ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the song's changing meanings when it is used in various audiovisual contexts. It shows that changing associations of "Brazil" in audiovisual texts are linked not just to symbolic economies, but also to the politics of producing new content amidst changing socioeconomic realities from Second World War through the Cold War and beyond. Brazilian scholars and critics note the lasting influence of Disney's musical animation sequence and, further, the Brazilian government's complicity in distorted representations of the country abroad as part of the "Good Neighbor" policy. Throughout the film, the melodies and rhythms of "Brazil" function as leitmotifs for the protagonist's fantasy life amidst a dystopian society overrun by excessive bureaucracy. Amidst all of the versions of "Brazil" in the score, it is the cue that underscores the film's introduction of the Ministry of Information that has had the longest life in screen-media culture.
