{"id":31363,"date":"2013-10-30T05:16:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T09:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=31363"},"modified":"2022-02-06T00:12:39","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T05:12:39","slug":"movie-review-dumbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/movie-review-dumbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Movie Review: Dumbo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dumbo
DVD Cover Courtesy Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fourth full-length animated feature in Disney history,\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>\u00a0was released on October 23, 1941. The film, which was created on a low budget in an attempt to make up for the poor performance of\u00a0Fantasia<\/i>\u00a0(1940), is only 64 minutes in length, making it the third-shortest animated feature in Disney history. Only\u00a0Saludos Amigos<\/i>\u00a0(1942) and\u00a0Winnie the Pooh<\/i>\u00a0(2011), which clock in at 42 minutes and 63 minutes, respectively, are shorter than\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Plot Summary<\/b><\/p>\n

The film commences with a special delivery. No, it isn\u2019t a package, and, no, it\u2019s not arriving via FedEx. Rather, the delivery is a baby elephant that is being brought to the Casey Jr. Circus Train by a stork.<\/p>\n

It soon becomes evident that this baby elephant, Jumbo Jr., is unique. He has big ears, and he is mocked by \u201cfellow\u201d elephants and others alike for being different; the name \u201cDumbo\u201d arises in jest.<\/p>\n

Still, the title character possesses one key ally: Timothy Q. Mouse. The mouse has faith in Dumbo, and he tries his hardest to turn his friend into the \u201cclimax\u201d of the circus.<\/p>\n

Empathy<\/b><\/p>\n

Empathy, the ability to \u201cput oneself in another\u2019s shoes,\u201d so to speak, is a key theme in\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>. A vast majority of the characters do not possess this trait.<\/p>\n

The elephants, aside from Dumbo\u2019s loving mother, shun Dumbo because of his ears. Though all of these elephants are cruel, Elephant Matriarch angers me the most. Her deep voice is off putting to begin with, and when she verbally attacks her nephew\u2014\u201cOut of my way, assassin!\u201d for example\u2014she\u2019s even more intolerable.<\/p>\n

To be fair to the elephants, they\u2019re not alone in their ways. The ring master tortures the elephants by giving a drawn out speech while they\u2019re trying to balance themselves, and the clowns\u2026well, the clowns are kind of phony. They pretend to like Dumbo, but they really just want a pay raise. Heck, they don\u2019t think Dumbo has feelings!<\/p>\n

Timothy Q. Mouse<\/b><\/p>\n

If there is one character in\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>\u00a0who shows empathy, it\u2019s Timothy. He really cares about Dumbo and has an uncanny ability to make him happy through improvisation.<\/p>\n

When the elephant is feeling down, Timothy will say something\u2014even if it\u2019s not necessarily true\u2014to brighten his spirits. For example, the mouse tells Dumbo that \u201clots of people with big ears are famous.\u201d I\u2019m not sure if he really meant this, but it worked.<\/p>\n

Also, after his first attempt to make Dumbo a star fails, Timothy cheers up his friend by claiming he made an appointment for Dumbo to see his mother. Again, while I don\u2019t think Timothy really \u201cmade an appointment\u201d for Dumbo, the gesture certainly brightened the protagonist\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

In a way, Timothy reminds me of Jiminy Cricket from\u00a0Pinocchio<\/i>\u00a0(1940). As Jiminy is a good friend to Pinocchio despite being a mediocre conscience, Timothy is a good friend to Dumbo even though he may not always have the best ideas.<\/p>\n

Timothy is voiced by Edward Brophy. I can\u2019t put my finger on the exact reason, but I\u2019m not sure Brophy\u2019s voice really fits Timothy\u2019s character. It\u2019s not a major problem, but I found the voice to be a bit distracting at times.<\/p>\n

The Stork<\/b><\/p>\n

The stork is voiced by Sterling Holloway, who also narrated some of the most notable shorts in Disney history. Holloway provided the voice behind\u00a0Susie the Little Blue Coupe<\/i>\u00a0(1952),\u00a0The Little House\u00a0<\/i>(1952), and \u201cThe Cold-Blooded Penguin,\u201d which was released as a segment in\u00a0The Three Caballeros<\/i>\u00a0(1944).<\/p>\n

Also, and somewhat ironically, Holloway reprised his role as the stork in\u00a0Lambert the Sheepish Lion\u00a0<\/i>(1952) in addition to serving as that short\u2019s narrator.<\/p>\n

Music<\/b><\/p>\n

While the music in\u00a0Dumbo\u00a0<\/i>is not my favorite, it well accompanies the film. The soundtrack is appropriately peaceful during the scenes that feature Dumbo\u2019s mother, but it becomes more upbeat and fun during the circus sequences.<\/p>\n

The movie\u2019s most beautiful song is \u201cBaby Mine.\u201d Sung during the scene where Dumbo visits his mother, the tune is accompanied by drawings of various baby animals being cared for by their respective parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPink Elephants on Parade\u201d is the film\u2019s most bizarre number. The lyrics are corny, and the overall sequence is\u2026well, odd. Dumbo and Timothy inadvertently become drunk and begin to see pink elephants. If you\u2019ve watched\u00a0The Three Caballeros<\/i>, the latter part of that film reminds me of the pink elephant segment. It\u2019s also comparable to\u00a0Fantasia<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Finally, \u201cWhen I See an Elephant Fly\u201d is probably the most fun song in\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>. Performed by the crows, this tune makes good use of rhymes and puns.<\/p>\n

In the Parks<\/b><\/p>\n

Each of the five Magic Kingdom-style Disney parks around the world features the \u201cDumbo the Flying Elephant\u201d attraction. Though the theming of the ride varies from park to park, the general premise is the same: guests fly in a Dumbo-shaped ride vehicle around a central hub.<\/p>\n

As part of the Fantasyland expansion at Walt Disney World\u2019s Magic Kingdom, the former Mickey\u2019s Toontown Fair land was transformed into \u201cStorybook Circus.\u201d This alcove of Fantasyland features theming that was inspired by\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Disneyland Park in California is home to the \u201cCasey Jr. Circus Train\u201d attraction. Based on and named after the train from\u00a0Dumbo<\/i>, this ride affords guests a view of the Storybook Land miniatures, which can also be seen by riding the \u201cStorybook Land Canal Boats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall<\/b><\/p>\n

Dumbo<\/i>\u00a0doesn\u2019t hold my attention as well as other Disney classics such as\u00a0Pinocchio<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Alice in Wonderland\u00a0<\/i>(1951). Nonetheless, it\u2019s a fun film with good plot elements including humor and sentimentality that will appeal to many viewers.<\/p>\n

What do you think of Dumbo? Let me know in a comment!<\/i><\/p>\n

Sponsored Ad:<\/strong>\u00a0 Would you like to help support The Mouse For Less website in continuing their mission of being THE Disney vacation planning resource?\u00a0 You can do so by purchasing Dumbo<\/em> from our affiliate link through Amazon<\/a>.<\/div>\n

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    The fourth full-length animated feature in Disney history,\u00a0Dumbo\u00a0was released on October 23, 1941. The film, which was created on a low budget in an attempt to make up for the poor performance of\u00a0Fantasia\u00a0(1940), is only 64 minutes in length, making it the third-shortest animated feature in Disney history. Only\u00a0Saludos Amigos\u00a0(1942) and\u00a0Winnie the Pooh\u00a0(2011), which clock…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disney-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82635,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31363\/revisions\/82635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}