Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Animated Classic #6: Saludos Amigos (1943)

By Munir Abedrabbo.

Make Sure You've Read: Munir's Disney Retrospective -- War Period Introduction

When the US joined World War II, the government began launching strategies to reach out to their southern neighbours, in an effort to stop the spread of Nazism to other countries. In order to achieve this, they began creating anti-Hitler propaganda, and animation was a top contributor (Donald Duck’s Der Fuehrer's Face is a clear example of this). Saludos Amigos launched what was called “The Good Neighbor Policy”, attempting to strengthen the ties with Latin America. It's Disney’s shortest film to date and is partially live-action, partially short film and features Donald Duck, Goofy and other newly created characters. Unfortunately, even though it means well and has a nice educational approach (as a Latin American myself I found that charming instead of insulting), the film doesn't offer much replay value and certain aspects (such as the live-action footage) feel dated (even if it is good to see Walt and co. in the film). It's certainly worth a look for historical value and to enjoy some some charming moments, but on the whole Saludos Amigos feels lacking. Rating: 3/5.

Next Week: Animated Classic #7 Review: The Three Caballeros (1945)

Related posts: Animation Essays - Disney at War, and the Importance of Cinderella

Munir's Disney Retrospective -- War Period Introduction

By Munir Abedrabbo.

War Period: The Anthology Films (1943-1949)

Overview

After a far too short period of developing and innovating animation techniques and completely changing the animation industry with ambitious projects, World War II took its toll on the Disney Studio. Pinocchio, Fantasia and Bambi weren't as successful as Walt had hoped and, out of a need to keep the studio afloat during and after the War, he had to cut expense. Disney then released a series of inexpensive shorts, encompassed in various feature films. Universally known as the Anthology Films nowadays, this period is rather obscure for the casual Disney fan that tends to jump from the end of the Golden Age with Bambi to the Silver Age with Cinderella. Nonetheless, even if these films aren't widely known, and even if many of them offer uneven experiences to the audience, they are certainly worth a look and they’re an important part of the studio’s history during that difficult time.

 

Tomorrow: Animated Classic #6 Review: Saludos Amigos

Animation Essays - Disney at War, and the Importance of Cinderella

At the start of the year, I said that we were going to diversify here at A113Animation, namely, through more features. We've launched our Bitesized Biographies and Classic Cartoons features, and post the odd Editorial too (free time permitting of course), but as of late I've had an itching to try something else as well. Animation history being a paramount passion of mine, I thought it may be prudent to launch this intended-as-occasional feature: Animation Essays. Check out our first one - about Disney during and immediately after World War II, and the effect Cinderella had on, effectively, saving the, once-fledgling, now dominant, company - below!