Created during a simpler, more innocent time in America when cynicism wasn't as rampant as it is today and sentimentality wasn't as shunned on screen as it is now, DUMBO remains one of Disney's simpler animated classics with a perky score and a number of catchy songs.
Among the numbers that I found delightful: "Look Out for Mr. Stork", "Casey Junior", "When I See An Elephant Fly", "Baby Mine", and the two standouts in animation technique: "Pink Elephants on Parade" (the film's most sophisticated bit of animation) and "The Song of the Roustabouts" which shows the men struggling to put up the circus tents during an oncoming storm.
The animation itself is more cartoon-like than Disney's earlier classics but intentionally so. In the brief span of 74 minutes, a lot of ground is covered in the story of an elephant with over-sized ears, his biggest defect, which is turned into his biggest asset by the film's end, thanks to a clever mouse named Timothy (voiced by Ed Brophy).
The "Roustabouts" number and the "Pink Elephants" sequence are two of the film's high points, thanks to masterful work by the artists and the clever background score.
While not in the same class with other Disney works of that era, DUMBO remains a consistently entertaining little film that should find a huge audience with its appeal to the very young as well as their elders. The music by Frank Churchill, Oliver Wallace and Ned Washington is really its major asset, aside from some very well crafted animation.
Among the numbers that I found delightful: "Look Out for Mr. Stork", "Casey Junior", "When I See An Elephant Fly", "Baby Mine", and the two standouts in animation technique: "Pink Elephants on Parade" (the film's most sophisticated bit of animation) and "The Song of the Roustabouts" which shows the men struggling to put up the circus tents during an oncoming storm.
The animation itself is more cartoon-like than Disney's earlier classics but intentionally so. In the brief span of 74 minutes, a lot of ground is covered in the story of an elephant with over-sized ears, his biggest defect, which is turned into his biggest asset by the film's end, thanks to a clever mouse named Timothy (voiced by Ed Brophy).
The "Roustabouts" number and the "Pink Elephants" sequence are two of the film's high points, thanks to masterful work by the artists and the clever background score.
While not in the same class with other Disney works of that era, DUMBO remains a consistently entertaining little film that should find a huge audience with its appeal to the very young as well as their elders. The music by Frank Churchill, Oliver Wallace and Ned Washington is really its major asset, aside from some very well crafted animation.