"They call [Dumbo] a freak. The laughingstock of the circus! And when his mother tried to protect him, bam! They threw her into the clink! And on top of that, they made him a clown! Socially, he's washed up!" - Timothy Q. Mouse, telling it like it is.
Initial thoughts before viewing: And here we've arrived at Dumbo, the first movie in this lineup that I had never seen before in it's entirety. As a part of my film minor, I took a few classes on the history of animation. In one of those classes, our professor showed us the "Baby Mine" scene from this movie as an example of a song conveying emotion in a story. Half the class started visibly crying (myself included). So yeah, I knew going in that Dumbo would be an emotional journey. đ„
[FYI, apparently elephants actually do rock themselves back and forth when they're emotionally distressed, nice touch Disney.]
If you've never seen Dumbo or need a refresher, here is a link to the movie's Disney Wiki page where you can read the plot summary.
Highlights:
The elephant in the room (ha!): "Baby Mine"
This song and scene is so beautifully heartbreaking. The song is sung while Dumbo is visiting his mother, who is locked up in solitary confinement for attacking a group of boys who were harassing Dumbo. I lost it when Dumbo fell into his mom's trunk. Like my professor said, this is a prime example of how a song conveys emotion in a film: it has a haunting power that generates feelings of both immense love and sadness.
The night Dumbo got wasted: "Pink Elephants on Parade"
Yes, you read that right. At one point Dumbo and his (only) friend Timothy Mouse inadvertently drink water spiked with champagne. The result is a wonderfully bizarre sequence where the two jointly hallucinate about pink elephants. Having just come off watching Fantasia, this felt like it was more in line with that experimental school of thought. It's a five minutes of psychedelic, sometimes disturbing animation of pink elephants transforming from one scenario to another: an elephant is made of elephant heads, a belly dancer turns into the sun, turns into an eye, etc. Watching this as an adult, I LOVED IT. The music is slamming, and the animation and creativity levels of the sequence are off the charts. In a movie that is otherwise fairly simplistic in character design and animation style, "Pink Elephants on Parade" feels like animators finally got to have a little fun. The greatest part is that this sequence is actually really important to the plot: Dumbo and Timothy later wake up in a tree with a hangover, and that's when Timothy realizes that Dumbo can fly!
Side note: If I had seen this as a youngster, I probably would have had nightmares. đŹ
Disliked: We have to talk about the crows.
Like Fantasia before it, Dumbo has problematic depictions of African Americans, this time in the form of a group of anthropomorphic crows. The movie has been criticized as racist for it's inclusion of the black crows as black caricatures. Although the names of the crows are never said in the movie, it's known through studio documents that the leader of the group was originally Jim Crow (his name was later changed to Dandy). It's important to note that many critics reject these accusations, however, and cite how the majority of the crows were actually voiced by black actors (with the exception of the leader, Jim Crow). They also argue that the crows are the only characters in the movie outside of Timothy and Dumbo's mother who are truly sympathetic towards Dumbo. They apologize for ridiculing him and help teach Dumbo how to fly. That "magic feather" Dumbo uses to fly actually comes from one of the crows. Whether you think the crows are problematic or not, it's interesting to note that if you view this movie on Disney Plus, you will find a disclaimer about racist movie stereotypes.
Random thoughts I had while viewing:
What does the "Q" stand for in Timothy Q. Mouse? Shouldn't it be Timothy A. Mouse? đ
For a movie without a clear cut villain, our protagonist Dumbo sure does suffer. Dumbo is mocked and ridiculed from the moment the stork delivers him. After Dumbo's mom is taken away, the other elephants ignore him completely and block him out from their circle of food. After Dumbo is made a clown by the circus, the other elephants are so horrified and embarrassed of him that they agree to not even consider him an elephant any more. If you ask me, it's these these judgy hos that are the real villains of Dumbo.
Which leads me to my next item...
Closing thoughts:
Dumbo is a poignant lesson in bullying. The movie sends a powerful message about why being different should be celebrated. Dumbo's "weakness" becomes his strength - his giant ears, the source of his constant bullying and ostracization, actually enable him to fly and outshine the other elephants who put him down. In a time where bullying and trolls are rampant, this is such an important lesson for kids (and most adults) to learn. How to turn your "weakness" into your strength, how to celebrate our uniqueness and not shame ourselves or others. It's an aha moment that we all need to be reminded of every now and then.
Sometimes less is more. Coming on the heels of Fantasia and Pinocchio, two features that were rich in design, complex in development, and heavy in production costs, Dumbo is a refreshingly sweet and straightforward story. With a runtime of only 64 minutes, it's a concise and simplistic movie in both visual design and plot. But it works because the heart is there. The story is emotional, poignant, and incredibly relatable. Who hasn't been teased or bullied? Who hasn't felt alone or isolated? When Dumbo flies, we all share in his triumph. It's a universal story with a universal truth at the center: what makes you different makes you special.
My Rating: 8/10
My Rating Scale/System:
10 - Masterpiece / Award Worthy đ€©
9 - Almost perfect / Exceptional đ„°
8 - Great / Well-crafted đ
7 - Good / Noteworthy đ
6 - Above average / Memorable đ
5 - Solidly average đ
4 - Mixed feelings / Mediocre đ
3 - Uninteresting / Struggle bus đ„±
2 - Barely watchable đĄ
1 - Failure / Why is this a thing? đ©
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