May 13, 1955 – The Special Short Film Pedro is Released to Theaters
“Once upon a time in a little airport near Santiago, Chile, there lived three airplanes…”
On May 13, 1955, the segment Pedro from the animated feature film Saludos Amigos was released as a special short film in theaters. The segment was narrated by Fred Shields.
The segment begins in a small airport in Chile, home to three airplanes: a Papa, a Mama, and a Baby. As the planes are introduced, the baby plane Pedro seems to have gone missing. Pedro wants to be a big mail plane like his father, and goes to ground school to learn important lessons, including the mail route between Santiago and Mendoza. One day, Papa comes down with a horrible cold, and Mama has high oil pressure, so it’s up to Pedro to deliver the mail. His father warns him to avoid the mountains, and Pedro sets off on his journey with a less than masterly take-off. He gets hit with a down draft and goes down, but manages to get his bearings and head back up. Soon, he comes across the menacing mountain Aconcagua, and he nervously makes his way past. Pedro is able to grab the mail from Mendoza, and starts flying through the clouds in a show-off manner until he comes across a vulture. Unfortunately, as he chases it, he comes across Aconcagua, and gets caught in a sudden storm. Pedro nearly loses the mail, but manages to retrieve it, though at his own peril. He works to climb against the storm, and is finally able to make it past the storm, but runs out of gas, falling back into the mountain. Pedro’s parents watch late at night, thinking that their son has perished. Fortunately, Pedro appears, a little worse for wear, and managed to bring home the mail.
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