than to get back onto that terrifying plane!)

This sequence definitely has a few laughs through slapstick humour (primarily between Donald Duck and the Llama over a suspension bridge) and its juxtaposition with a very tongue-in-cheek narrator, and of course some amusing shots of llamas (including a very tickling animator’s sketch of two llamas wearing eye-glasses and looking rather unimpressed …

‘A llama can make you feel awfully unimportant’ (a genuine quotation from the film)

… and what appeared to be walking haystacks.

(Special Note from Melissa: I did jump when I saw those hay stacks bobbling up and down in time to the music! I thought ‘How on earth are they moving???’ Then realised that donkeys, or to quote the narrator, ‘syncopated burros’, were responsible for the bobbling, and felt rather silly)

Pedro

The story of the intrepid and plucky little plane, Pedro is not a million miles away from a story like that of Dumbo. The storyline has an underdog protagonist; a quest for him to undertake; a villain; and a triumphant ending, which is impressive for such a short sequence. The upside to the sequence packing its story into such a short running time is the hilarious running commentary from the narrator.

  

The story introduces Papa Plane, a ‘big powerful male plane’ (who dourly belches smoke); Mama Plane who has no personality whatsoever (blinking dumbly as she is introduced) apart from being ‘middle-sized’ (though she is wearing a rather fetching bonnet); and finally Baby Plane, known as Pedro, who is sucking on a fuel tank.

Oh … I didn’t realise the cameras would be here today. Sorry!

The narrator informs us that someday he will grow into a big plane like his father.

(Special Note from David: Planes don’t work that way!)

(Special Note from Melissa: Unless Pedro is smashed to bits, dismantled and rebuilt I don’t think that is going to happen.)

(Special Note from David: Well if that is true, no wonder Papa Plane looks so moody!)

Conflict! Papa Plane has a cold! He cannot fly the mail! Of course Mama Plane cannot fly because she has ‘high oil pressure’, but we know that is not the real reason why (*raise eyebrows*).

And we have our set-up!

Before Pedro sets off, he is offered parental advice, told not to go near the mountain or lose his muffler, but he immediately ignores it, losing his muffler in a down draft and flying right next to the creepy face mountain.

A surprising omission from Disney villain lists

However that moment of tension is fleeting – ‘Well the worst is over!’ Yes, until he turns back with the mail and Pedro enters hell. It is a rather tense sequence as Pedro gets caught in a massive storm and the narrator leaves you thinking he may have died from running out of gas and falling from a ridiculous height as he tried to save the mail (despite many protestations from the narrator to just leave it behind). We even see Mama and Papa Plane grieving! Crying planes! Praise Disney for its fake-outs as Pedro shuffles in just in time with the MAIL. ‘The mail! That all important cargo’ (that I told him to leave behind). Turns out to be just a rubbish postcard. Ouch!

(Special Note from David: Pedro was particularly annoyed when he finally returned home to find a young blonde-haired girl had eaten his porridge and stolen his bed)

(Special Note from Melissa: Or perhaps in this case, eaten his fuel and stolen his shed)

For us, the narrator is most certainly the star of Pedro’s story, with his absolute investment in the little plane’s plight, providing moments of (supposedly) unintentional humour, including lines that have entered our everyday vernacular:

‘FORGET THE MAIL! CLIMB PEDRO CLIMB! … I KNOW YOU CAN MAKE IT! … NEVER MIND THE MAIL! LET IT GO LET IT GO! … DROP THE MAIL! YOU’VE GOT TO SAVE YOURSELF! … [Gasps] He’s out of gas! … Pedro?! PEEEEEEEEEEEDROOOOOOOOOOOOO! [Whispers] He’s gone …’

Fred Shields certainly was robbed of acting nominations for his ‘moving’ performance. Although a touch heartless as he declares ‘He’s gone’ before he has even disappeared from frame. No faith at all – ‘Poor little fella’.

As a short, Pedro features a range of instantaneous mood changes with heightened investment in the story. Pedro works well as a short animated sequence but it would be foolish to make a full-length feature film out of this concept –

Ah … 

(Disclaimer: Neither of us have actually seen that film, due to the fact that we have no interest in doing so! We would take wide-eyed Pedro any day over that smug smarmy face in the poster)

El Gaucho Goofy

The third sequence, El Gaucho Goofy follows a very similar format to Lake Titicaca; basically a ‘users guide’ structure, juxtaposed by cartoony antics (this time provided by Goofy).

The hapless protagonist struggles to adopt the mannerisms of the Gaucho with comical results.

 

(Special Note from David: My favourite bit was when the horse kisses Goofy before kicking him in the face, before trotting away with glee!)

The inclusion of a slow-motion section almost feels audacious considering the already short-length of the sequence, but it is actually of the funniest moments in the film overall. Furthermore, it is a creative decision to have the narrator also go into slow motion and fast motion as well. Very tongue-in-cheek!

 

The live-action sequence before Goofy enters the scene is yet again another pleasant insight into a moment in history, as we see some home video footage of the animators, panoramic shots of Buenos Aires and cultural activities, such as gauchos on their horses, country dances and traditional music.

Aquarela do Brazil

Before the sequence itself begins, there is some lovely archive footage of carnival time in Rio, featuring bright lights, outlandish costumes and dancing.

Probably the best moment out of all four sequences in terms of animation style happens during Aquarela do Brazil (translated as Watercolour of Brazil) as the artist’s paintbrush creates a living visual of Brazil which subsequently comes to life. There are some moments of wonderful artistic creativity, which unfold in front of the audience’s eyes; such as the tree becoming a bird, and the bunch of bananas becoming a flock of toucans, with the ease of the paintbrush adding a splash of paint. Plus the song, ‘Brazil’ is very catchy and memorable! Unfortunately this does not last very long, and the sequence transitions into a rather formulaic cartoon involving Donald Duck and a new character: José Carioca, a Brazilian Green Parrot, who introduces Donald (and the audience) to the Samba.  José (or ‘Joe’ as the narrator insists on calling him) …

(Special Note from David: Come on guys! Seriously, let’s have a bit of consistency!)

… is snazzily dressed, zesty and cheerful – a contrast to the easily frustrated Donald.

 

But Donald soon ‘loosens up’ with Samba dancing and some dubious alcoholic beverage …

 

Reacting the only way a cartoon character can to booze 

… followed by a silhouetted dance between him and a curvaceous lady at a nightclub, as he exclaims ‘Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! SAMBA!’ Then the film conveniently ends …

 

Draw your own conclusions …

The narrator also conveniently disappears for this entire sequence. Seems odd considering how massive a presence he was in the rest of the movie. It’s almost like this was not originally meant to be a film (*wink*).

Ah well, at least it ends with a pretty image!

 

Pretty!

David’s Verdict:

My main issue with this film is that it really isn’t a film at all! It feels like a behind-the-scenes documentary – or featurette – interspersed with animated shorts. While it is interesting to see more of the artistic process; such as seeing the real-life people and locations, and then cutting to the artist’s drawing pad and seeing how they’ve interpreted them, it never really feels special. The quality of the artwork is much more akin to Dumbo than Fantasia (which was the last film to be made up of shorts), and the overall feature could have been realised much more creatively. The transitions between the animated sections, and the documented footage potentially could have been more inventive, providing a chance for the artists at Disney to really show off. For example, the section in Aquarela do Brazil in which the paintbrush creates the scene as it unfolds is perhaps the best part of the film, and it would have been great had it been used more.

Overall Saludos Amigos feels like a museum piece, archiving a small part of the studios’ history, and documenting a little piece of traditional Latin American culture. There are a fair few laughs to be found in the animated scenes – mainly courtesy of the narrator during Pedro – and the soundtrack is enjoyably catchy and upbeat. The film is unspectacular, but it is enjoyable, and at just 42 minutes it is well-paced and never out-stays its welcome.

Melissa’s Verdict:

Yes I agree with David that Saludos Amigos seems more like a documentary than Disney’s usual style of feature length narrative film. The issue is that it is a cross between animated shorts and documentary footage, meaning it is a little muddled a times. For example, I would have loved to have seen it as a documentary in the form that we are accustomed to today, e.g. wouldn’t it have been lovely to have seen interviews with the animators and Walt Disney? However, for what it is, it is a film that has clearly been made with enthusiasm, demonstrating that the animators seemed to enjoy their tour of Latin America. The animation obviously is not up to par with the Golden Age films (we wish the paintbrush sequence had been longer – very creative!), but the soundtrack is fun with some lovely melodies and the narrator, of course, is unintentionally hilarious, especially during the Pedro sequence. We still crack up laughing thinking about it! There are some fun moments of cartoon slapstick from Donald Duck and Goofy, the home-video footage is a pleasant insight into the 1940s and seeing the animators working on sketches is a nice touch. I likewise agree that the film is unspectacular, but for what it is, it kept me interested for its running length and is really not a bad start for the package film era. It makes us feel more hopeful for what is to come. Fingers crossed!

Legacy:

Saludos Amigos was the first Disney animated feature to be released in South America before it was screened in the United States. The premiere was in Rio de Janeiro in 1942, but was later released in the UK and USA in 1943. To date, it is the shortest feature in the Disney animated feature-length film canon. The film received mixed critical reviews, but it was nominated for three Academy Awards, for Best Musical Score, Best Original Song (for ‘Saludos Amigos’) and Best Sound Recording. It also won Best Documentary at the National Board of Review Awards. Impressive for Disney’s shortest film!

The film allegedly contributed to a changed impression of Latin America, as many US viewers of the time were genuinely surprised by the modernity of the cities, from the skyscrapers to the fashionably dressed locals.

Saludos Amigos inspired Chilean cartoonist René Rios Boettiger to create famed Latin American character, Condorito, created because he considered the character, Pedro as a slight to Chileans. However on a positive note, it seems as if the haughty llama in Saludos Amigos may have inspired The Emperor’s New Groove, released almost sixty years later.

 

Lastly, Saludos Amigos is the first Disney feature film in which a performer is acknowledged in the credits! The narrator is voiced by Fred Shields (the voice of Bambi’s father – such a contrast to the stern Great Prince of the Forest) and singer José Oliveira is credited for voicing the parrot, José Carioca. Even though actors such as Sterling Holloway, Cliff Edwards, Verna Felton and many stars of Vaudeville and Broadway had featured in previous Disney films, it is only by Saludos Amigos that actors begin to be credited. Milestone! Especially considering how voice casts will one day become a huge marketing manoeuvre.