The shortest all-animated feature Disney ever made and my only regret is that it's not just a few minutes longer and that Dumbo's new-found success is illustrated only by three newspaper headlines when a few shots of Dumbo being chased by adoring fans or handing out autographs would have been most welcome. However, that's purely a personal opinion. Most people love the film exactly the way it is. And (aside from wishing it were just that mite longer), I do too.
Oddly, my enthusiasm for Dumbo is a new-born thing. Many times I saw it as a child. I enjoyed the gossipy elephants ("Listen, girls, have I got a trunk-full of dirt?"), but I found many aspects of the film too grotesque for enjoyment - Dumbo himself; the clowns; particularly the "Pink Elephants"; even the circus train. As an adult, I enjoy these characters enormously. I revel in the inventiveness and wit of the drawing, I applaud the innovations of a more abstract, less formal Disney, I enjoy the polish and sophistication, the sly humor and satiric edge of the dialogue. Most of all, I gambol deliriously along with the songs, so consistently clever in lyrics ("I've seen a peanut stand, I've heard a diamond ring, but I've never seen an elephant fly!") and so catchily scored, who could resist?
The answer is - children. If ever Disney made a cartoon that will appeal mostly to adults, Dumbo is it. No wonder Bosley Crowther went overboard in praise (all of it justly deserved)! No wonder Dumbo made the New York Times Ten Best Films of 1941.
Admittedly, there are many grotesque elements in Disney's other feature cartoons which would repulse, terrify or antagonize children. Normally these are counter¬balanced by an overdose of moralizing, by dreary stretches of sweetness and light. But Dumbo is uncompromisingly pragmatic. Its view of self-seeking self-fulfillment is undiluted by sentiment, strengthened by satire. Aside from Timothy Q. Mouse, the stork, Mrs Jumbo and Dumbo himself, the human and animal characters are either malicious (the elephants) or venal (the clowns, the ring¬master). Of the "good" characters, the stork is too earnestly stupid and Mrs Jumbo too possessively simple-minded to elicit much sympathy - and even Timothy and Dumbo are often viewed primarily as simple figures of fun.
No child could appreciate the gentle mockery of Dumbo in which clowns are presented as an uncomfortable mirror image of adults, and cartoon children are unflinchingly drawn as loutish brats.
From a technical viewpoint, Dumbo represents the Disney craftsmen at the apex of their powers. From the timing of the visual gags to the swift editing of the fall of the pachyderms, from the brilliant atmosphere and color of the backgrounds and effects to the faultless dubbing of voice and song, from the clever characterizations of humans, animals and train to the amusing artistry of inventive surrealism on parade, Dumbo is a masterpiece.
Oddly, my enthusiasm for Dumbo is a new-born thing. Many times I saw it as a child. I enjoyed the gossipy elephants ("Listen, girls, have I got a trunk-full of dirt?"), but I found many aspects of the film too grotesque for enjoyment - Dumbo himself; the clowns; particularly the "Pink Elephants"; even the circus train. As an adult, I enjoy these characters enormously. I revel in the inventiveness and wit of the drawing, I applaud the innovations of a more abstract, less formal Disney, I enjoy the polish and sophistication, the sly humor and satiric edge of the dialogue. Most of all, I gambol deliriously along with the songs, so consistently clever in lyrics ("I've seen a peanut stand, I've heard a diamond ring, but I've never seen an elephant fly!") and so catchily scored, who could resist?
The answer is - children. If ever Disney made a cartoon that will appeal mostly to adults, Dumbo is it. No wonder Bosley Crowther went overboard in praise (all of it justly deserved)! No wonder Dumbo made the New York Times Ten Best Films of 1941.
Admittedly, there are many grotesque elements in Disney's other feature cartoons which would repulse, terrify or antagonize children. Normally these are counter¬balanced by an overdose of moralizing, by dreary stretches of sweetness and light. But Dumbo is uncompromisingly pragmatic. Its view of self-seeking self-fulfillment is undiluted by sentiment, strengthened by satire. Aside from Timothy Q. Mouse, the stork, Mrs Jumbo and Dumbo himself, the human and animal characters are either malicious (the elephants) or venal (the clowns, the ring¬master). Of the "good" characters, the stork is too earnestly stupid and Mrs Jumbo too possessively simple-minded to elicit much sympathy - and even Timothy and Dumbo are often viewed primarily as simple figures of fun.
No child could appreciate the gentle mockery of Dumbo in which clowns are presented as an uncomfortable mirror image of adults, and cartoon children are unflinchingly drawn as loutish brats.
From a technical viewpoint, Dumbo represents the Disney craftsmen at the apex of their powers. From the timing of the visual gags to the swift editing of the fall of the pachyderms, from the brilliant atmosphere and color of the backgrounds and effects to the faultless dubbing of voice and song, from the clever characterizations of humans, animals and train to the amusing artistry of inventive surrealism on parade, Dumbo is a masterpiece.