The Little Film That Could
Dumbo is what I consider a "signifigant" film in any number of ways. Which seems rather silly to say- if all the Disney films weren't significant in some way, I don't suppose I'd be reviewing them, but on we press! Here Disney sat, 1 for 3, in very real danger of bankruptcy and with really only 1 shot left to bail his studio out of ever-present financial dangers. The last two films he produced set the standard of artistic innovation yet remained unrelatable to contemporary audiences. So Walt put on the breaks and laid out two conditions for the next film: keep it simple and keep it cheap. Perhaps not the stipulations one would expect for a beloved masterpiece, but hey, this is Golden Age Disney and every pore still oozes with magic (plus I cheated and know it's gonna end well). So for starters, all backgrounds went back to watercolors for the last time in over 50 years. Oh how I wish there was never that movie that kept it from being forever, but we'll get there eventually, Elvis lovers. Yeah it was cheaper, but also so vibrant, so fresh and colorful and storybookish I can't imagine any other medium possibly coming close. The design was also drastically simplified- gone was the rigid, gorgeous arty animation, in came looseness and softness. Now any of these cutbacks could spell doom: I never advocate cheapness for cheapness sake. Ohhh, just you wait until we hit the dreaded Xerox era if you don't believe me. But what the artists took from these constraints and molded with their immeasurable talents cannot be praised highly enough. They replaced icy high animation with warm, visceral storytelling and relatable characters. The time they saved in details they invested in character animation: Dumbo is utterly expressive without any voice: we understand his plight completely through nothing but pantomime. Gosh, I am getting carried away with myself. So anyways, the film got made- and here's my favourite just completely Disney part of the whole tale. Dumbo's other cost-cutting factor was the emaciated running time, I'm talking 64 minutes from start to end. Well RKO wasn't too pleased so they gave Walt an ultimatum: either cut it to a short, add more runtime or release it as a B movie. Well Walt being exactly the genius that he was, said none of the above, this is feature film, A-list material and that is how it will be released. Can you imagine that? Of course you can! Haven't you learned anything from your wholesome Disney upbringing? Psh.
Ok ok, so can I get to the actual film now? The pacing is tight, the scant runtime absolutely flies by, but is always enrapturing. The story is just so sweet, and incidentally, this was the first film for Disney set in contemporary times, though I will admit not the one to take the most advantage of the setting. Here, it still seems to be something of folk tales, having an almost mythic quality. The characters are all well done, though oddly there were no voice acting credits. But that's what IMDb is for. Sterling Holloway makes his first Disney appearance here as the stork, as does Verna Felton. Perhaps the most surprising of all is Cliff Edwards as, ahem, Jim Crow, completely unrecognizable from his role as Jiminy Cricket. And yes, I suppose the crows should be addressed. Racism was not as absent from Disney as the notorious self-sanitizing histories would have you believe (just check out the Fantasia review), and yeah the crows are a pretty blatant stereotype. There isn't much way around it, however, I will stand in defense that though regrettable, it was not a mean-spirited, or even particularly negative portrayal. It's quite true that the crows are, Timothy excepting, the only ones to accept Dumbo and find worth in him. Who would you rather have as friends, the crows or the elephants? Plus they have the best (well, maybe second best if you like crying) song in the movie.
And this movie has a heap of great songs. Of course there is Baby Mine, the emotional centerpiece, the one where you are obliged to boo-hoo simply to prove you have a heart. And it is a cruel, beautiful segment. When I See an Elephant Fly is really, really good too. I cannot believe the raucous song was sung by the same man who so sweetly crooned When You Wish Upon a Star. The others are perfectly good too.... and then there's Pink Elephants on Parade. Orchestrated as an elaborate drunk dream, but played out like the baby was tripping on acid (as if drunk baby elephants weren't bad enough), this is the stuff of nightmares. Disney has had its share of absolutely terrifying sequences, and I'm pretty sure every movie I come to will get a new label of most psychologically damaging, but seriously, THIS is some wacked-out mess. I don't know how, and I especially don't want to know why, but Norm Ferguson, supervisor for that sequence, rove the land somewhere between genius and utter lunacy.
All in All, Dumbo is a warm, cute cute cute, and yet utterly sincere movie. Frankly, you can be as corny as you wish, utterly drive me insane with syrup if must, and I will eat it all up if you can convince me you are sincere (Therein lies my beef with child actors in general- a whole lot of cutesy without a drop of sincerity. Give me a sincere pumpkin patch, Charlier Brown!). Those who follow in its footsteps will utilize the strength of homey storytelling and gestural characterization in varying degrees of sincerity, for it is a formula that works- when done well. Perhaps Dumbo has not the most agressive of storylines in the Disney vault and paved the way for bad habits in films that handled constrained budgets without the grace of this one, but I cannot judge it too harshly. In a time when the struggling studio was ready to fly or fail, this little wonder glided straight to the bank.
If only I could leave it there, a happy tale of a company that regained its footing and continued to make wonderfully brilliant movies in a magic kingdom until eternity. Unfortunately, within Dumbo's production was one last pivotal moment, one that would bring the family to an end. In May of 1941, the majority of the studio's animators went on strike. Justified they might have been in their claims, but it cut Walt to the quick, and he is, after all, the hero in this tale. Not to say he was perfect, but if I must choose protagonists, there is none more worthy of my overwhelmingly undue affections. And eventually the issue was resolved and the animators came back, but it was never the same. The family atmosphere had been destroyed: it was no longer Uncle Walt and his boys, it was Mr. Disney, the boss, and his staff. Gosh, this is sad stuff, but there is hope! Bambi, the last of the Golden Age films, was actually already in production before Dumbo was shuttled in and out, and though the strike certainly affected it, the ultimate results would not be felt for one last film.
Quote of the Film:
-Did you ever see an elephant fly?
-Well, I've seen a horse fly.
-Ah, I've seen a dragon fly.
-Hee-hee. I've seen a house fly.
My Rating:
8/10********
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