Yep, Dumbo. Disney's first ever animal flick based on a storyline by Helen Aberson. This is a movie I remembering watching when I was sick with chicken pox in the hospital at a very young age. It came on the television there so I was lucky enough to see it. Because of the movie's smaller budget, this is known to be one of Disney's shortest animated features. Unlike Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia, which were all ground-breaking achievements for Disney, Dumbo never blew anyone's minds and was considered a standard flick for children. How well does the movie fare in today's standards? Let's see.
Story
The story takes place on a train full of circus animals that are being transported. One day, a mother elephant named Mrs. Jumbo receives her new baby from a stork (which led many kids to believe that's how babies are born, jeez). It turns out that the baby elephant is born with very large ears, causing other elephants to poke fun at him and call him "Dumbo" and later when the circus starts, other people, including young boys start to tease him as well. This causes Mrs. Jumbo to go beserk and start attacking the boys. She is then locked up by the circus performers. With no mother to care for him, Dumbo is left on his own until he meets a circus mouse named Timothy Q. Mouse who becomes his friend and helps him try and become a star in the circus. along with a group of crows who try and help him fly with his wings.
So pretty much, the story is an ugly-duckling story with the story arc of the protagonist standing out from the crowd in the end. It is probably one of Disney's most simplistic stories with little to no changes in the plot. To be quite honest, I find the storyline a bit underwhelming. It isn't bad by all means, but there's something lacking in it that aged better in Bambi and The Lion King. Now I know this movie came first before those but this one doesn't age as well as those two in terms of plot as it doesn't break the new ground. However, like I said, it's not a bad story, it's cute, charming and still has some emotional aspects.
Characters
To be honest, there's a lot more to say on the characters than the story itself.
Dumbo - Probably the first Disney has ever used a silent character for their protagonist. Anyway, Dumbo shares a similar personality to Bambi. He is shy, confused and innocent in his own way. It's interesting to see Disney manage a character like this without giving him any sort of dialogue. Then again, they managed that ok with Fantasia so it's no surprise they were able to pull this off.
Timothy Q. Mouse - Dumbo's best friend and mentor throughout the movie. He is without a doubt the most likeable character in the movie as he is the first one to care for Dumbo's feelings after he is seperated from his mother and helps him rise to fame. It's also funny since his relationship with Dumbo parodies the bitter relationships between mice and elephants (it's a rumour that elephants are afraid of mice).
Mrs. Jumbo - Dumbo's mother and THANK GOD, this parent doesn't get killed in the most heartbreaking way possible. However, it was still pretty tearjerking to see her get locked up so she couldn't tend to Dumbo's care. The scene were she rocks Dumbo with trunk has made many people run tears down their faces. She does have that protective nature of a mother, especially when she rages when other poke fun at her son. At least we see her happily reunited her son when he becomes the star.
The Crows - Ooooooooh god. Now I can't talk about these characters without mentioning the major controversy they sparked at this movie's release. Since these characters were voiced by black people and act like stereotypical black people, it was accused of negative stereotyping and racism. Whether these characters are racist or not is all down to your perspective. If you can look past that however, they are pretty likeable characters that provide some good comic relief and that they help getting Dumbo to fly with his massive ears.
Other characters in the film are either background circus animals or characters that tease Dumbo for having large ears. I find the characters memorable and likeable, even if the story hasn't aged as much.
Animation
Dumbo's animation, as a whole, is pretty average. It does have a good art style to it and the characters are designed really well. However, after the groundbreaking animations from Pinocchio and Fantasia you'd expect a lot more. I know this film couldn't level up to those standards because of again, smaller budget, but it still feels a bit underwhelming. However, there are a few scenes where the animation gets more creative like some of the circus act scenes and this particular scene:
Yep, best animation in the entire movie is when you get drunk and hallucinate about pink elephants. Freaking win right there. But apart from that, there really isn't much to Dumbo's animation, other than it's pretty much standard Disney animation.
Music
This pretty much falls into the same trap as Bambi. I find the soundtrack in this movie pretty forgettable, apart from three songs.
Casey Junior - The opening song and without a doubt the most forgettable Disney has ever produced. Seriously, does anybody actually remember this as much as Circle of Life? That's what I thought. It's just a tune about the circus train. Nothing more. Yeah, that's definetly a hit single there.
Look Out for Mr. Stork - Another forgettable one, but this one is a lot catchier than Casey Junior. And even it's not that memorable, it's still a pretty good song. But again kiddies, this ain't where babies come from. Trust me.
Song of the Roustabouts - This is another part of the movie that nowadays seems to have gotten controversy. I've seen people nowadays say this is more racist than the crows. Why? Because it shows black men doing labour to set up the circus with the animals. Again, whether it's racist or not is all up to you. This is also not a very memorable one but it's a nice tune I guess. And it does have some nice animations with the thunderstorm.
Baby Mine - Sweet Jesus Disney, STOP the freaking sad songs already!! DX Yeah, you know the drill with this one. It's like a lullaby song between a mother and her child. And boy, does it break me down everytime. :'(
Pink Elephants on Parade - The most EFFED up thing in the entire movie. And yet, everybody loves it. It's a really catchy tune with weird but creative visuals. This is what makes this one of the only memorable songs in the entire movie.
When I See An Elephant Fly - Another song in the movie I remember remotely. It pretty much sets Dumbo's character as he learns to fly with the crows. Once again, if you can get past the whole racism thing, you'll like the singing the crows did with this one.
Conclusion
To be honest, whilist a good film on it's own, Dumbo doesn't live up to the standards as other Disney films and doesn't age as well as Bambi or The Lion King. Granted, it didn't have to and it's all due to the small budget this movie was given after the failure of Fantasia but I can't see myself going back to this one a lot. However, with some good (though average) animation, two memorable songs and memorable characters, it makes up for it. I know a good couple of people who never really like this one and I can see where there coming from. I myself find it cute and heart-warming but average at it's best. It still has it's positives and it will leave a satisfying feeling at the end. So with that said, I'd say I give a Dumbo a below average: 3/5 Thanks for reading this review and next time, we'll take a look at Disney's dog romance:
