I vaguely remember this cartoon from my childhood. Personally, I don't even find it a particularly interesting piece of Disney fiction and magic. The movie is divided in four segments across the South America, I can only remember three of them though: one in Lake Titicaca where tourist Donald Duck fumbles with a stubborn llama; a rather dull segment about an airplane on a perilous journey across the Andes...
This definitely is not the stuff Disney is famous for! However, the last segment, lovely titled 'Aquarelas do Brazil' makes the whole show worthwhile. It follows nothing less than the birth of the amazing José Carioca, a Brazilian parrot who'd go on to become one of the most famous Disney characters in South America! I fondly remember reading his adventures in comics as a child. The cartoon doesn't yet show Carioca with his characteristic traits, namely a mixture of tramp/conman figure who's always broke but always succeeds through luck and wit.
In 'Saludos Amigos' he's still in his infancy although one already sees his love for fun and folly. Priceless is watching him teach Donald Duck how to do the Samba and both hitting all the nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro bringing to life the exuberant life of the '40's Brazil! Also beautiful is the song 'Aquarela do Brazil,' which Terry Gilliam would later use in his masterpiece, 'Brazil,' which I've recently seen and made me reminisce about this long-forgotten piece of my childhood.
This definitely is not the stuff Disney is famous for! However, the last segment, lovely titled 'Aquarelas do Brazil' makes the whole show worthwhile. It follows nothing less than the birth of the amazing José Carioca, a Brazilian parrot who'd go on to become one of the most famous Disney characters in South America! I fondly remember reading his adventures in comics as a child. The cartoon doesn't yet show Carioca with his characteristic traits, namely a mixture of tramp/conman figure who's always broke but always succeeds through luck and wit.
In 'Saludos Amigos' he's still in his infancy although one already sees his love for fun and folly. Priceless is watching him teach Donald Duck how to do the Samba and both hitting all the nightclubs in Rio de Janeiro bringing to life the exuberant life of the '40's Brazil! Also beautiful is the song 'Aquarela do Brazil,' which Terry Gilliam would later use in his masterpiece, 'Brazil,' which I've recently seen and made me reminisce about this long-forgotten piece of my childhood.