Saludos Amigos is the sixth movie to come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios, following up Bambi. I find that it’s probably one of the most forgotten Disney movies, as I never hear Disney fans talk about it, and I’m sure most haven’t even heard of it. It’s not definitely not one of the hugely celebrated entries in the catalog. It also has the honor of being Disney’s shortest “feature-length” animated film, clocking in at only 42 minutes. So, now that you’ve heard of it, you probably want to know what this even is.

To understand what Saludos Amigos is about, you first must understand why it was even made. The first thing to remember is that at the time of its release, World War II was in full swing, and in 1941 the United States hadn’t entered into it just yet. As part of the Good Neighbor Policy, the US Department of State sent some Disney employees on a tour of South America, with the hopes that they would make a movie about the time they spent there. This was all done in the hopes of winning over some of the Latin American governments, who had ties to Nazi Germany at the time. So, some Disney animators got to see South America, and they made Saludos Amigos out of their time there.

Saludos Amigos isn’t so much a movie as it is an educational collection of shorts. The movie opens with some documentary footage of South American culture, and from there it shows four different animated shorts highlighting different aspects of the culture. It’s an interesting idea that leads to mixed results. While I thought the first two shorts were decent, I really didn’t care for the third one, but then ended up really liking the final one.

Is it any good though? Well…kind of. I find that a movie like this really depends on your interest in the subject matter. I’m really…not into this kind of cultural stuff, and so Saludos Amigos didn’t really grab me as much as it may for some. I thought the animated shorts were entertaining enough so that I wasn’t bored by the movie, but it’s still not something I’ll go out of my way to watch like I would with other Disney classics. Honestly, I can kind of see how this one has been forgotten over the years. I would recommend this movie to people interested in South America, or to hardcore Disney completionists like myself, but otherwise I think this is one that can be passed on. It’s entertaining enough if you do choose to watch it, but it’s not a must-see.

3/5