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Rating:  - "Dad. What is this stuff?" ONLY FOR HARDCORES!!
This was my first review at amazon.com back in 2003. It was a pretty bad, although accurate, conveyance of my feelings for this film. But I really didn't capture the essence of what this film meant to me. So now I am doing a total re-write. No, I did not delete it and write a new review. I earned a lot of negative votes and I intend to keep them. However, my mind has not changed. This is not a film you will enjoy with the kids, at least not all of it. I tend to write in bullet statements (because it's easier/faster than being a good writer), so here in bullet form is my new and improved review of "Saludos Amigos".
-You've probably read about how this really should not qualify as a "feature" film because it's so short. THANK GOD!!! Some of this is so bad and SOOOO BORING that the short length is merciful.
-There are 4 cartoons loosely enveloped in Walt's home movies of him and his crew "researching" south of the border. I said home movies because this footage is SO BORING! You really must be a Disney geek to enjoy this stuff. OH LOOK! IT'S OLLIE JOHNSTON RIDING A HORSE!!! Did I say "BORING"?
-The 4 cartoons are actually pretty good, but you have to work around those BORING home movies to view them. I son't want to spend time telling you what they are (That's been done) so read the amazon synopsis. However, these "toons" do not justify owning this DVD. The rest of the movie is SO BORING that this really should only cost Ten Bucks, at most, unless, of course, you are a huge Disney nut in which case you should buy everything he's done including "Song of the South" which I think you can get on bootleg in China.
-If you don't believe me then just ask my family. That title above is an actual quote from my daughter when she was 5 years old. She was BORED OUT OF HER MIND! My wife said "Can we skip this BORING stuff?" Now mind you, she was speaking of the "educational" stuff (home movies) about the Southern Hemisphere. SHE'S A FREAKING TEACHER!!!
-Did I mention that most of this is really BORING? Just checking.
Well, that was easier than I thought. Obviously I found everything that was not a cartoon in this boring. It's a shame really. The Southern Hemisphere really got gypped due to poor production values and boring choice of subject matter. A far more entertaining jaunt South of the Border would appear in "The Three Caballeros" a little later on (Great music in that one).
Amazingly, I do love Disney movies (most of them). I actually know who Ollie Johnston is and have an old friend who was an animator for Disney a while back. I just don't think this one is good value/entertainment. For you Disney nuts; knock yourselves out!!
Dec 7, 2007
Rating:  - Anouther censored piece of art.
Disney felt they had to censor Goofy's smoking. Like some idiot is really going to start smoking because of a cartoon. The reason I like old films is because they are from a time when the world wasn't PC. I hope someday in the future Disney releases an uncut version. The same way the release Dragonball. Edited version & uncut version
Rating:  - A Very Charming Little Picture...Not Dull and Boring
While most of the reviews have been critical of this 1943 "package feature", it is really cute and informational. It is a Disney classic, featuring the animation of many classic artists and animators, such as Mary Blair, Fred Moore, Norm Ferguson, Les Clark, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball and others. It is the first feature which combines live action with animation, and would pave the way for other features to come, such as "Mary Poppins", "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", and many others.
"Saludos Amigos" is comprised of 4 shorts, "Lake Titicaca", "Pedro", "El Gaucho Goofy", and "Aquarela De Brasil". Many classic Disney characters are included, including the slapstick Goofy and Donald Duck. New characters are introduced, which include Jose Carioca, the samba dancing friend of Donald.
There is also an array of bonus features, including an original theatrical trailer from 1943, and a documentary on the making of the film, which displays many of the films' crew members at work.
Overall, I think this is a very charming feature film.
Rating: - Disappointing, short, and dull...
This is bottom of the barrel Disney. A 42-minute puff piece for Latin America, it contains only four animated sequences, only two of which ("Lake Titicaca" & "El Gaucho Goofy") are moderately entertaining. The rest is dreadful, live-action travelogue fodder, the kind of thing you sat through in elementary school assemblies back in the 1950s. There's another endless live-action short about Disney's crew gathering local color (which has to be added to the so called "feature" to get the 75 minute running time on the box info). Both of these films should have been added as bonuses to THE THREE CABALLEROS disc. Though the Disney completists may drool over this long-lost film finally being released, kids and most adults will find most of it painful to sit through. A snore.
Rating: - Disney's "Package Feature" era begins with "Saludos Amigos"
I was not really fimiliar with Walt's "Package Features" until their DVD release. "Saludos Amigos", Disney's 6th feature for the first time on DVD, is the first of these features, a style that Walt wouln't abandon until "Cinderella".
Since this movie is considered one of Disney's "Classic Films", it would make it the shortest one ever (45 minutes), but don't let the short time put you off, it is actually a very good length to tell the stories of the film.
"Saludos Amigos" is split into 4 animated stories, with some live action intros in between, all taking place in South America. The first, and the best one, is Donald Duck's "Lake Titicaca", where the feathered tourist explores the lake and the town arround it, with some comical twists, narrated all the way through. "El Gaucho Goofy" is a funny story, of transplanting a Texas Cowboy (Goofy), in the middle of South America. The other subjects are "Pedro", the story of a determined plane, and "Aquarelo Do Brasil" where we meet Joe Carioca.
The film on the whole has more of a documentary tone, giving us insight on South America ("The Three Caballeros" focuses more on Mexico).
The Gold Collection DVD, has a great documentary which shows us Walt Disney's trip to South America, and the development of the film.
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