Disney Movie Challenge: Dumbo (1941)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE 

DUMBO 

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020.

Disney lost a lot of money with Pinocchio and Fantasia and really needed a hit. After being convinced that Dumbo would be a good story he put it in production, but he wanted it done cheap and quick. One of the things he did was use new animators that were cheaper. Bambi was in production at the same time and he wanted to use the more experiences animators for that film. The animators used cheaper watercolors for the background which were far less detailed than Pinocchio. Disney also used simple recording techniques unlike the complicated and expensive system they put in place for Fantasia. The movie had a run time of only 64 minutes and is still one of the shortest Disney Animated Films. Despite the cheap and quick production the movie ended up being the huge hit Disney needed. 

Dumbo is about a baby elephant with large ears. He is constantly being made fun of and when his mother tries to protect him she is labeled as a "mad elephant" and locked in a cage. This leaves Dumbo alone and scared. A friendly mouse named Timothy comes along and befriends Dumbo and attempts to help Dumbo out. Timothy gets Dumbo to be a star of an act but when Dumbo trips on his big ears and messes up the whole act he gets sent to be part of the clown act. To cheer Dumbo up Timothy takes him to see his mom. After a heartfelt moment they return to the clown tent to drink some water. Unbeknownst to them, some champagne fell in the water and both Timothy and Dumbo got drunk. During their drunken stupor they see a pink elephant parade and when they wake up they are in a tree. This is where they meet some crows who realize that Dumbo can fly and that he only needs to believe. During his next show Dumbo amazes everyone at the circus with his flying abilities. He goes on to be the star of the show and at the end of the movie his mom is not locked up anymore and everything is great.

At 64 minutes this movie doesn’t waste any time. The story moves fast and we get everything we need to understand what is going on. The movie is a great example of less is more storytelling. The themes of Dumbo are relatable for anyone that has been bullied or made to feel different. The other elephants at the circus are always making fun of Dumbo. They are the ones that nickname him Dumbo as an insult (his real name given by his mother is Jumbo Jr.). After Dumbo gets sent to the clowns the other elephants even say “From now on, he is no longer an elephant”. It’s Timothy the mouse who is the only one that believes in Dumbo and tries everything to help him. Even the crows are moved by his story to help him out. Although making him believe in a magic feather may not have been the best strategy. All this leads to a very satisfying ending where he learns to believe in himself and becomes a star. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room (pun intended). Is the movie racist? There are many ways to interpret the film and many arguments have been made on both sides. It definitely has many outdated stereotypes when it comes to the crows, even going as far as naming one of them Jim Crow (that name has its own racist history). It’s clear that anyone watching the film back then knew that the crows were supposed to be black based on mannerisms and the way they talked. On the flip side the crows are the most sympathetic to Dumbo and maybe that was the point. As representation of the black race they can relate to feeling as outcasts and less than human. But still it is a cringe worthy scene in the film. The other part of the film that can be interpreted as racist is the "Song of the Roustabouts". There is a lyric in the song that goes “We slave until we’re almost dead We’re happy-hearted roustabouts”. The song is sung by faceless people of color in the rain. It’s very easy to interpret this song as painting slaves as happy being slaves (a similar complaint levied at Disney’s problematic “Song of the South”). I didn’t find anything on what the motivation of the song writers were, but to me it felt almost sarcastic. But again it is a problematic part of the film that did not age well. But despite these scenes the overall theme of the film is anti-racist. We see someone that is told they are less than others but discover that even they have something special they can contribute. Either way it is up to each person to interpret what they will about the film.

The last thing I want to mention is that during the making of Dumbo there was a five week animator strike that happened. This strike had a major effect on Disney and the animation business in general. The only thing I can find about how the strike specifically affected Dumbo was that some of the clowns were caricatures of some of the striking workers. The clowns also sing a song that goes

“Oh, we're gonna hit the big boss for a raise Yes, we're gonna hit the big boss for a raise Oh, we're gonna get more money 'cause we know that we're funny We're gonna hit the big boss for a raise”

This song seems to suggest that the animators still working on the film resented the strikers. On the flip side you can look at “The Song of the roustabouts” as a reference to poor working conditions and poor pay structure of the Disney machine. Again these are all up for interpretation and in my cursory research I couldn't find anything specific. If anyone has any sources that goes into this more feel free to share. OVERALL: I wrote more than I thought I would about one of the shortest films in the Disney cannon. But overall I liked this movie. The themes of bullying resonated with me. The story is efficiently told. There are problematic parts which are appropriate to talk about but I don't think tarnishes the whole film. I still think the Pink Elephant on Parade portion is an odd choice for a kids movie. Random Facts One of the few Disney movies where the main character doesn’t talk. Joke about people with big ears being famous was a poke at Clark Gable who was known for having big ears The last Disney movie to be released before U.S involvement in WWII. The most profitable movie Disney released in the 1940’s.