A classic and a surprisingly enjoyable remake, both starring our favorite elephant.
Dumbo (2019; Disney+, soundtrack on Hoopla)
A struggling circus troupe acquires a friendly, big-eared baby elephant who might give them a new lease on life. Watch this movie, but don’t make the mistake I made. When my mom and I were going to see this in the theater, we decided to watch the original classic the night before. Then in the theater, all I could see in this movie was the ways it wasn’t doing what the 1940 film did. But happily, it’s not supposed to. Like Cruella (2021) or even The Jungle Book (2016), this “remake” is a different story, with different characters.
The story is entertaining, and the characters are warm. It’s not the tragic angst we get in the unparalleled classic (discussed below). It’s a family-friendly comedy with children alongside Colin Ferrell, Michael Keaton, and Danny DeVito. Rarely do I go to the theater to see a movie with actors I know (because I know so few contemporary actors)! This recognizable cast grants us a little of that Mary Poppins—or dare I say in the same sentence, Space Jam?—magic, where animation and children join top-notch adult actors for a grand time. Beautiful costumes, too.
Dumbo (1940; Disney+, soundtrack on Hoopla)
A baby elephant is separated from his mother’s love as his society scorns his nonconformity: two enormous ears! It’s hard to find a kid’s movie with a wider range of raw emotions. All five original Disney features do this (Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi), but here the moving songs, colorful animation, and extremely cute protagonist make it pop. We’re not sure what to feel as cartoon cuteness meets a motherless baby rocking himself back and forth in front of the prison-bar-like circus tent background. We’re not sure how to laugh when the clowns run amuck doing cartoon antics at the expense of our silent protagonist’s dignity. And what’s with that surrealist “Pink Elephants” scene!?
I am amazed how long this movie takes establishing its world. We see the giraffes, the monkeys, the lions, the hippopotami getting in and out of the train. We root for the train itself as it struggles over the mountain. We see the hired hands setting up the circus tent in an intense rainstorm. These scenes move the plot perhaps a centimeter forward. But they have an unspoken effect, a sort of box of wonders combined with the slow burn of suspense generating as we anticipate whether our newborn protagonist and his mother will succeed. This movie is a circus, and there’s something for everyone. And somehow, it all fits into 63 minutes.
As with Rudolph (an apt comparison), let’s openly address the, um, elephants in the room. First, our heroes accidentally get drunk, leading to some bubbly humor and those terrifying, singing specters in pink. But the biggest flack this movie gets regards its stereotypical representation of black Americans. First, there are the roustabouts, who set up the tent singing about their “happy-hearted” work amidst their poverty. But for me, something in these minor-key lyrics isn’t so simple. These sound like complicated people who have so little place in society that we only get to see them in a darkness that hides their faces—and who care about how their work makes children happy. There are people of color in the marching band, too. It’s not a lot, but like the everyday postwar visibility of disability in the 2019 remake, this everyday presence of people of color pushes the envelope in 1940.
This is doubly true for the crows in the final scenes. Now, their dances, their grammar, and their casting as crows are rather stereotypical. But they’re also nuanced, intelligent characters who can tear our protagonists down and then build them up at will. In story terms, these are key figures. And could the movie be suggesting that Dumbo is not the only sympathetic but disregarded social outcast in this story?
I’ll let you decide how you interpret the African American voices and silences in Dumbo. Maybe I’m overstretching it, something like Arthur Jafa’s self-conscious but creative reading of 2001: A Space Odyssey. At any rate, I’ll leave you with a little trivia. Notice the name “Walt Kelly” in the animator credits. Kelly went on to create the Pogo comic strip, but what did he contribute to Dumbo? Answer: the scene where Dumbo’s mother punishes the boys bullying her son.
Coming Up…
As we enter Black History Month, get ready for a full line-up of great movies featuring black protagonists!