Disney Movie Adventure; Dumbo

 

Dumbo, 1941A couple years ago, Dumbo was my favorite Disney movie. Now after watching it, I can’t tell you why. I expected the movie that followed a flop like Fantasia to be unbelievable, but Dumbo didn’t hit the standards I was expecting. Dumbo‘s story is a very nice one. One about being kind to those who are different than you, proving people wrong, and the love between mother and son. The story was sweet and enjoyable, but not amazing.

One thing that really surprised me was that Dumbo never talked. After a movie like Fantasia that had no dialog at all, you would think they would put out a movie that is the complete opposite of that. Dumbo never talks, and Jumbo talks once or twice. Now, they don’t need to communicate to show their relationship, but it was just surprising after Fantasia. 

I’ve never liked the circus and I think that has a big effect on how I feel about Dumbo. I didn’t like the animal cruelty and the clowns that they showed in the movie. While it was probably realistic, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like at the time when Dumbo was released,  traveling circuses were a big deal. Maybe it was good for their business, but I don’t want to go to the circus after seeing that.

The Pink Elephants on Parade sequence was just so odd. I’ve never been afraid of them, but I’ve never understood the point. Like there is nothing the story gained by adding in this part, except to make the movie longer (which it needed considering it’s only 65 minutes long). The sequence is annoying and pointless, I wish they left it out.

One thing that really bothered me about Dumbo was the ending. Not much happened; Dumbo learned to fly, he shocked the world, then he got his own car and his mom back. A very happy ending indeed, but it just ended so suddenly. It felt like the animators ran out of time and scraped a huge part of the story.

I do have to say that the relationship between Dumbo and his mom is great, and possibly the strongest point of the whole movie. They never speak a word to each other, but you can feel their love. The “Baby Mine” scene is so sad to watch, but the best part of the whole movie.

Overall, Dumbo was alright. The animation was okay, the story line was nice, but poorly executed. None of the characters seemed particularly strong to me. Not Disney’s best work, but certainly not their worst either. I’ll watch Dumbo again, but not in the near future.

Next up, Bambi. I haven’t watched Bambi in a very, very, very long time so I’m excited to see how my view of it has changed.