"Dumbo" Diamond Edition: This Blu-ray Really Soars
Dumbo is a short, straightforward, unpretentious film made during a time of crisis at the Walt Disney Studios, and it is one of the best movies they ever produced. Based on a novelty children's book by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, Dumbo is another Disney adaptation that has entirely eclipsed its source material. Despite its origins as a film that Uncle Walt expanded from a short to a feature, Dumbo is the first film in the history of the studio that doesn't feel like several short films stitched together, as Snow White and Pinocchio did. It also has the most emotionally satisfying story arc of those early films, perhaps due to its increased narrative coherence. Unlike all of its contemporaries (which also include Fantasia and Bambi , the latter of which was being made concurrently with Dumbo ), Dumbo had low aspirations and wasn't trying to make "art," and yet its artistic merit is still tremendous, especially with one famed sequence that may demonstrate "animation as art" better than any other done before or since. I was rather excited to hear that it would be emerging from the Disney Vault in a Blu-ray Diamond Edition, and the final product exceeds all my expectations. The loving care and restoration on this new release gives this gem of a movie the presentation it deserves. The title character of Dumbo is a baby elephant delivered to the circus elephant Mrs. Jumbo. Unfortunately for Dumbo, his oversized ears make him the target of teasing, derision, and rejection by everyone other than his mother and the plucky circus mouse Timothy. After a string of humiliations, Dumbo discovers that he can fly using his ears as wings, turning the source of his troubles into the source of his success. At heart, it's a familiar story, but one rarely told with as much charm and warmth. It's quite easy to believe the anecdotes that Dumbo lead animator Bill Tytla modeled Dumbo after his then two-year old son.Crows From Dumbo - News
Other voice actors include the perennial Sterling Holloway in a cameo role as Mr. Stork, and Cliff Edwards, better known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket, as Jim Crow, the ringleader of the crows. None of the actors whose voices were used in Dumbo
Jiminy himself appears late in the film (or, at least, his voice actor Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards does) as the leader of a gang of crows who convince Dumbo to take flight for the first time. The crows are occasionally targeted for being a broad
It's been covered ad nauseum ever since people started viewing Disney movies with a critical lens for historical messages, but considering the role the crows play at the climactic realization of Dumbo's knack for flying, it's hard to ignore the overtly
"Dumbo" could be Disney's first big-name contender, featuring faceless African-American workers who don't say anything as well as all black, seemingly uneducated crows, symbolizing African-Americans in the '40s. Watching "Dumbo" as a little girl,
Toward the end, when Dumbo is down and feeling particularly vulnerable (he is suffering from a hangover after accidentally getting drunk) a group of crows arrive to chide, and then champion, the amiable animal. Featuring a funny song about elephants
Dumbo Blu-ray Review | Hi-Def Ninja
First released in 1941, Walt Disney’s Dumbo remains a timeless classic. Through the adventures of a young elephant born with ears bigger than his body, children of all ages (and adults too!) can learn to celebrate the individual differences that make all humans and animals uniquely special. With the help of his friends, Dumbo learns how to turn his supposed handicap into something extraordinary. And now that Dumbo is being released on BluRay for its 70th anniversary, we can all experience this heartwarming story again and be reminded that we don’t need magic to do something magical.
The film begins with Mrs. Jumbo looking longingly into the sky as storks deliver little babies to all of the other animals at the circus. However, her miserable night turns into a joyous morning when an absent-minded stork shows up the next day with a special delivery for the expectant mom. Mrs. Jumbo unwraps her bundle to find a gorgeous newborn elephant calf, perfect in every way but with some rather large ears. The other circus elephants are a bunch of snarky old ladies who ridicule the poor little guy relentlessly and call him Dumbo (his real name is Jumbo, Jr.).
Dumbo and his mom do their best to avoid the ridicule but one day Mrs. Jumbo jumps to her son’s defense in a circus tent crowded with people and she is put in solitary confinement. Dumbo is inconsolable without his mother until he meets Timothy Q. Mouse who becomes a fast friend and comfort to the little elephant. With the guidance of Timothy and some friendly crows, Dumbo learns to believe in himself and how to use his ears to fly! Soon he’s reunited with his mom and becomes the envy of the circus and the entire world.
Not only is the story of Dumbo heartwarming, but it provides some of the most memorable music ever from a Disney film. There is the unbelievably touching “Baby Mine” that Mrs. Jumbo sings to her son while cradling him through the bars of her prison. In contrast to that is the outrageously psychedelic “Pink Elephants on Parade” that Dumbo sees performed in his imagination while he’s drunk! And of course, there is the indispensible “When I See An Elephant Fly”, performed by the crows.