Dumbo is a 1941 Americananimated movie. It was produced byWalt Disney Productions. It was first released on October 23, 1941 byRKO Radio Pictures. The fourth movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics,Dumbo is based upon a child's book of the same name by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl. The main character is Jumbo Jr., a babyelephant who is cruelly nicknamed Dumbo. He is ridiculed for his bigears, but in fact he is capable offlying by using them aswings. Throughout most of the movie, his only true friend aside from his mother is themouse Timothy, making fun of thestereotype between mice and elephants.Dumbo was made to make up for the damages ofPinocchio andFantasia. The movie has been criticized in recent years as being "racist" (the leader crow in the movie was named "Jim Crow" and at some point around the 1950s was renamed "Dandy Crow" in attempt to avoid controversy,[1] but the original name is still the one mostly known, although it was supposed to be just a sarcastic mockery to theJim Crow laws in theSouthern USA back then and was used only on the character's model sheets[2]), yet is also considered to be one of Disney's best movies. It was an attempt to besimple and make profits for the Disney studio, is now generally regarded as a classic of animation. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney's shortest animated features. Taking place in 1941,Dumbo was the first Disney animated movie to be set in modern times.
Florida, 1941. A circus elephant named Mrs. Jumbo sadly looks on how babies are delivered by storks to other circus animals. 1 morning, when the animals leave for the circus, Mrs. Jumbo's baby is eventually delivered by a stork who arrived late. As even a baby elephant makes a pretty heavy package, hers is the last to arrive, but soon becomes the laughing stock of the others because of his big ears, getting meanly named "Dumbo" by the others. When Mrs. Jumbo can not take the public making fun of her son, she is locked up as "mad elephant" and Dumbo finds himself all alone. A mouse named Timothy comes and scares the mean herd. He encourages Dumbo and tells the circus director to make Dumbo the top (literally) of an elephant pyramid stunt which ends up literally bringing the house down and Dumbo is given the job of "baby clown" in a repetitive, humiliating and dangerous number as punishment. To cheer Dumbo up, Timothy brings him to go see his mother. The next morning, they find themselves up in a tree with a bunch of crows, who discover that Dumbo can fly.
In the movie, Dumbo is delivered by Mr.Stork and is made fun of for the strange size of his ears. As his mother, Mrs. Jumbo, beats up the bullies who pick on her baby, the ringmaster has his helpers chain her up and lock her up in a trailer, which says: "MAD ELEPHANT". It is then that Timothy Q. Mouse looks after Dumbo. The two of them try to make Dumbo famous and get his mother free. Thanks to the help of a "magicfeather" from somecrows, Dumbo flies to fame and gets hismother free.
Timothy Q. Mouse is amouse who became the only friend of elephants Dumbo and his mother Mrs. Jumbo. He teaches Dumbo how to become the ninth wonder of the universe and the only flying elephant in the whole world. His name was revealed at the end of the movie.
Mrs. Jumbo is Dumbo's mother. Deeply depressed at not having her baby delivered, she loves her son more than anything. She becomes angry when the boys pick on him.
Casey Junior is an anthropomorphic circus train. He is happy-go-lucky and rather brave, because of his capability of going up a high hill. Although Casey Junior has a face, he speaks with his whistle. His name was mentioned in his theme song. Casey Junior was voiced by Margaret Wright through a Sonovox. He previously appeared as the main character in The Reluctant Dragon, originally voiced by Frances Gifford. In fact, Casey Junior was the first Disney animated character to appear in a non-Disney Canon movie (Dumbo was in production at the time, when The Reluctant Dragon was released).
Other characters include the other elephants who also make fun of Dumbo, the Ringmaster, the clowns of the circus, the Pink Elephants, Mr. Stork and the Crows who give Dumbo the "magic feather" and teach him to fly.
Even thoughWorld War II was going on,Dumbo was still the most financially successful Disney movie of the 1940s. This was one of the first of Disney'sanimated movies to be broadcast, albeit severely edited, ontelevision, as part of Disney'santhology series. The movie then received another distinction of note in 1981, when it was the first of Disney's canon ofanimated movies to be released onhome video and also was released in theWalt Disney Classics Video Collection in 1985. That release was followed by remastered versions in: 1986, 1989, 1991 (Classics), and 1994 (Masterpiece). In 2001, a 60th Anniversary Special Edition was released that has original RKO titles. In 2006, a "Big Top Edition" of the movie was released on DVD that also has original RKO titles. A UK Special Edition was released in May 2007 and was a successful Disney release.
The movie received very good reviews and did well at the box office despite being released less than 2 months beforeWorld War II.
It also has been known as both a classic and a masterpiece, and has received a Special Edition 60th AnniversaryDisney DVD on October 23, 2001, exatly 60 years after its first release. That release featured a sneak peek of adirect-to-video sequel called Dumbo 2. The preview showed a lot of sketches and storyboard ideas. The main story has to do with Dumbo and his new friends getting separated from the rest of the circus as they wonder into the big city. Dumbo's new friends are Claude and Lolly the twin bears who leave chaos everywhere they go, Dot the curious zebra, Godfrey the hippo who is older and wants to do things for himself, and Penny the adventurous ostrich. Timothy returns as well. The story was supposed to be as if the first Dumbo ended and this one started the next day. The project seems to have been canceled,as no further announcements have been made since, plus the fact that The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning,Tinker Bell, and its sequels, were to be the last projests forDisneyToon Studios.
The crow characters in the movie are often seen asAfrican-Americanstereotypes.The leader crow voiced byCliff Edwards was originally named "Jim Crow" for script purposes. The other crows are all voiced by African-American actors and singers, all members of theHall Johnson Choir:Nick Stewart,James Baskett,Jim Carmichael andHall Johnson. The late famous duo of African-American dancers Freddie and Eugene Jackson were invited and hired by Disney to work as live-action reference and models for the animators of the characters, like the chief-animator and Disney LegendWard Kimball, improvising dances and movements then used in the iconic musical sequence "When I See An Elephant Fly". Despite suggestions of racism by writers likeRichard Schickel, many historians, critics, writers, pundits and personalities such asJohn Grant,Leonard Maltin,John Canemaker,Floyd Norman,Eric Goldberg,Alex Wainer,Michael Wilmington,Whoopi Goldberg andNeal Gabler reject these claims. For instance, the crows are noted as forming the majority of the characters in the movie who are empathetic and sympathetic to Dumbo's plight (the others are Timothy Q. Mouse and Mrs Jumbo), they are free spirits who serve nobody, and intelligent characters aware of the power of self-confidence and of what means being ostracized and marginalized, unlike theStepin Fetchit stereotype common at that time and in the previous decade. Furthermore, their song "When I See An Elephant Fly" is more orientated to mocking Timothy Mouse than Dumbo's large ears.
Happy to Help: (ISBN0-7364-1129-1) A picture bookDisney Press byRandom House Disney, written byLiane Onish, illustrated byPeter Emslie. It was published January 23, 2001, this paperback is for children age 4-8. Twenty-four pages long, its 0.08 inches thick, and with cover dimensions of 7.88 x 7.88 inches.
(ISBN0-307-12397-9) A book published in September 1993 byGolden Press under theA Golden Sturdy Shape Book brand. Illustrated byPeter Emslie and written by Diane Muldrow, this book is meant for babies and preschoolers. Twelve pages long and half an inch thick, this book's cover size is 9.75 x 6.25 inches.
