During World War II, with fear of a growing Nazi influence in Latin American capitals, Nelson Rockefeller’s agency —the Coordinator for Inter-America Affairs—asked Hollywood filmmakers to include Latin American themes in their films as part of a Good Neighbor Policy. Additionally, Walt Disney was personally asked to be a cultural ambassador to South America, so on this day in 1941, he and a group of his artists, later nicknamed “El Grupo,” departed on a goodwill tour of South America. The fateful tour was successful on two fronts: El Grupo shared a friendly goodwill with their Latin American neighbors and also found the inspiration for two Disney classics, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros.
