Walt Disney, the expeditionary

To celebrate the centennial of The Walt Disney Company, its current production teams discussed the idea of ​​developing

about one of the inspiring trips that the great hitmaker took in this part of the world with a group of collaborators.

Thus was born

, the exhibition that until April 30 occupies the entire ArtexArte building, in Villa Crespo.

Some

completely transforms the gallery space, in what is the first in a series of exhibits to be staged in other countries where the legendary animator and entrepreneur set foot on an intense tour in 1941.

Presented by

on its 50th anniversary in conjunction with The Walt Disney Company Latin America Live Entertainment team, the show was created in association with the

.

The tour of the rooms includes interactive spaces where families can test themselves in the art of animation.

Donald Duck Geopolitics

The reasons for the decision to travel to some Latin American cities have to do with the initiative of the then President of the United States

, who instructed the Office for Inter-American Affairs to convince

to serve as

on a tour of several Latin American countries with the aim of promoting a good bond, according to one of the texts at the beginning of the tour.

The group of countries to visit had declared themselves neutral at that time, when

It was expanding, but it is true that Brazil would later distance itself from its neutrality.

Walt Disney came from two frustrations in the public impact of his animated films, something that was due to the fact that Europe at war had contributed to considerably reduce viewers.

Going on tour with this trip also kept him away from a conflict that the company had with its workers and due to the popularity of its characters globalized by the film industry, since

, the move became a true meeting that bore fruit in some subsequent productions, which were released with great success in the region.

The numerous photos where groups of happy enthusiasts came out to welcome them, including ordinary people but also musicians, dancers and smiling children, show that there were good moments shared.

The political question is precisely addressed in these well-defined terms, because as soon as you enter the ground floor,

.

It is completed by moving through the three floors, segmented into eight sections with a contribution that displays not only the spirit of the rapprochement achieved by Walt himself and his wife Lilly, but also that of his group: about 15

with whom they traveled, including scriptwriters, illustrators, musicians, and press agents to learn about the customs, clothing, and music of other cultures.

Walt with a video camera, Rio de Janeiro.

As the company that is based in Latin America is only dedicated to live shows, the staff of the Disney archive under the direction of

, in a set that condenses the itinerary very well. without repeating

With this project that starts here, it is planned to reach other itineraries with the same design, first in Uruguay and then move on to Chile.

Bambi and other myths to demolish

Among the testimonies included in the rooms, Disney himself stands out when he comments on

that arriving in each country meant.

“They are memories of a memorable occasion, a time when a group of artists, writers and musicians toured South America.

It was our first such expedition, a sort of search for new songs, dances, plots, and personalities for our cartoons."

The organizers comment that this exhibition demolishes some myths.

A very recurring one about the film

–which had started four years before– apparently inspired by the myrtle forest of Bariloche, a city they did not reach.

Nor is it true that after visiting the

in La Plata the idea of ​​carrying out its famous

arose , since the reproduction as a theme park of a city on a scale was inaugurated a decade after this visit to Buenos Aires.

The title of the exhibition comes from an anecdote, when they were already installed in the Glória Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, it was common for them to be located in a room next to the dining room, waiting for an excursion, usually the bellboy would call them shouting "The Group, The Group ... The Disney Group!

Walt with Mrs. Molina Campos and a duckling who volunteered to represent Donald Duck.

The Stirrups, Buenos Aires.

Both Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires were two cities where the group settled for a longer time, organizing to complete other transfers, sometimes of the entire entourage, other times in smaller groups.

The records of these meetings constitute the plot of the exhibited photos.

From

surrounding Walt, to a man with

watching the scene where Disney dances a zamba with a handkerchief in rural Buenos Aires, to a colorfully dressed group with their instruments in hand that smiles next to Disney in Lima, like a scene on Copacabana beach with Walt surrounded by young people with their sunglasses and tiny leggings.

In Buenos Aires, he approached two very well-positioned creatives in illustration.

One was the Argentine comic book reference,

, who together with his brother Claudio founded Editorial Columba dedicated to the production and distribution of publications of the genre, with notable successes over several decades.

They also made contact with

, who paradoxically, when the team landed in Buenos Aires, was on a trip to the United States, hired by Liberty magazine, based in New York, to make a series of publicity drawings.

They were received by his wife

At the Los Estribos ranch, the current district of Moreno: the room on the second floor exhibits several photographic records that show her smiling around the group.

Installed on the top floor of the

, a large space that opened onto a larger terrace from where actions could be carried out or interviews carried out, there is also the landscape of that Buenos Aires de Retiro even without such architectural density.

Walt dressed as a gaucho with a horse.

The group did not just take pictures.

In the segments of each floor it is narrated that also “artist Lee Blair and assistant director Larry Lansburgh operated a specially purchased 16mm Eastman camera with tripod and telephoto lens to shoot a home movie.

In order to work better, the Disney studios in Burbank (California) sent him a Moviola machine to watch the movies they were filming.

The super editing desk arrived in pieces, and animator Frank Thomas was tasked with rebuilding it, as he was the only member of The Group to ever use one."

This device was kept here for a long time and is now exhibited as another piece of this display of activities and ideas about that trip.

was also recorded with part of these records

and others that recreated experiences, like this South of the Border with Disney would be released a year after his return.

In a movie theater set up on the top floor you can see segments of those

that describe the uses and customs of these territories.

There's

, where Donald Duck explores the Andes;

Pedro in his plane struggling to carry the mail from Mendoza to Santiago over Aconcagua;

, set to the iconic song by Ary Barroso and the new character José Carioca, a parrot who teaches Donald Duck how to dance samba;

, a well-known character who plays an American cowboy exploring the life of a gaucho in the Argentine pampas.

Unmissable and for the whole family!

Walt Disney and the Group: A trip through Latin America

ArtexArte, Lavalleja 1062

Tue to Sun from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00

until April 30

free and free