Dumbo was a beautiful movie. It was as tear jerking as the original, if you’d never seen the original. If you had, and most of us have, you knew the scene where Dumbo’s mom is torn away from him and locked up was coming. It’s less of an impact having seen it prior. That being said, just like all the other Disney animated classics that have turned into live action movies so far, this movie was fun to watch come alive.
The computer animation of Dumbo himself was done very well. He’s wide-eyed and adorable. Also, the scene where there are dancing pink elephants was kept for the movie. If you remember, in the original, Dumbo and the mouse accidentally get drunk and see dancing pink elephants. This time, however, the movie makers left the alcohol out of it, and cute, little Dumbo gets even wider-eyed when seeing a circus performance for the first time. In it, a bubble making performance creates giant bubbles that Dumbo sees as big dancing elephants.
Even better, this movie kept the original song, Pink Elephants on Parade, playing during the scene. In a stroke of weirdness or genius, not sure which, as soon as you think the dancing elephants are all in sweet, little Dumbo’s imagination, DeVito says, “Pink elephants” in surprise.
That’s another neat thing about the movie, the soundtrack. Even though Tim Burton once again used his musical collaborator Danny Elfman, the two stayed true to the original movie. Many original Elfman songs are scattered throughout the movie, but the kept Pink Elephants on Parade and Baby of Mine. The latter played during Dumbo’s mom’s incarceration scene was creatively brought to this movie with one of the circus-folk singing it off scene while Dumbo tried hopelessly to get to his mother.
Also, as you begin to notice you have a scenario of Batman (Michael Keaton) vs Penguin (Danny DeVito) all over again as the heads of two circuses clash, you’ll see there are a number of new characters in this version of Dumbo. There are new plot lines as well.
The original Dumbo was made in 1941 and was only 64 minutes long. They probably thought kids wouldn’t sit through a long movie back then, who knows. This movie is 1 hour and 52 minutes long. So, naturally, to give you a bigger, longer movie, they had to add story and characters. Don’t worry, it fits, and it’s worth it.
You still have the story line of reaching your full potential and ignoring the bullying as Dumbo ignores the bullies about his ears and strives to learn to fly. However, you also have Colin Farrell’s family struggling with life in the circus after WWI and the death of their mother. Here’s where the movie gets beautiful. It perfectly captures the era. The nostalgia and romance of the old-timey circus. The mystique. The fun.
Additionally, DeVito runs the small circus where everyone seems to be part of a family. Then, the big, successful circus master, Keaton, comes in to buy everything out after hearing the wonders of the flying elephant. The seduction of money and power pull DeVito in Keaton’s direction, setting in motion the rest of the movie that is very fun to watch.
Rated: 4 out of 5 babies.
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