Dumbo (1941)

Written by Otto Englander, Joe Grant, Dick Huemer
Directed by Ben Sharpsteen

After the financial disappointments of Pinocchio, and especially, Fantasia, the Walt Disney Animation Studio was hemorrhaging money. Things were looking dire for the Studio, and Walt knew he needed a small, cheap picture to help stop the massive loss of money.

Enter a little elephant with massive ears. Dumbo was the hit the Studio needed, helping settle down the money woes (although they’d flare back up soon with the advent of WW2). 

Dumbo is a film I had watched a few times as a small child, and had watched it again recently around 3 to 4 years ago. I remembered that it was a cute, harmless story. Watching it now though, I was shocked at how much I hadn’t noticed before, or, at least, had forgotten.

Because Walt needed a cheap picture, this film is short, barely clocking in at an hour. Additionally, some of the animation is less than exact, when compared to Pinocchio or Fantasia. The character animation isn’t all that bad, but the backgrounds are simple watercolors, and lack a lot of the depth that had made the previous films excel. It’s not too terribly noticeable, but it does bring down the quality of the picture a tad.

Happiness and Innocence

There are some great sequences in the film, however…I always remembered loving the opening Stork sequence. I can’t put my finger on it, but something about it has always made me smile. Perhaps its the joy seen on all the new parents faces, but I think it’s a great way to start the film. There is also a short sequence of Dumbo playing with his mother, just before she goes on her protective rampage. I think this scene is very necessary…without it, it would make the tragedy of their separation mean less than it does with the scene included. It gives Dumbo a motivation, something to strive for, because without it, there really isn’t much.

There are other scenes that I seemed to have blocked out. The cruelty of the other elephants, which eventually devolves right into outright discrimination (“I wouldn’t eat at the same bale of hay with him”, one elephant snickers), which feels incredibly timely in the political state of our country. Also, the violence against animals depicted in the film feels extreme, even for today, let alone for 1941. It’s disturbing, but I think it’s meant to feel that way. If you can’t sympathize with the animals, then you won’t care about them.

Wildly psychedelic

Finally, I want to talk about my favorite sequence of the film, the “Pink Elephants on Parade” scene. First, it hit me on my viewing today that I can’t think of many other Disney films where drinking alcohol is so heavily implied. There’s nothing wrong with it, its just curious. The actual hallucinations themselves are spectacularly animated, and I get the feeling that the work done on the ‘Toccata and Fugue’ from Fantasia really helped flesh out this great section of experimental animation.

I don’t think Dumbo is a perfect movie, and I have to admit, as great as it is, it’s more forgettable to me than some other Disney films. I know it’s got a good fan base out there, though, so what do I know? Personally, I’ve never ridden an elephant, but I do think it’d be fun to ride a flying one…only for a moment, though.

FINAL GRADE: B-