I have to say I was quite looking forward to revisiting Dumbo in this series of reviews. Of all the Golden Age films it is my personal favourite and it’s a story I feel a great connection to. Not to start the review off on a downer or a pity me moment, I endured a lot of bullying as a child and Dumbo’s story of rising above that ridicule was critical for me when I was growing up. But returning to it after not having seen it for the best part of twenty years, I was surprised how much I had forgotten about the film.
Spring has sprung and the storks are delivering babies to all the expectant mothers of WDP Circus. Mrs. Jumbo is one of these expectant mothers and just as the circus pulls out of town her baby, Jumbo Jr., is delivered. Much to her surprise, and the horror of the other elephants, the baby has enormous ears, earning him the nickname Dumbo. Mrs. Jumbo is extremely protective of her child and goes so far as getting herself caged trying to protect him, so it’s down to Dumbo and his new friend Timothy (Edward Brophy) to help Dumbo prove his worth and free his mother from captivity.
First of all, I was really surprised to see just how short Dumbo is, I mean I’d hardly even call it a feature length film with a runtime of just 63 minutes. What also surprised me is just how long it takes Dumbo’s story to really get into full swing. It’s not until over halfway through the film that we even get this plot of Timothy helping Dumbo, then the moment Dumbo learns to fly the film ends. This was a massive departure from what I remember as a child, especially considering Dumbo learning to fly is one of the most iconic character traits he has, and it literally happens sixty minutes into a sixty-three minute film.
Much of the first half of the film is spent with the circus elephants who bully Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo, and they are truly some of the most horrendously awful characters I have ever witnessed, like these elephants even have Joffrey Baratheon beat in terms of unlikable snobbery.
Spring has sprung and the storks are delivering babies to all the expectant mothers of WDP Circus. Mrs. Jumbo is one of these expectant mothers and just as the circus pulls out of town her baby, Jumbo Jr., is delivered. Much to her surprise, and the horror of the other elephants, the baby has enormous ears, earning him the nickname Dumbo. Mrs. Jumbo is extremely protective of her child and goes so far as getting herself caged trying to protect him, so it’s down to Dumbo and his new friend Timothy (Edward Brophy) to help Dumbo prove his worth and free his mother from captivity.
First of all, I was really surprised to see just how short Dumbo is, I mean I’d hardly even call it a feature length film with a runtime of just 63 minutes. What also surprised me is just how long it takes Dumbo’s story to really get into full swing. It’s not until over halfway through the film that we even get this plot of Timothy helping Dumbo, then the moment Dumbo learns to fly the film ends. This was a massive departure from what I remember as a child, especially considering Dumbo learning to fly is one of the most iconic character traits he has, and it literally happens sixty minutes into a sixty-three minute film.
Much of the first half of the film is spent with the circus elephants who bully Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo, and they are truly some of the most horrendously awful characters I have ever witnessed, like these elephants even have Joffrey Baratheon beat in terms of unlikable snobbery.
The crow scene near the end of the film I also remember being considerably longer and more in depth than it was. Dumbo wakes up with the world’s worst hangover and the crows then tell him and Timothy that the only way he could have gotten into the tree is to fly into it. If anything, Dumbo’s flying is less of a character trait and more of a Deus Ex Machina to end the story. I always used to remember Dumbo’s ending meaning a lot to me because he overcame the bullies and rescued him mum but watching it now, I realise that he inexplicably learns to fly, becomes the star of the circus (which we don’t see), and because of that is allowed to have his mother released from her cage (which we also don’t really see).
There’s only so much I can say about such a short film. The animation style hasn’t really changed all that much from Snow White and Pinocchio, the songs aren’t really that memorable, and the story takes way too long to get going in comparison to how quickly it wraps itself up.
But regardless of all that, I really enjoyed going back to Dumbo and I still really love the message it has of not judging someone on how they look, but what they can do. But now I’ve got to re-watch Bambi and I don’t think I’m emotionally ready for that kind of heartbreak again.
There’s only so much I can say about such a short film. The animation style hasn’t really changed all that much from Snow White and Pinocchio, the songs aren’t really that memorable, and the story takes way too long to get going in comparison to how quickly it wraps itself up.
But regardless of all that, I really enjoyed going back to Dumbo and I still really love the message it has of not judging someone on how they look, but what they can do. But now I’ve got to re-watch Bambi and I don’t think I’m emotionally ready for that kind of heartbreak again.