Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Animated Classic #7: The Three Caballeros (1945)

By Munir Abedrabbo.

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

Continuing "The Good Neighbor Policy”, Disney’s next Latin American based film was The Three Caballeros. More of a companion piece than a sequel to Saludos Amigos, Caballeros features two characters from the previous film: Donald Duck from the U.S. and José Carioca from Brazil and pairs them up with a new friend: Panchito from Mexico. More cohesive than Saludos but following the same pattern and style, (also featuring live-action footage) Caballeros is a more satisfying endeavour than Saludos. It’s less didactic and showcases bolder, funner segments; it also feels more like a unified film, rather than just shorts patched together. But, even if is better than Saludos, it still lacks a fully satisfying story and the last nonsensical act - at first promising, but later tiresome - fails to elevate Caballeros to a higher status. Rating: 3.5/5

Next Week: Animated Classic #8 Review: Make Mine Music (1946)

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