This is the sixth animated feature done by the Walt Disney animation studio. There will be spoilers ahead:
Prior to US entry into World War II, the US Department of State got Disney to go on a goodwill tour of South America due to the popularity of Disney's characters in Latin America.Material gathered there was used to make this film, which proved to be sufficiently popular that Disney made a second film (The Three Caballeros) in the same vein.
At just over 41 minutes in length, this is just barely of feature length. Composed of live action footage and animation, it covers visits to the four countries of Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Each section of the film describes what the Disney artists found in each country as inspiration, followed by short animated sequences based on the visits. Brief live action/animated transitions of flights are used to lead into the sections.
The first animated segment, "Lake Titicaca", shows Donald Duck visiting Peru as a tourist and interacting with a boy and his llama. It's typical Donald Duck and is rather funny. The highlight is Donald and the llama crossing a suspension bridge.
The second segment, "Pedro", concerns a little plane named Pedro and his flight to carry the mail over the mountains in Chile. It's a fairly standard short of the "small hero faces adversity and wins through" variety and is the weakest segment, mostly because the other three are more entertaining. It's still fairly solid.
The third segment is Argentina and its gauchos. The live action footage of gauchos leads into a Goofy short, "El Gaucho Goofy" and it follows the pattern of other Goofy shorts. The best part here is the slow motion footage of Goofy in action at the tail end of the short.
The fourth and by far the best animated segment is "Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil") which is the most lushly beautiful animation of the film. Donald makes his return in this and it also introduces Jose Carioca. The animation starts out as a series of watercolor drawings which become animated and things morph from one thing to another. The animation is fantastic and the music is marvelous. Donald meets Jose, who is awed at meeting "Pato Donald" and takes Donald out to see the sights and to dance the samba. Thje segment is too short and leaves me wanting more.
This is available on DVD and is well worth watching. Recommended.
Prior to US entry into World War II, the US Department of State got Disney to go on a goodwill tour of South America due to the popularity of Disney's characters in Latin America.Material gathered there was used to make this film, which proved to be sufficiently popular that Disney made a second film (The Three Caballeros) in the same vein.
At just over 41 minutes in length, this is just barely of feature length. Composed of live action footage and animation, it covers visits to the four countries of Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Each section of the film describes what the Disney artists found in each country as inspiration, followed by short animated sequences based on the visits. Brief live action/animated transitions of flights are used to lead into the sections.
The first animated segment, "Lake Titicaca", shows Donald Duck visiting Peru as a tourist and interacting with a boy and his llama. It's typical Donald Duck and is rather funny. The highlight is Donald and the llama crossing a suspension bridge.
The second segment, "Pedro", concerns a little plane named Pedro and his flight to carry the mail over the mountains in Chile. It's a fairly standard short of the "small hero faces adversity and wins through" variety and is the weakest segment, mostly because the other three are more entertaining. It's still fairly solid.
The third segment is Argentina and its gauchos. The live action footage of gauchos leads into a Goofy short, "El Gaucho Goofy" and it follows the pattern of other Goofy shorts. The best part here is the slow motion footage of Goofy in action at the tail end of the short.
The fourth and by far the best animated segment is "Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil") which is the most lushly beautiful animation of the film. Donald makes his return in this and it also introduces Jose Carioca. The animation starts out as a series of watercolor drawings which become animated and things morph from one thing to another. The animation is fantastic and the music is marvelous. Donald meets Jose, who is awed at meeting "Pato Donald" and takes Donald out to see the sights and to dance the samba. Thje segment is too short and leaves me wanting more.
This is available on DVD and is well worth watching. Recommended.