Disney Plus review: Say hi to ‘Saludos Amigos’

COMMENTARY

Plus warns us of tobacco use, which appears in both animated and liveaction format. You can spot Walt himself with a cigarette.

What brought me back to reality (a.k.a. coronavirus alert): Donald doubts the existence and the symptoms of altitude sickness. “Dizziness? Ah, phooey” he states … before getting dizzy.

Burning questions: It’s a shame that the Disney illustrators seen aren’t identified or speak. Among those on the planes are Mary Blair (artist behind “it’s a small world” and those dramatic mosaics in Disney’s Contemporary Resort), Norm Ferguson (creator of Pluto) and Frank Thomas, who started working with Disney in 1934. You might even miss Walt Disney himself if you weren’t looking for him. (He’s around 40 years old when this was shot.)

Meanwhile, in Orlando: The film debuted in South America in 1942 and in the U.S. in ’43, but I could find no sign of it in Orlando until 1949. That’s when it was a double feature with the rerelease of “Dumbo” at the Kuhl Avenue DriveIn (west of the intersection of Kaley Street and Orange Avenue), according to the Orlando Evening Star newspaper.

The theme park angles: It has an Epcot vibe, almost like a pitch for World Showcase pavilions for Peru, Chile, Argentina and the always-rumored Brazil. The closest thing to a “Saludos Amigos” presence in the parks is the trio of animatronics on stage during the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros ride that’s inside Epcot’s Mexico pavilion.

Up next: Que bueno! “The Three Caballeros” (1944).