During World War II, Disney made two films as part of the Good Neighbor policy with South America. One was “The Three Caballeros,” also reviewed here on Families.com, but before that came “Saludos Amigos.”
Our film begins with some artists from the studio boarding a plane for South America. The narrator tells us that they are going in search of new and exciting material for their artwork, and we see live action shots of the peoples of the various countries as well as the cartoonists’ renditions of what they see. Donald Duck appears to take us on a tour of an animated version of the Lake Titicaca region, and we see him learn to ride a llama, of course getting it very wrong before he gets it right.
We also meet Pedro, the little plane from Peru, who wants so badly to deliver the mail. One day his father, the real mail plane, is sick, and Pedro gets his chance. He risks life and propeller only to run out of gas just before reaching home, and miraculously pulls it out in the end, coughing his way into home hangar, a true hero.
We also travel to Argentina to meet a gaucho, and we compare him to one of our own cowboys, played by Goofy, of course. We get to see Goofy live the life of a gaucho for a short time, and he decides that it’s easier to be a cowboy, but not before he learns some great Argentine folk dances, with his horse as his partner. That was my favorite part.
There were several cute moments in the film but I have to confess, I didn’t care for it as much as I thought I would. If Goofy’s horse hadn’t been so cute, I might not have enjoyed it at all.
This film is not rated, but if it was, it would be a G.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs