Dumbo

Genre: Animation Disney Classic
Director:Ben Sharpsteen
Year of release: 1941
Run time: 61 mins

Story: An elephant in a circus gets a visit from a stalk with her baby who has enormous ears. Teased and rejected my the other elephants (apart from his loving mother) dumbo (his nickname) befriends a charismatic mouse.

Response: I have been revisiting my childhood Disney films starting with The Lion king, Toy Story, Snow White, Pinocchio and now Dumbo. I have pondered on how well developed these films have been. What Dumbo does in 61 fucking minutes is more than most could do in 3 hours, the same goes for all the other Disney classics I have revisited recently epically Snow White. There are always a few scenes in these films that really put me in the mood to watch them, for Dumbo it was the amazing Crow scene that everybody remembers.

The power and heart that Walt puts into his films clearly shows his genius. The characters he has become so humanized so quickly, for instance the crow or mouse in Dumbo or the Dwarfs in Snow White nothing feels rushed and climax's are successful.

The relationship that Dumbo has with his mother is not complex, yet I enjoy it very much. Beginning with the way she looks at him and how that look of love doesn't change when she sees his ears. It further develops when she gets angry and goes a bit mad when the children pick on him. This builds up well for when the mouse takes Dumbo to see his locked up mother the build up pays off even though it only lasts a few minutes yet it is powerful. Now days a couple minutes of build up for a character to have a sad scene like the one in Dumbo can not be done, it would feel rushed.

Dumbo and the mouse had such strong character and with a few simple scenes, like watching the animals sleep and the stalk part at the beginning as well of course the magnificent crow scene make this a simple, clever film that will always be remembered.

Rating: Very Good