Dumbo
is a 1941 American
animated movie
. It was produced by
Walt Disney Productions
. It was first released on October 23, 1941 by
RKO 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 Perl. The main character is Jumbo Jr., a baby
elephant
who is cruelly nicknamed Dumbo. He is ridiculed for his big
ears
, but in fact he is capable of
flying
by using them as
wings
. Throughout most of the movie, his only true friend aside from his mother is the
mouse
Timothy, making fun of the
stereotype
between mice and elephants.
Dumbo
was made to make up for the damages of
Pinocchio
and
Fantasia
. 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 the
Jim Crow laws
in the
Southern 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 be
simple
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. Mrs. Jumbo sadly looks on how babies are delivered by the stork to other circus animals. 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.
- Based on the Book by:
Helen Aberson
and
Harold Pearl
- Supervising Director:
Ben Sharpsteen
- Screen Story by:
Joe Grant
and
Dick Huemer
- Story Direction:
Otto Englander
- Sequence Directors:
Norman Ferguson
,
Wilfred Jackson
,
Bill Roberts
,
Jack Kinney
,
Samuel Armstrong
- Animation Directors:
Bill Tytla
,
Fred Moore
,
Ward Kimball
,
John Lounsbery
,
Art Babbitt
,
Wolfgang Reitherman
- Story Development:
Bill Peet
,
Aurelius Battaglia
,
Joe Rinaldi
,
Vernon Stallings
,
Webb Smith
- Character Designs:
John P. Miller
,
Martin Provensen
,
John Walbridge
,
James Bodrero
,
Maurice Noble
,
Elmer Plummer
- Music:
Frank Churchill
and
Oliver Wallace
- Lyrics:
Ned Washington
- Orchestration:
Edward H. Plumb
- Art Direction:
Herbert Ryman
,
Kendall O'Connor
,
Terrell Stapp
,
Don DaGradi
,
Al Zinnen
,
Ernie Nordli
,
Dick Kelsey
,
Charles Payzant
- Backgrounds:
Claude Coats
,
Al Dempster
,
John Hench
,
Gerald Nevius
,
Ray Lockrem
,
Joe Stahley
- Animation:
Hugh Fraser
,
Harvey Toombs
,
Milt Neil
,
Hicks Lokey
,
Howard Swift
,
Don Towsley
,
Les Clark
,
Claude Smith
,
Bernard Wolf
,
Jack Campbell
,
Walt Kelly
,
Don Patterson
,
Cy Young
,
Ray Patterson
,
Grant Simmons
,
Joshua Meador
,
William Shull
,
Art Palmer
Uncredited crewmen:
Dumbo
is the main character in the movie. He is a fictional
anthropomorphic
elephant
who has really big
ears
. He can
fly
using his big ears. Similar to Dopey from
Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
and Gideon in
Pinocchio
, Dumbo has no spoken dialogue. However, in the
live-action
/
puppet
television series
Dumbo's Circus
, Dumbo was voiced by Katie Leigh.
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 "magic
feather
" from some
crows
, Dumbo flies to fame, and gets his
mother
free.
Timothy Q. Mouse
is a
mouse
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.
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 though
World 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's
animated movies
to be broadcast, albeit severely edited, on
television
, as part of Disney's
anthology series
. The movie then received another distinction of note in 1981, when it was the first of Disney's canon of
animated movies
to be released on
home video
and also was released in the
Walt 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.
Country
|
Premiere
|
United States
|
October 23, 1941
|
Brazil
|
November 17, 1941
|
Nicaragua
|
December 24, 1941
|
United Kingdom
|
February 8, 1942
|
Canada
|
March 31, 1942
|
Chile
|
May 23, 1942
|
Australia
|
June 4, 1942
|
Ireland
|
June 5, 1942
|
Mexico
|
July 9, 1942
|
Argentina
|
August 10, 1942
|
Portugal
|
November 30, 1942
|
Sweden
|
September 16, 1946
|
Belgium
|
April 25, 1947
|
France
|
October 25, 1947
|
Norway
|
December 26, 1947
|
Denmark
|
June 25, 1948
|
Hong Kong
|
August 19, 1948
|
Colombia
|
September 16, 1948
|
Finland
|
October 1, 1948
|
Italy
|
October 2, 1948
|
-
Argentinian in
Chilean Spanish
|
October 15, 1948
(
Dumbo
)
|
Poland
|
October 23, 1949
|
Netherlands
|
July 25, 1951
|
West Germany
|
April 8, 1952
|
Austria
|
May 22, 1953
|
Japan
|
March 12, 1954
|
Lebanon
|
May 14, 1968
|
Kuwait
|
October 14, 1986
|
- October 23, 1941 (original release)
- May 25, 1949 (the final RKO release)
- June 6, 1959 (the first Buena Vista release)
- June 3, 1977
- Brazil
: November 17, 1941
- Argentina
: December 24, 1941
- United Kingdom
: February 8, 1942
- Canada
: March 31, 1942
- Australia
: June 4, 1942
- Mexico
: July 9, 1942
- Portugal
: January 27, 1944
- Spain
: September 25, 1944 (
Madrid
)
- Spain
: December 14, 1944 (
Barcelona
)
- Sweden
: September 16, 1946
- Netherlands
: April 25, 1947
- Belgium
: April 25, 1947
- France
: October 25, 1947
- Norway
: December 26, 1947
- Denmark
: June 25, 1948
- Hong Kong
: August 19, 1948
- Colombia
: September 16, 1948
- Finland
: October 1, 1948
- Italy
: October 2, 1948
- Argentinian in
Chilean Spanish
: October 15, 1948
- Poland
: October 23, 1949
- West Germany
: April 8, 1952
- Austria
: May 22, 1953
- Japan
: March 13, 1954
- Philippines
: September 28, 1955
- Israel
: January 21, 1967
- Lebanon
: May 14, 1968
- Iraq
: October 18, 1979
- Kuwait
: October 14, 1986
- Chad
: January 12, 1989
- China
: July 12, 1989 (
Beijing
)
- June 4, 1982, 1981 (
VHS
and
Betamax
)
- June 4, 1982 (
Laserdisc
)
- December 3, 1986 (
VHS
and
Betamax
- 45th Anniversary-
Walt Disney Classics
)
- July 13, 1990
VHS
and
Laserdisc
-
Walt Disney Classics
- May 3, 1991 (
VHS
and
Laserdisc
- 50th Anniversary Edition -
Walt Disney Classics
)
- October 28, 1994 (
VHS
and
Laserdisc
-
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection
)
- August 17, 1999
VHS
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection
- October 23, 2001 (
VHS
and
DVD
-
60th Anniversary Edition
)
- June 6, 2006 (
DVD
- Big Top Edition)
- September 20, 2011
Blu-Ray
and
DVD
- 70th Anniversary Edition
- April 26, 2016
Blu-Ray
- 75th Anniversary Edition
The movie received very good reviews and did well at the box office despite being released less than 2 months before
World War II
.
It also has been known as both a classic and a masterpiece, and has received a Special Edition 60th Anniversary
Disney DVD
on October 23, 2001, exatly 60 years after its first release. That release featured a sneak peek of a
direct-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 for
DisneyToon Studios
.
The crow characters in the movie are often seen as
African-American
stereotypes
.
The leader crow voiced by
Cliff Edwards
was originally named "
Jim Crow
" for script purposes. The other crows are all voiced by African-American actors and singers, all members of the
Hall Johnson Choir
:
Nick Stewart
,
James Baskett
,
Jim Carmichael
and
Hall 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 Legend
Ward Kimball
, improvising dances and movements then used in the iconic musical sequence "When I See An Elephant Fly". Despite suggestions of racism by writers like
Richard Schickel
, many historians, critics, writers, pundits and personalities such as
John Grant
,
Leonard Maltin
,
John Canemaker
,
Floyd Norman
,
Eric Goldberg
,
Alex Wainer
,
Michael Wilmington
,
Whoopi Goldberg
and
Neal 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 the
Stepin 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.
- Main Title (01:47)
- Look Out For Mister
Stork
(02:16)
- Loading The Train / Casey Junior / Stork On A Cloud / Straight From Heaven / Mother And Baby (04:58)
- Song Of The Roustabouts (02:38)
- Circus Parade (01:28)
- Bathtime / Hide And Seek (01:31)
- Ain't That The Funniest Thing / Berserk / Dumbo Shunned / A Mouse! / Dumbo And Timothy (03:23)
- The Pyramid Of Pachyderms (01:58)
- No Longer An Elephant / Dumbo's Sadness / A Visit In The Night / Baby Mine (03:34)
- Clown Song (01:00)
- Hiccups / Firewater / Bubbles / Did You See That? / Pink Elephants On Parade (06:07)
- Up A Tree / The Fall / Timothy's Theory (01:32)
- When I See An Elephant Fly (01:48)
- You Oughta Be Ashamed (01:10)
- The Flight Test / When I See An Elephant Fly (Reprise) (00:57)
- Save My Child / The Threshold Of Success / Dumbo's Triumph / Making History / Finale (02:14)
- Spread Your Wing (Demo Recording) (01:08)
- Baby Mine (Betty Noyes)
- Casey Junior (The Sportsmen)
- Look Out for Mr. Stork (The Sportsmen)
- Song of the Roustabouts (The King's Men)
- The Clown Song (A.K.A."We're gonna hit the big boss for a rise") (Billy Bletcher, Eddie Holden and Billy Sheets)
- Pink Elephants on Parade (The Sportsmen)
- When I See an Elephant Fly (Cliff Edwards and the Hall Johnson Choir)
- When I See an Elephant Fly (Reprise)
Dumbo's Circus
was a
live-action
puppet
television programme
for preschool audiences that aired on
The Disney Channel
in the 1980s. Unlike in the movie, Dumbo spoke on the show. Each character would perform a special act, which ranged from dancing and singing to telling
knock knock jokes
.
- Walt Disney's Dumbo
- Happy to Help: (
ISBN
0-7364-1129-1
) A picture book
Disney Press
by
Random House Disney
, written by
Liane Onish
, illustrated by
Peter 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.
- Walt Disney's Dumbo Book of Opposites
- (
ISBN
0-307-06149-3
) A book published in August 1997 by
Golden Books
under the
Golden Board Book
brand. It was written by
Alan Benjamin
, illustrated by
Peter Emslie
, and edited by
Heather Lowenberg
. Twelve pages long and a quarter of an inch thick, this board edition book had dimensions of 7.25 x 6.00 inches.
- Walt Disney's Dumbo the Circus Baby
- (
ISBN
0-307-12397-9
) A book published in September 1993 by
Golden Press
under the
A Golden Sturdy Shape Book
brand. Illustrated by
Peter 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.
Dumbo the Flying Elephant is a popular ride that appears in
Walt Disney World
's
Magic Kingdom
,
[3]
Disneyland
,
[4]
Tokyo Disneyland
,
[5]
Disneyland Park (Paris)
, and
Hong Kong Disneyland
.
[6]
Dumbo appears as a hero in the game
Kingdom Hearts
. Sora, the main character, flies on him and Dumbo splashes enemies with water from his trunk.
[7]
(
NOTE:
Most of the above titles were later renamed simply
Dumbo
.)
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Dumbo