Post by StevePulaski on Mar 28, 2019 19:41:59 GMT -5
Dumbo (1941)
Directed by: Ben Sharpsteen, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, William Roberts, Jack Kinney, and Samuel Armstrong
Directed by: Ben Sharpsteen, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, William Roberts, Jack Kinney, and Samuel Armstrong
Rating: ★★★½
It began as a cynical idea: make a movie simply to get back in the black after the financial failure of an expensive and daring project. Just like that, however, it became Disney's first film in several years to turn a profit, and has since become an almost unanimously adored classic, surely to withstand another 70+ years of age and endless viewings by folks of all ages.
Of course I'm talking about Dumbo, a film that emerged from the ashes of Disney's financial flop Fantasia and was the first flick since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to make money for the now-global powerhouse. At 64 minutes, Dumbo barely qualifies as a feature-film; a "medium-length" one would be more applicable, but now we're just splitting hairs. It doesn't matter, at the end of the day. Dumbo accomplishes more in an hour than many animated features could hope to accomplish in two. Being that it is so short, every frame and minute count, and the barrage of directors and pioneering animators make sure not an instance goes to waste in what is a remarkably gorgeous, inspiring picture.
The film revolves around a baby elephant who is delivered by a stork in the opening minutes. He is named "Jumbo Jr." by his loving mother, but soon becomes the subject of joke and ridicule by a gaggle of elephants who mock the poor pachyderm for his oversized ears. Jumbo — who earns the ignominious nickname "Dumbo" almost immediately after being delivered — is cruelly bullied not only by his own species, but spectators who look on and laugh at his floppy ears. When his mother gets locked in solitary confinement for lashing out at a crowd, Dumbo is greeted by Timothy Q. Mouse (voiced by Edward Brophy), a slickster showman who sees a lot of potential in Dumbo as a circus act. The two befriend one another, and before long, Dumbo's gift of being able to fly comes out for all to enjoy, but namely for himself to embrace.
The first thing you might notice with Dumbo is how the titular character is able to move the story along, despite having many of the film's events done onto him as opposed to being a figure with agency. Much of the film is set into motion by Timothy, who gets Dumbo moving when his mother no longer can. In one peculiar sequence, Dumbo drinks a mixture of alcohol and water, which sends him into a hallucinogenic fever-dream that has the film turn into a surrealist fantasy with dancing pink elephants. In another, he is at first belittled but then greatly assisted by four crows, who are basically naked stereotypes of African-Americans (one is not-so-subtly named "Jim Crow"), but their roles transcend even many of the laughs and sneers Dumbo himself prompts at times.
Disney's earliest works often get the reputation for being bleeding heart, occasionally emotionally manipulative works, with mawkish orchestration and vibrant colors presumably geared to bring the child out in you. Dumbo has some of that; only a person of stone wouldn't possess even the slightest downturn in their smile seeing Dumbo shed tears when his mother, his only defender, is no longer by his side. But much of the film is notably unsettling, even scary in the sense that we follow Dumbo's uneasy journey through a fast-moving, remorseless world from his perspective. Not moments after he's un-swaddled from the stork's bag, he is a sideshow attraction exploited by those who don't care if he lives or dies from leaping dozens of feet into the air. It's a stark contrast from anyone (IE: myself) going in for the first time, expecting the story of a precious little elephant.
But much of Dumbo is indeed adorable. The rubbery animation (undoubtedly a work of the squash-and-stretch variety) makes even the most rotund elephants appear lanky and elastic in the gentle, warming way Disney's classics so often do. The enhanced score that guides us through long stretches of the film that lack dialog essentially have us as viewers gliding through a brisk-but-gently paced narrative as if we were flying through thin-air, just like Dumbo. The whole film is easy on the eyes, even when it's making them water.
As far as economical projects made to boost company morale and the bottom dollar are concerned, Dumbo soars higher than any expectations of a cash-grab would, as does its indelible legacy for Disney and impact on animation. It's another Disney classic that's reputation and simplistic story has made it a film more people know of and know about than have actually seen, I feel, but even with that assertion, an hour spent watching this film is hardly a tax when the time spent is rewarded with such a finely crafted, heartwarming little feature.
Voiced by: Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, and Verna Felton. Directed by: Ben Sharpsteen, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, William Roberts, Jack Kinney, and Samuel Armstrong.