User blog:ARTaylor/75 Years of Saludos Amigos

Today marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of the premiere of Saludos Amigos. The sixth film by Walt Disney Animation Studios is a collection of four segments about life and culture in South America. The film was an effort by the United States Department of State to increase goodwill in South America, as World War II was going on and many Latin countries had close ties to Nazi Germany. Disney sent numerous animators, artists, and composers down to the continent to study the region. The film was a success and inspired the similar film, The Three Caballeros, two years later. The film is credited with changing the impression of latin America and, as one historian put it, "did more to cement a community of interest between peoples of the Americas in a few months than the State Department had in fifty years." The film also directly inspired the creation of Condorito, one of Latin America's most popular characters who was created to rival Disney's characters.