Walt & El Grupo
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: September 9, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The best kind of labor of love. A documentary made with affection and intelligence, it looks at a brief episode in the life of a cultural icon and uses it to illuminate what turns out to be a telling moment in time and in the process shed some light on the man himself. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
While Walt & El Grupo could use trimming, it also is visually stunning. Read full review
75
NPRBob Mondello
This was an era when international travel was not yet common, and in 16mm home movies from the trip, you can see the excitement as 1940s cities burst into gaudy state welcomes for the creator of El Raton Mickey. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
While Walt and El Grupo is less than a penetrating analysis, it's more than a Mickey Mouse advertisement. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The result: No other studio could produce historical treasure like this from its vaults. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
There's a trove of movie lore in this absorbing documentary. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Hardcore Disney fans will appreciate how serious-minded and intimate this movie is, but for others, Walt & El Grupo might feel like an expensive vacation slide show, assembled by strangers. Read full review
50
Village VoiceErnest Hardy
Both a gargantuan, multi-family home movie and a slight, if entertaining, curio that'll be of most interest to hardcore Disney aficionados. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
What’s really missing here is a story of artistic regeneration: by the time we encounter a dazzling excerpt from the studio’s post-trip film, “Aquarela do Brasil,” we are only reminded of what might have been. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
A disappointingly superficial treatment of a fascinating historical incident. Read full review
50
Washington PostJan Stuart
The most damning assessment comes from animator-historian John Canemaker, who concludes that Disney's ethnically neutered South American output "gagged it up so that the American influence overwhelmed the cultural" influence of South America. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith Uhlich
There’s a marked sense of retreat in this tale that’s never explored--everyone goes out of the way to remember the past through rose-colored specs. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
This slickly packaged bit of Disneyana would probably work best as an attraction at Epcot. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The production values are first rate. But you will wait in vain to hear a good reason for this movie's existence. Read full review
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