5. Dumbo

It's been almost two months since my last post because I'll be honest: early Disney movies are a lot to handle all in one sitting. The lessons are geared towards an older generation, the graphics aren't as great and the story lines are slower. Even the now four-year-old isn't excited about sitting through Dumbo. He did however get very excited because he knew he had a Little Golden Book of Dumbo. When I said "Yeah, that's the movie we're about to watch!" he promptly went back to his LeapPad.

I think I've sat through Dumbo twice. Probably once as a child and once as an adult after I purchased the dvd. I still have the strong desire to own every single Disney movie on dvd and that includes movies I can't stand to sit through more than once every decade. I'm not saying Dumbo fits into this, I'm just saying I've never had reason to watch it more than twice in my 26 years on Earth. 

I like the opening with the announcer who sounds like he's straight from the circus. It does a nice job of setting up the setting without actually smacking the viewer over the head with it. However, the following song "Look out for Mr. Stork" makes me laugh. "Look out for Mr. Stork, he has you on his list!" I know that talking about the Stork was more socially acceptable than discussing sex back in the day (which was a Wednesday... sorry, bad Dane Cook reference there), but I really think it's funny that these animals apparently and no idea they had they had a bouncing bundle of joy on the way (wouldn't that be a killer? Wake up one day and have a kid there screaming at you? Though on the second hand, sounds much less painful). 

Movies like this always made me want to sit in the clouds. I was so upset when I found out that wasn't possible. What do you mean clouds are mostly vapor and won't support my weight? Damnit Disney!!! 

The train engine reminds me of the Little Engine That Could. Especially later when he climbs up the hill and says "I think I can, I think I can!" Now I'm curious about the origins of that storybook/movie. 

I feel bad for Mrs. Jumbo. She had to watch everyone else get their packages and she thought she was left out. And then she opens it in front of the peanut gallery (which seems to apply better to the gossiping gaggle of elephants than in any other situation since they love peanuts) and the poor kid has huge ears. 

"Look at those e-a-r-s!" 

I love (sarcasm) how politically incorrect early Disney is... The workers for the circus are black and they're singing about not having time to read or write because they work day and night. What will really be interesting is looking back at the films that Disney is releasing now in about 50 years to see how politically incorrect the films are. 

Speaking of incorrect.. go figure it's a ginger boy that gets beat on for making fun of Dumbo's ears. And the kid had ears that rivaled Dumbo's. You know what bugs me? Mrs. Jumbo wanted to name Dumbo "Jumbo Jr." but the Peanut Gallery added their two cents and suddenly Dumbo sticks. 

It cracks me up that the elephants are scared of Timothy Q. Mouse. I mean, I'd probably freak out if I saw a live mouse (I freak out when I see dead mice that my cats have killed) but I also don't have the ability to squash a mouse with my two-ton foot. 

The importance of dream sequences in Disney movies is definitely where the importance I place on dreams in my writing comes from. 

I love that the Peanut Gallery is just as catty to one another as they are to outsiders. I think that makes them more comical and less bitchy. They're like the original Mean Girls. 

"Get your foot out of my eye you fat ox!" 

Perfect punishment for an embarrassing elephant who is especially awful at entertaining: make him a clown. And then put him in a burning building and push him off a platform.

For future reference: Big buckets of beer cures hiccups (anyone else notice I'm on an alliteration kick?) . Course, Disney can't promote drinking, so it's cleverly disguised as suds in a bucket. But lets face it, soap won't induce visions of pink elephants dancing in the sky. 

T: This part always freaked me out.

Me: Why did the pink elephants freak you out?

T: dunno. just did. 

Me: This part always reminded me of Winnie the Pooh. Heffalumps and Woozles. 

(Winnie the Pooh was actually after Dumbo, so chronologically speaking Winnie the Pooh should have reminded me of this... but we were much bigger Winnie the Pooh fans than Dumbo fans in my house)

Also politically incorrect: the crows who could be mistaken as gangsters and pimps. Their speech also implies Disney pictured them as African Americans. 

Me: good news, only twelve minutes left.

T: Thank god.

Dontcha just hate it when you spend a night drinking and you wake up in a tree with a crow dressed as a pimp staring you in the face? 

For future reference: if you ever find yourself surrounded by pimps and gangster crows, start talking to them about their mothers. 

But forgive them for being mean if it means finding out that you can fly. (How else did you get into the tree after drinking?) 

He can fly! Now I have Peter Pan's "You can fly!" stuck in my head.

This was Disney's shortest animated film (for good reason?) and it was created to try to get back some money lost from Fantasia. Dumbo never talks. If he did, I picture it as something squeaky and high pitched. Not sure why. 

The story is good: use what makes you different to make a difference. But I think modern audiences probably get bored with how simple the film is. 

Poor Dumbo. Maybe he just needs an upgrade.