Product Details

• Actors: Three Caballero, Saludos Amigos
• Directors: n, a
• Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Spanish, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Studio: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: April 29, 2008
• Run Time: 71 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012RLXBU
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,870 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Saludos Amigos / Three Caballeros" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Editorial Reviews
Review for "The Three Caballeros"
As a Disney oddity, they don't get much odder than Three Caballeros. Donald Duck receives a birthday package from South America, and the film proceeds to unravel like some peyote-induced hallucination. It starts out reminiscent of other Disney films, where shorts are cobbled together, such as "Make Mine Music" or "Fun and Fancy Free." The film has vignettes such as "The Cold-Blooded Penguin" and "The Flying Guachito." After them it careens straight into part-travelogue, part-stream-of-consciousness animation. Not helping out much are Donald's "friends," Joe Carioca (a parrot) and Panchito (a rooster). They spend most of the rest of the film watching Donald chase skirt. That's right, Donald Duck is a wolf in this movie, and he chases every live-action señorita who bustles across the screen. Although some will say otherwise, Caballeros is for die-hard Disney, Donald, or psychedelia fans only. --Keith Simanton

Review for "Saludos Amigos"
The first of two features Walt Disney made at the behest of the Office of Inter-American Affairs, Saludos Amigos consists of four cartoons linked by live-action travel footage. The very funny "Lake Titicaca" finds Donald Duck high in the Bolivian Andes, struggling with a recalcitrant llama. "Pedro," the story of a little airplane replacing his father on a mail run across the Andes, is a variation on "The Little Engine That Could." "El Gaucho Goofy" continues the popular "How To" cartoon series that juxtaposes a deadpan narration with increasing physical mayhem. Here, Goofy demonstrates Pampas-style riding and the use of the bola. The jaunty parrot Jose Carioca makes his debut in "Aquarela do Brasil." Although largely eclipsed by the wilder The Three Caballeros (1944), Saludos Amigos retains its charm. Included in the supplemental material is South of the Border with Disney, which chronicles the Good Will Tour Walt and a group of his artists made in 1941. The 16mm footage has darkened, but this featurette offers rare glimpses of some of these artists at work, including Frank Thomas, Norm Ferguson, and Mary Blair, whose stylized drawings set the look for much of Saludos Amigos and Caballeros.--Charles Solomon.

Product Description
Embark on thrilling adventures to South America and Mexico in two full-length movies, Saludos Amigos and its sequel The Three Caballeros together for the first time in one DVD collection! Join Goofy, Donald Duck and Walt Disney himself as they experience all the music, beauty and excitement Latin America has to offer.
Walt and his team of artists, musicians, writers and animators say Adios! to the U.S. to explore the heart and soul of Latin America. In Saludos Amigos they travel to fun and exciting places and capture their adventures along the way. Next, it s Donald s turn to take a fantastic journey through these colorful lands with his friends Joe Carioca and Panchito in The Three Caballeros. With lighthearted dance and lively music, it s a celebration the whole family will enjoy!

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite a trip, February 7, 2008

By	Julie Neal "The Complete Walt Disney World" (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

My husband loves the animated finale of "The Three Caballeros" so much he says nothing else here matters, and rates this, ahem, unique Disney collection 5 stars. I, on the other hand, rate it 3. Sure, the surreal stuff is creative, but the live-action material is so lame! And besides, I want a story! The 4 stars above are our compromise. (Our teenage daughter, by the way, sides more with her father.)

So here's my review, a mix of all of our opinions.

SALUDOS AMIGOS

"Saludos Amigos" is a 42-minute South American travelogue. Produced in 1942 with limited wartime resources, it uses live-action scenes to link together four cartoons.

The live-action segments show Walt Disney and a team of Disney artists as they travel to the continent and then gather information and sketch cartoon ideas. Poorly composed, badly faded and politically out of date, the footage has the look of an old home movie, as well as an obviously overdubbed soundtrack. My husband, however, geezer-in-training that he is, likes these scenes for their historical value, as they are filled with propeller-driven airliners, 1930s automobiles and lots of women in big, flowing dresses.

As for the cartoons, my whole family agrees that they are some of Disney's best.

"Lake Titicaca" stars Donald Duck as a tourist, getting into trouble as he attempts to sail a boat, take photos, communicate with the locals and ride a llama across a suspension bridge.

"Pedro" tells the story of a cute "little boy plane" who dreams of carrying the mail between Chile and Argentina. A compelling story full of fun and drama, it holds up amazingly well, and looks like it could have been drawn yesterday.

The hilarious "El Gaucho Goofy," is in the same vein as the 1950s Goofy "How-To" cartoons. As the narrator blindly describes how Goofy "deftly tosses" a lasso around a horse, "quickly converts" his saddle into a bed and "gracefully" dines on barbecue, the dippy dog botches every step. (If you buy this DVD, watch for these scene transitions. The lasso segment literally gets pushed off screen by the saddle scene, which itself ends by rolling up like a window shade. When the barbecue segment wipes off at an angle, Goofy nearly falls out of it!)

Finally, much like a tropical version of "Fantasia," the terrific "Aquarela do Brasil" ("Watercolor of Brazil") starts off as a painting of a vibrant rainforest that comes to life to music, in this case a great version of the samba standard "Tico Tico No Fubá." Soon Donald appears, meets Brazilian playboy parrot José Carioca (a Disney version of a Brazilian folk character), and the duo shake their bonbons off into the nightlife of Rio. Much of Jose's dialogue is in Portuguese.

THE THREE CABALLEROS

The most bizarre movie the Walt Disney company has ever produced, 1945's "The Three Caballeros" is a collection of animated shorts, all tied together by a bare-bones plot of Donald Duck learning about Latin America. The cartoons progress from typically sweet Disney family fare to a truly psychedelic, adult-oriented swingin'-single travelogue that turns Donald into a libidinous wolf.

It begins as Donald Duck, sitting alone in a room, receives a big box filled with birthday presents "from his friends in Latin America." First up are a few cartoons about some unusual animals of South America -- "The Cold Blooded Penguin," "A Visit With More Rare Birds" (rainforest birds) and "The Story of The Flying Gauchito" (a flying donkey). These three shorts take up the first 22 minutes of the film.

Next out of the box are two pop-up books about Brazil and Mexico. Each of these comes to life as its own peyote-paced animated featurette.

First, the cigar-chomping José Carioca pops out of the Brazil book and takes Donald on a 19-minute trip to the town of Baia (today's Salvador). As a catchy rhythm builds, Carioca creates his own harmony by dividing into four identical versions of himself, male, then female.

Eventually the birds meet the Cookie Lady (a live-action singer who attracts men with her baked goods) and soon the whole thing turns into what perhaps can best be described as a samba-fueled cookie version of the Marilyn Monroe production number, "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend."

Donald gets jealous and pursues the Cookie Lady through the village -- which is, all along, a live-action stage set meant to be a huge pop-up-book page. For the finale, the Cookie Lady turns blue, two of her live-action suitors turn into fighting gamecocks and soon everyone and everything -- including the buildings, the moon, the waves in the sea -- dances into the night.

The book about Mexico brings forth Panchito, a six-gun-shooting cowboy rooster. He tosses sombreros to his new feathered friends, proclaims the trio "three gay caballeros" and takes Donald and José on a 30-minute flying-serape tour of his country.

On Acapulco Beach, Donald goes ga-ga for dozens of live-action bathing beauties ("Come to Papa! Come here, my little enchilada!") and keeps losing his swimming suit. At night the duck can't stay away from the clubs, where he dances with still more real-life señoritas.

The movie's bizarre animation includes illogical color changes and an overdose of morphing gags. Donald himself assumes over a hundred shapes and color patterns, and once becomes a woman. Some scenes, however, are beautiful Mary Blair gems that would later inspire the films "Cinderella" and "Alice in Wonderland," as well as the classic Disney attraction It's a Small World.

Sound great? My husband sure thinks so, and though I love the Mary Blair art, all the surreal animation and dated live-action blending don't exactly float my boat, and, well, I like my movies with a story! Still, some people have always found "The Three Caballeros" irresistibly entertaining, and it is certainly a must for any animation fan, as it shows the Disney animation team at its free-for-all zenith.

The two movies were produced as part of the U.S. government's Good Neighbor Policy, an effort to promote pro-American feelings (and combat Nazi sympathies) in Latin America during World War II.

BONUS FEATURES

Extras on the DVD include two good Donald Duck cartoons. In 1937's "Don Donald" (also on The Chronological Donald Vol. 1), a flirtatious Daisy Duck (here named "Donna") gets trapped in the rumble seat of Donald's car as it bounces through the Mexican desert. In 1944's "Contrary Condor" (also on The Chronological Donald Vol. 2), Donald finds himself hatching out of a condor egg and dealing with an overprotective mother.

Also included is 1942's "South Of The Border With Disney," a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary. It shows Disney artists, including Mary Blair, in South America getting inspiration for the animated sequences in these films. It was also on the year-2000 DVD release of Saludos Amigos.

Overall, my family agrees that there is certainly a lot here for the money, but we're split on how much of it will stand up to repeat viewing.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still EDITED, Not all extras from original DVD release are here., April 22, 2008

By	Paul J. Mular (San Carlos, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you already have the two individual older DVD releases, there is no reason to purchase this new single disc release.

If you don't have the original individual releases, you may still want to get those as the original theatrical trailers included there were NOT put on this new release.

The Three Caballeros (Disney Gold Classic Collection)
Saludos Amigos (Disney Gold Classic Collection)

And YES, THE SAME CENSORSHIP HAPPENS HERE. THEY ARE EDITED.

A Side by side comparison does show some slight improvement in picture sharpness, and the audio has been re-mixed for surround sound, but it is not a full restoration. Obviously this is a great price, and hard to pass up if you do not already own these.

The feature films themselves fall a little short of being classics, they are best viewed as historical travelogues.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative & Innovative Disney Animation at its best!, April 21, 2008

By	Dave "Davelandweb" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Wow, wow, and triple wow. It is not often that I get excited over animation anymore, but these 40+ year old films took my breath away. This DVD set contains "Saludos Amigos" (1943) and its follow-up, "The Three Caballeros" (1945). A team of Disney animators visited Latin America and collected a wealth of film, photos, sketches, paintings, mementoes, and ideas that reflected the culture they soaked up. In "Saludos Amigos," there is plenty of 16mm footage documenting the trip, interspersed with 4 animated segments: "Lake Titicaca" starring Donald Duck. "Pedro," an ADORABLE baby airplane, "El Gaucho Goofy" starring Goofy (and to answer the "burning" question, there is no cigarette visible here), and my VERY favorite, "Aquarela do Brasil" (Watercolor of Brazil"). This finale could easily have been used in "Fantasia." It is a marvel of animation, color, and music. It is absolutely breathtaking. It is inspiring to see what this team was able to create together. Released two years later, "The Three Caballeros" stars Donald Duck, José Carioca (from Brazil), and Panchito Pistoles (from Mexico). Imagine Walt Disney, Salvador Dali, and Busby Berkeley mixed together, and this film would be the result. The mixing of live-action and animation is pure brilliance. The segment "Las Posadas" is particularly beautiful, and I would have to guess the visuals owe much to Mary Blair. The color in both films is glowing and lush, looking as if it were just filmed yesterday. Extras include 2 Donald Duck shorts, "Don Donald" (1937) & "Contrary Condor" (1944). "Don Donald" shows Donald in his early days, before the styling of Disney animation became just a tad too slick. Both cartoons are very enjoyable. Other extras include a short Walt Disney CBC Interview where Walt discusses the birth of the 2 Latin American films presented here, and "South of the Border," which includes much of the 16mm film shot by the Disney team while in South America. Although the quality is not as glowing as what made its way into the feature, it is still extremely interesting to watch. The usual Disney sneak previews can be found on this disc as well.

HIGHLY recommended; beautiful animation, and a wonderful peak into the Latin American culture of the 40's.