Last week I announced a new giveaway on this site - the Classic Caballeros Collection featuring two movies: Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. (By the way - one of my parenting tips is to enter all family related giveaways! And time is running out on this one - the deadline to enter is midnight tonight!) This Disney DVD was newly released on April 29, 2008.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch this Disney DVD myself. It has been a long time since I have watched “classic” Disney featuring old time favorites like Goofy and Donald Duck, so I found this DVD to be very nostalgic and eye opening at the same time.

The first movie included on this Disney DVD is Saludos Amigos. This film was originally released in 1942 - back when the world was a big place. There is a short clip showing Walt Disney and a team of eighteen cartoonists boarding a plane and heading south to the Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. I, as a parent, honestly enjoyed this brief history lesson the most. To see the world as it was back then, and to imagine the enormity of such a trip when world travel was still novel and foreign countries were still shrouded in mystery was very interesting. In fact, one of the bonus features on this Disney DVD was an excerpt from a CBC interview with Walt Disney and it turns out that the U.S. Government wanted to send Disney to South America as goodwill ambassadors. Disney refused under that pretense but agreed to go to gather material for cartoons - which is what he did. And the result is - Saludos Amigos.

But I digress. The movie Saludos Amigos is actually a compilation of four short films. Each film explores a different region of South America and presents the geography and culture of each place in an enjoyable cartoon that is not only entertaining but also educational.

The first short film features Donald Duck at Lake Titicaca located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. Here dwell the descendants of ancient Inca civilization.

The second film explores the Andes in Chile. Pedro, a little plane, has the responsibility of picking up a mail delivery. He must brave the elements that are typical to this region in order to collect his cargo and arrive home safely.

The third short film features cowboy Goofy who is transformed into his Argentine counterpart - the gaucho. As Goofy explores the Argentine Pampas he entertains the audience with the funny antics that he is famous for. Here is a short clip from this part of Saludos Amigos:

And the fourth segment of Saludos Amigos stars José Carioca, an animated parrot created by Disney for this particular film. Putting rhythm into the audience with a little Latin Samba, José Carioca takes us on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The second feature on this Disney DVD is The Three Caballeros. I was less impressed with this movie than the first one. The beginning of The Three Caballeros is similar to Saludos Amigos where Disney characters go out and explore foreign lands. South America is featured as well as Mexico. And yes, this film combines both education and entertainment as well. However, towards the end on The Three Caballeros, Donald becomes a little “girl” crazy and a good portion of the movie is devoted to Donald’s infatuation with pretty women. What keeps it interesting to me is, again, the historical perspective. Donald’s exploits may not be politically correct in this day and age, but this film was made sixty odd years ago and what is pictured is a sign of the times.

These classic animated films make you appreciate the forward thinking of Walt Disney and all that he has done to make the entertainment industry what it is today.