Movie Review - Walt & El Grupo

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Once upon a time…Walt Disney went to South America.  That is essentially the plot of the new documentary Walt & El Grupo.  His trip was funded by the United States government in an effort to win over the hearts and minds of a pre-WWII South American public which was largely pro-Nazi. (I guess all those former Nazis fled to South American for a reason.)  Disney put together a group of animators and writers to travel with him in an effort to absorb the culture and landscape of the region.  This research lead to two films: Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.  While those films are, um, cute….well, let’s face it, they’re not exactly Fantasia.  So, one might wonder whether or not Walt’s excursion justifies a ninety-minute documentary.  Sadly, one would be right in wondering. 

Biographical works that focus on Walt Disney inevitably become Faustian in nature.  The Walt Disney Company and the Disney family maintain a tight grip on any and all archival materials as they relate to Walt.  Therefore if a filmmaker wants access to the materials necessary to craft a story, he or she must tell a tale that the Disney gatekeepers deem worthy of telling (and tell it in a fashion that won’t bring derision upon the family name).  Over the years, Walt has become as much of a corporate mascot as Mickey Mouse.  So protecting his image is of the utmost importance.  The end result is that virtually anything short of the canonization of Walt is met with a complete lack of cooperation from those who control the Disney archives.  They’re anal about their annals.  The fact that this film was produced by The Walt Disney Family Foundation should give you some idea of the sort of sanitized account that filmgoers are in store for. 

The main problem with the film is that ultimately it’s not a very interesting story.  It’s basically footage of Walt & Co. traveling through South America.  Sure, the expedition resulted in two animated features but the fact that those cartoons are practically footnotes doesn’t do this film any favors.  However, the family archives do come through by providing copious amounts of trip photos, film footage and (most importantly) abundant amounts of artwork that was created on the trip.  The film is well constructed and creatively segues from past photos to present and between various sketches, paintings and drawings.  Unfortunately, none of this is strong enough to make the film feel like much more than watching someone else’s vacation slides.  Granted, they’re extraordinarily well made vacation slides…but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re vacation slides.  And while the film introduces us to each of the Disney employees that make up the group, we’re given little insight as to what their achievements are (or would be) within the Disney pantheon.  Furthermore the film makes little effort to put Walt’s trip into a larger historical context or illustrate its cultural impact on either the countries visited or the one returned to.  My guess would be because there wasn’t much of one. 

Walt & El Grupo is for only the most diehard of Disney aficionados.  And trust me, I mean diehard.  I am a self-proclaimed Disney dork.  My wedding theme was Disney, Mickey and Minnie were our cake topper, we went to Disneyworld on our honeymoon, I’ve been in the utilidors.  And even I was having trouble staying awake.  The film is classic example of filmmakers so close to the subject matter that they’ve lost sight of what made the subject interesting in the first place.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being Frank and Ollie and 1 being Back to Enchantment: The Making of Thumbelina, Walt & El Grupo gets a 5.

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