Film for (and about) brazilians: the cartoon and the Brazil / United States approach during the Second World War

Abstract

This article aims to analize how the movie Saludos Amigos was used to approach Brazil closer to the United States in the early 1940s. Since the 1930s, the United States government had been trying to change its foreign policy and image on the continent, seeking to get closer to Latin Americans through the so-called Good Neighbor Policy. In 1940, the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) was created to coordinate a series of actions to promote cultural exchanges and pro-US propaganda in the region, with cinema being one of the sections that received special attention from OCIAA. Walt Disney was sent to Latin America with the aim of creating cartoons with local characters. The trip was documented in the movie Hello, Friends! which debuted in Brazil in 1942. Debuting in the month when Brazilian ships were torpedoed by the Axis, the film reaffirmed the solidarity between Brazil and the USA. The production was also shown to the Americans, but Disney needed to please another audience. The drawing in which Zé Carioca is presented was designed for the Brazilian (if) to see.