Dumbo (1941)

Today, we have Disney’s The Little Elephant That Could and by that, of course, I mean Dumbo. This is another Disney film that I haven’t seen in decades. Of course, I remembered a lot of base elements from this film; elephants, circuses, Jim Crow, flying. But, I completely forgot what it was about or how the story flowed. The experience can be described like seeing a movie that you’ve heard others talk about for the first time. Overall, I’d say that this is a nice, emotionally compelling movie, but I’m not sure that this was necessarily a step forward for Disney Animation Studios.

Original Poster Sourced via IMDB

Summary: The story opens with storks bringing babies to a group of circus animals. Mrs. Jumbo gets brought a son with very large ears. The other elephants make fun of him and call him Dumbo. Soon after, his mom gets separated from him because defends him from a group of children accosting him. Timothy Mouse, a nearby mouse in a band uniform, takes Dumbo under his wing and together they work together to discovered the real potential of Dumbo.

I’ll start off with the music for this film and, my goodness, there’s a lot of songs in Dumbo. The movie starts on a musical piece and there’s a new musical scene ever few scenes until around the midway point of the movie. The first thing I noticed about this movie was it’s music, specifically that it sounds dated. Unlike Snow White or Pinocchio, the music in the movie sounds like it was made in the 1940’s and, because of this, I find it difficult to separate this movie from the time it was made. It slows down a little after that, but the movie remains fairly musical. I would say that this movie, even more than Snow White or Pinocchio, sets a standard for future “Disney Musicals.”

Disney is peculiar with the concept of musicals. Until the “Disney Renaissance,” I don’t feel that Disney had any “real musicals.” Everything was more like Dumbo, where there are musical-esque songs, but they aren’t used as much, or in the same way, that an actual stage musical might use it. There’s just a different feeling and flow in the music. For example, I think it’d be hard for anyone to say that The Aristocats or The Jungle Book are musicals, in the traditional sense, but they have diegetic songs, sang by the characters that comment on their situation. On the offhand, things closer to the “Disney Renaissance,” such as The Lion King or The Hunchback of Notre Dame are much closer in feeling to a traditional stage musical.

I feel that the animation for Dumbo is a downgrade from previous films. Not that it looks bad, per se, but the animation changed from a more grounded style, such as Pinocchio and Snow White, to a much more cartoon-y style. It’s jarring when you’re coming from Disney’s past work. The movie has some much more expressive sequences because of this cartoon-y nature and, given the length of the film, a lot of emotion and information is conveyed in these animation sequences. Despite this, I find it hard to shake the feeling that this movie is less serious and cheaper than previous offerings. That, combined with the extremely short length (64 minutes), makes Dumbo feel like like an extended short, not a feature length animated film.

The length is biggest flaw with Dumbo. This might be taken very negatively, but the movie seems unfinished. Up until this point, Dumbo is the most emotionally engaging Disney animated film. Dumbo’s separation from his mother, the ostracization he deals with, the poor treatment he gets from those around him are all beautifully set up in the film. But when this emotional build-up finally pays off, everything is so rushed that it’s hard to take in. Basically, it seems that the they ran out of time to make the third act, so they wrap it all up in less than five minutes.

From a thematic standpoint, Dumbo seems to be a sappier The Little Engine That Could. This is even referenced with the anthropomorphic train character saying “I think I can” repeatedly as he’s climbing a hill. It also draws inspiration from The Ugly Duckling. As I stated previously, this is easily the most emotionally engaging Disney animated film until this point, even if it is quickly overthrown by Bambi, which is coming up next. Underneath this base level comparison to The Little Engine That Could, there seems to be a strange racial component to the films message. Besides the elephants, every speaking character of the film, and a lot of non-speaking roles, either are or are clearly supposed to be representative of different races that had been marginalized in the U.S. during the time this movie was made. The circus owner is clearly Italian; the laborers that put up the circus tent and the crows are clearly black; the clowns and Timothy Mouse are clearly Irish. The crows, in particular, are pretty egregious, but I think that, like a lot of examples of “racist” caricatures of this and earlier times, people are a little extreme in their willingness to disavow things like this. I could roll out the tired argument that it was a different time, but I think people misunderstand the actual use these controversial elements.

Disney and the animators knew what they were doing, but these characters are cartoons and the expressiveness they’re given is made with purpose. Dumbo is rejected by the other elephants, his own people, and is sent to live amongst the downtrodden and marginalized. I think it’s important to note, the poor situation these different groups find themselves in are presented as how things are, not necessarily how things ought to be. I don’t see it as problematic to show that people are living in a marginalized state, but it might be if you are justifying their position in such a state. It is through his interaction with this world (the “world of experience”) and the assistance of some of the members of this marginalized society, he is able to realize his potential and succeed. Not only does he succeed regaining the acceptance of his own kind, he overcomes them. Much like Siddhartha Gautama or Jesus Christ, Dumbo has to live amongst the common in order to achieve true self realization.

Going off of this quasi-religious theme, I also feel people don’t really understand the significance of the infamous Pink Elephants sequence. I’ve even seen people describe it as a so-called “Big-Lipped Alligator Moment.” What I think people are missing is that this scene is necessary as it acts as a sort of “Bacchanalian Revelation.” Through the use a psychoactive substance, he goes through a metaphorical “spirit journey” and “opens his third eye.” This, of course, is all metaphorical, but I think that it’s an important thematic element for the film. I think it’s also a really cool, fun sequence and it’s probably the best piece of animation in the whole film.

All in all, Dumbo is good. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite and, so far, I think it’s either my least favorite or my second least favorite. It's got the feels, but I'm not sure if this is enough to carry it.

-CJ

Dumbo feels out of place with what we’ve seen so far. It clocks in at only 63 minutes, and it feels more like a long cartoon than a feature film. The colors are bright, the animals are almost feel overly cartoony with what we’ve seen in the past, and all together it just makes it feel over simplified. I still really love this movie, it tugs your heartstrings in a way that Snow White, and Pinocchio fail to do, and I’d argue that out of all of the movies we’ve seen so far that it’s got some of the most memorable songs and scenes of anything we’ve reviewed so far. The main question now is it better than its predecessors?

I would honestly say that the lack of detail in this film is both a blessing and a curse. First and foremost Dumbo leaves me feeling torn about the lack of art in this film compared to what we’ve seen before. There’s a real lack of back ground art from prior movies, and it almost feels harmful. It’s not as easy to fall into the carnival, as it was to fall into the worlds of Pinocchio, Snow White, and Fantasia, and it just leaves me wanting more from this movie. I’d even say that this movie looks like something that came out of “Wartime Disney”. It looks like something we’d get after 1942, or 1943, something like Fun and Fancy Free, or Saludos Amigos. I’d even say if I hadn’t known what year Dumbo actually debuted, I would’ve guessed it hit sometime in the late 40’s or 50’s.

But is the lack of detail really that bad?

While I wish we had more detail in this film, I think it the lack of it actually helps us connect to the characters, especially since Dumbo is mute. We really have no where else to focus our attention to, even when there are people on the screen. When we’re dealing with people they’re overly simplified, or sometimes just blotted out. With the exception of the Ringmaster, and the mob of children that mock and attack Dumbo we’re left with faceless, and detail-less mobs of men.

The lack of backgrounds, and additional characters makes it so we have to pay attention to Dumbo and Timothy and their relationship in the world. Both Timothy and Dumbo are alone in the world, outcasts of society, and this works incredibly well for the ‘feels factor’. Dumbo’s ears end up putting his mother behind bars and eventually ostracize him from his heard. We can assume that Timothy left home to join the circus, to stop being a burden on his family, or to live the dream of being famous. They’re both without friends or family, but they both come together in a tooth rotting sweet way.

Music-wise Dumbo really stands out. “Pink Elephants on Parade” and “When I See an Elephant Fly” are two songs that really stand the test of time. They may not be the most memorable, but they certainly stand out to anything done in Snow White or Pinocchio. I will say I may be a bit bias here, since “Pink Elephants on Parade” is honestly my favorite stand alone song and section of this film. It fully embraces the surrealism of the 1930’s and 1940’s and throws the audience into a chaotic whirling mess.

Story wise Dumbo is well put together. It’s well paced, and we’re not strung along the plot line, but it does feel incredibly short. The action we do see, while in numerous shots, its fairly short and energizing, and helps to move the plot and keep us engaged, and I think that works in the movies favor. I also appreciate that the sentimental moments don’t seem to linger on and on, but there is a jarring interruption in the ‘feels trip’ when Dumbo gets back from seeing his mother. Instead of riding the heartfelt moment, we just experienced we’re met with the clowns discussing Dumbo, and how to use him in the next act. I’d say it ruins the moment, and I’m on the fence about this. I almost wish we’d get more of Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo’s relationship, and how the separation is affecting them. However, we’re instead treated to a quick dose of how the real world treats Dumbo, and how poorly treated he is. I wish this scene would’ve been a bit longer, and better fleshed out.

The only other thing I have issue with here is the ending. There’s 6 minutes from the time Dumbo gets the magic feather to the end of the film, and in that time we see him fly, create panic at the circus, and see headlined papers about how world famous he is. I don’t hate the ending, but I do wish there had been some more chaos, or a better wrapped up ending. It just feels like Disney met the financial limit for this film, and had to end it.

Dumbo is a good film, but I don’t think it’s the best out of what we’ve seen so far. Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia all look better than Dumbo, and narrative wise, I’d say that Pinocchio still tops the chart as far as narrative goes, with Dumbo pulling a close second. Dumbo would be my first choice musically, since the songs are all pretty catchy. Art wise though, it just doesn’t feel like it’s all there, and that puts this at the bottom of the charts so far for me.  

-AJ