The music just didn't appeal to me and the short was generally boring to
me, in spite of some nice colorful animation.
From Sean Catherall : I first saw this short
while in Brazil in the early 1980's and enjoyed it immensely, as did the
Brazilian people that saw it with me. This is one of Donald Duck's best shorts
and one of the most creative drawn by the Disney animators. The music is
fun and contagious. It has the feel of a Fantasia segment or a long DTV video,
since the whole short develops around the score. The short needs no voice-overs
or subtitles since almost all of the dialog is repeated in both English and
Portuguese.
One oddity: Although José Oliviera is credited for the voice of José
Carioca in "Saludos Amigos" and "Three Caballeros", I could swear that his
accent in "Aquarela" is a Paulista accent (from Sao Paulo), not Carioca (from
Rio de Janeiro), which is quite different.
José Carioca is frequently called "Zé Carioca" in Brazil and
has become a favorite Disney character there, with a very successful comic
book series to his credit. I actually learned quite a bit of Portuguese from
Zé Carioca comic books. He has a wonderfully cheerful but saucy attitude,
as affable as Mickey Mouse but as unpredictable as Donald Duck. His straw
boater, bow tie and cane are meant to represent the Brazilan "old school"
gentleman, now mythical.
By the way, Donald Duck has a perfect "gringo pato" accent in "Aquarela",
meaning a silly American pronunciation; but literally translated the expression
means "silly American duck". I wonder if the Brazilian expression stems from
"Saludos" and "Caballeros"?
From Michael Gallagher : I give it a 10.
Each animation frame is a very thought out piece of art! The colors and the
framing of the characters give me a sesnse of graphic nostalgia. I have beent
to the brazilian carnival in the 70's and that's just the feeling one gets
from experiencing such festival.
Joe Cariocas is a very funny character and with the syncopated samba, he
comes alive. Brilliant soundtrack and wonderful acting by Donald and Joe.
From Baruch Weiss : This is yet another one of Donald's best performances, I especially enjoyed the part where he drinks a spicy drink!
From Bryan Hensley : The music in this short was used in commercials for Disney/Pixar's WALL-E, well some of it anyway. This colorful short was Jose Carioca's big debut! (Even though he was originally called "Joe Carioca".) The folks in Rio de Janiero seem to speak Portugese, and so does Jose. (His card says he lives there.) Last year (2008), I bought Disney's Classic Caballeros Collection on DVD, and it has Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros on one disc! It was just $15 at the time I bought it, and it was my first time seeing either movie! In the last short El Gaucho Goofy, his cigarette was edited out. But Jose's cigar in this short, and throughout The Three Caballeros, was left in! What's up with that? Poor Donald had a hard time making out Jose's language, even with all those second-language dictionaries! All that talk seemed to be Jose's way of saying "Let's go see the town." Who would've thunk hiccuping from a spicy alcoholic drink would start off a samba? What a way to wrap up Disney's 6th and shortest (so far and by far) feature-length theatrical movie! Adios, amigos!
Release Date February 6, 1943
