People who went to see Disney's compilation features of the 1940s expecting another "Fantasia" were always disappointed - however good the material in some of them. They weren't really films. This one is just a collection of beads from the studio's Latin American years on a pretty string. Some of the beads are short cartoons, not really any different from Disney's other short cartoons of the period - which is, although I don't need to say this, praise. To be honest I find it hard to remember, without looking it up, exactly which South American Disney cartoons are featured in this movie and which aren't.
The linking segments with Donald Duck are weird and - now and then - wonderful. Disney seems to have tried every possible way of combining animation and live action (the live action is usually Carmen Miranda). Some of the attempts fall flat - many shots are obviously Miranda walking in front of a movie screen onto which Donald Duck is being projected; and the section featuring Donald Duck flying on a magic carpet over South American countryside is just a cheap and gruesome mis-match. But other times it's dazzling. The transformation of animated cacti into human dancers, or human dancers into animated roosters, are technical marvels which made me gasp. Perhaps if I saw them on the big screen I'd be able to work out how they were done - but they'd still be spectacular. More so.
In short, this certainly has its moments - some of the most anarchic moments Disney or any other studio had produced. People who aren't fans of animation will probably find it unendurable. (I don't blame them. It's not really a film.) People who are fans HAVE to see it.
The linking segments with Donald Duck are weird and - now and then - wonderful. Disney seems to have tried every possible way of combining animation and live action (the live action is usually Carmen Miranda). Some of the attempts fall flat - many shots are obviously Miranda walking in front of a movie screen onto which Donald Duck is being projected; and the section featuring Donald Duck flying on a magic carpet over South American countryside is just a cheap and gruesome mis-match. But other times it's dazzling. The transformation of animated cacti into human dancers, or human dancers into animated roosters, are technical marvels which made me gasp. Perhaps if I saw them on the big screen I'd be able to work out how they were done - but they'd still be spectacular. More so.
In short, this certainly has its moments - some of the most anarchic moments Disney or any other studio had produced. People who aren't fans of animation will probably find it unendurable. (I don't blame them. It's not really a film.) People who are fans HAVE to see it.