Dumbo, as you probably know if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past century, was a story originally written in 1938 by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl following Dumbo, an elephant born with large ears and ostracized by his peers for them. After he discovers that he can fly with them, he becomes the star of his circus and a national treasure. Before I dive deeper into the plot of the film, I’d like to show a little appreciation for the animation as an artist myself.
Let’s start out by saying that the animation in Dumbo is wonderful. While it’s a far cry from the animation of today, it holds its own with its simplicity and limited color scale, which might sound like disadvantages, but they make the movie easy to watch and give it an aura of nostalgia. Even with the limits of the time in which it was made, Dumbo managed to be experimental with the scenes and animation for the song “Pink Elephants on Parade”. The constantly changing shapes and colors matched the pacing and feel of the song, and every frame was visually unique while still making sense and having flow. The animation also helped with strengthening the hold Dumbo had on your heart, really ripping it to pieces in the “Baby Mine” song sequence, which I’ll dive into later.
Now that I’ve gotten out all of my love for the animation, we can move on to the plot and the cruel lesson it teaches. The movie starts with Dumbo’s Mom, Ms. Jumbo, finally getting her own stork delivery after ages of waiting and watching as her fellow circus animals got theirs. When her baby comes, she and the other elephants are all overjoyed at how adorable Dumbo (originally named Jumbo Jr.) is, but their adoration turns to mockery as soon as Dumbo sneezes and unveils his ears, earning the nickname we all know him by. Ms. Jumbo, however, isn't fazed and shields her baby from the snide remarks of the other elephants. At Dumbo’s first circus, he’s made fun of by a gang of boys, and when one of them goes too far and tugs at Dumbo’s ears, Ms. Jumbo scoops him up and gives him a well-deserved spanking. This, however, didn’t sit very well with the ringmaster and Ms. Jumbo is locked away in solitary confinement, leaving Dumbo all alone. This is where we meet Timothy Mouse, the one person there for Dumbo the entire movie, and where the clique of elephants completely shut him out. Timothy is Dumbo’s cheerleader, the PB to his J, his number one fan. He gets Dumbo a spot as the climax to a new act for the elephants, but when Dumbo falls and messes up the act, he’s demoted to being a clown, the lowest one can be in the circus. He and Timothy get drunk on accident after drinking some contaminated water, wake up in a tree, and with the help of a group of blackbirds they deduce that Dumbo flew up there, and with some training Dumbo learns to fly and wows the circus, becoming rich and famous.
While Dumbo might just seem like a short and simple children’s movie, it actually teaches an important lesson. Throughout the whole movie, Dumbo was ostracized, shunned, and bullied by everyone in the circus, with Timothy being his only friend. However, as soon as Dumbo starts bringing in money to the circus, his peers begin to respect him. The movie simply shows that if you’re different, you can’t have a place among “normal” people unless you prove you’re of use to them. The other thing it teaches is that there are people out there who will respect and show kindness to you regardless of whatever’s “wrong” with you and that those people can turn out to be one of your greatest assets. In simpler terms, find your Timothy and flip a bird to the rest of the world. Dumbo’s message is one of the best in Disney and will stay relevant forever.
While Dumbo is a great movie, it is not without its flaws. It was released into theatres in 1941 when blatant stereotyping against black people wasn’t considered wrong or out of the ordinary. The song “Song of The Roustabouts” pictures a group of black men setting up the circus with the help of the animals, with the men being called “hairy apes”. The obvious problem was the men being called apes, which was a common racist comparison that was made and is still made today, even in this “post-racial” generation. Another problem with the song was the men describing their terrible working conditions, saying they work all night and all day and that they don’t get paid. Disney has long been known for their problematic history, and while they have addressed the issue in Dumbo by having a twelve-second message, there have not been any statements made by official Disney representatives that I can find, unfortunately.
To conclude, Dumbo is easily one of the best Disney movies ever created. It holds a powerful message while keeping it short and simple, has great animation and lovable characters, and represents a time before Disney turned into a hulking, money-hungry beast of a corporation. It stands among my personal childhood relics as one of the greatest movies of all time, along with Bambi, and will remain there forever.
Now that I’ve gotten out all of my love for the animation, we can move on to the plot and the cruel lesson it teaches. The movie starts with Dumbo’s Mom, Ms. Jumbo, finally getting her own stork delivery after ages of waiting and watching as her fellow circus animals got theirs. When her baby comes, she and the other elephants are all overjoyed at how adorable Dumbo (originally named Jumbo Jr.) is, but their adoration turns to mockery as soon as Dumbo sneezes and unveils his ears, earning the nickname we all know him by. Ms. Jumbo, however, isn't fazed and shields her baby from the snide remarks of the other elephants. At Dumbo’s first circus, he’s made fun of by a gang of boys, and when one of them goes too far and tugs at Dumbo’s ears, Ms. Jumbo scoops him up and gives him a well-deserved spanking. This, however, didn’t sit very well with the ringmaster and Ms. Jumbo is locked away in solitary confinement, leaving Dumbo all alone. This is where we meet Timothy Mouse, the one person there for Dumbo the entire movie, and where the clique of elephants completely shut him out. Timothy is Dumbo’s cheerleader, the PB to his J, his number one fan. He gets Dumbo a spot as the climax to a new act for the elephants, but when Dumbo falls and messes up the act, he’s demoted to being a clown, the lowest one can be in the circus. He and Timothy get drunk on accident after drinking some contaminated water, wake up in a tree, and with the help of a group of blackbirds they deduce that Dumbo flew up there, and with some training Dumbo learns to fly and wows the circus, becoming rich and famous.
While Dumbo might just seem like a short and simple children’s movie, it actually teaches an important lesson. Throughout the whole movie, Dumbo was ostracized, shunned, and bullied by everyone in the circus, with Timothy being his only friend. However, as soon as Dumbo starts bringing in money to the circus, his peers begin to respect him. The movie simply shows that if you’re different, you can’t have a place among “normal” people unless you prove you’re of use to them. The other thing it teaches is that there are people out there who will respect and show kindness to you regardless of whatever’s “wrong” with you and that those people can turn out to be one of your greatest assets. In simpler terms, find your Timothy and flip a bird to the rest of the world. Dumbo’s message is one of the best in Disney and will stay relevant forever.
While Dumbo is a great movie, it is not without its flaws. It was released into theatres in 1941 when blatant stereotyping against black people wasn’t considered wrong or out of the ordinary. The song “Song of The Roustabouts” pictures a group of black men setting up the circus with the help of the animals, with the men being called “hairy apes”. The obvious problem was the men being called apes, which was a common racist comparison that was made and is still made today, even in this “post-racial” generation. Another problem with the song was the men describing their terrible working conditions, saying they work all night and all day and that they don’t get paid. Disney has long been known for their problematic history, and while they have addressed the issue in Dumbo by having a twelve-second message, there have not been any statements made by official Disney representatives that I can find, unfortunately.
To conclude, Dumbo is easily one of the best Disney movies ever created. It holds a powerful message while keeping it short and simple, has great animation and lovable characters, and represents a time before Disney turned into a hulking, money-hungry beast of a corporation. It stands among my personal childhood relics as one of the greatest movies of all time, along with Bambi, and will remain there forever.
Savannah Reed
