A great new book about the making of two Disney classics is coming out in October 2009 from Disney Press. Historian J. B. Kaufman will take his readers to a amazing journey with “South of the Border with Disney : Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941-1942.

Millions of viewers have enjoyed Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros without realizing that these Disney films were produced for a specific diplomatic purpose to foster a spirit of friendly hemispheric unity by countering Nazi propaganda efforts in South America, so that all the Americas might stand together against the Axis powers. This effort, the Good Neighbor program, was initiated and guided by Nelson Rockefeller as the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CI), a new government post created by President Roosevelt in 1940.

Beginning with the extraordinary research trip Disney undertook in 1941 leading a team comprising his top animators, artists and writers from Mexico to Chile, renowned animation historian J. B. Kaufman, reveals the story behind Disney’s contribution to Rockefeller’s program. Based on comprehensive archival research and richly illustrated with many images never before published, South of the Border with Disney is a fascinating study of an all-but-forgotten.