Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.
The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series,
Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic
elephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo". He is ridiculed for his big
earThe ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....
s, but in fact he is capable of
flyingFlight is the process by which an object moves either through an atmosphere or beyond it by generating lift or propulsive thrust, or aerostatically using buoyancy, or by simple ballistic movement....
by using his ears as
wingA wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
s. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the
mouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
, Timothy — a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.
Dumbo was made to recoup the financial losses of
FantasiaFantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
. It was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studio, and at 64 minutes, it is one of Disney's shortest animated features.
Plot
While circus animals are being transported, Mrs. Jumbo, one of the elephants, receives her baby from a
storkStorks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
. (The storks drop their deliveries over "Winter Quarters" in
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, a reference to
SarasotaSarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
, the former winter home of
Ringling BrothersThe Ringling brothers were seven siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in McGregor, Iowa and raised in Baraboo, Wisconsin, they were the children of Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling...
.)
The baby elephant is quickly taunted by the other elephants because of his large ears, and they nickname him "Dumbo".
Once the circus is set up, Mrs. Jumbo loses her temper at a group of boys for making fun of her son, and she is locked up and deemed mad. Dumbo is shunned by the other elephants and with no mother to care for him, he is now alone, except for a self-appointed mentor and protector, Timothy Q. Mouse, who feels sympathy for Dumbo and becomes determined to make him happy again.
The circus director makes Dumbo the top of an elephant pyramid stunt, but Dumbo's ears causes the stunt to go wrong, injuring the other elephants and bringing down the big top. Dumbo is made a clown as a result, and plays the main role in an act that involves him falling into a vat of pie filling. Despite his newfound popularity and fame, Dumbo hates this job and is now more miserable than ever.
To cheer Dumbo up, Timothy takes him to visit his mother. On the way back Dumbo cries and then starts to hiccup so Timothy decides to take him for a drink of water from a bucket which, unknown to him, has accidentally had a bottle of champagne knocked into it. As a result, Dumbo and Timothy both become drunk and see hallucinations of pink elephants (the famous
Pink Elephants on ParadePink Elephants on Parade is the name of a segment, and the song played therein, from the Disney animated feature film Dumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q...
sequence).
The next morning, Dumbo and Timothy wake up in a tree. Timothy wonders how they got up in the tree, and concludes that Dumbo flew up there using his large ears as wings. With the help of a group of crows, Timothy is able to get Dumbo to fly again, using a psychological trick of a "magic feather" to boost his confidence.
Back at the circus, Dumbo must perform his stunt of jumping from a high building, this time from a much higher platform. On the way down, Dumbo loses the feather and Timothy tells him that the feather was never magical, and that he is still able to fly. Dumbo is able to pull out of the dive and flies around the circus, finally striking back at his tormentors as the stunned audience looks on in amazement.
After this performance, Dumbo becomes a media sensation, Timothy becomes his manager, and Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo are given a private car on the circus train.
Cast
Like
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
, all the cast are uncredited in this movie.
- The title character
The title role in the performing arts is the performance part that gives the title to the piece, as in Aida, Giselle, Michael Collins or Othello. The actor, singer or dancer who performs that part is also said to have the title role....
is Dumbo, the nickname given to Jumbo Jr. He is an elephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
who has huge ears and is able to use them to fly, carrying what he thinks of as a magic feather. Much like Dopey in Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
, Dumbo has no spoken dialogue.
- Edward Brophy
Edward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he was known for portraying gangsters, both serious and comic.-Career:...
, as Timothy Q. Mouse, an anthropomorphic mouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
who becomes the only friend of 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. He is never mentioned by name in the film, but his signature can be read on the contract in a newspaper photograph at the finale.
- Verna Felton
Verna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
as Mrs. Jumbo, Dumbo's mother, who speaks only once to call Dumbo by his given name, "Jumbo, Jr." Felton also voiced the Elephant Matriarch, the female leader of the circus elephants.
- Herman Bing
Herman Bing was a German-American character actor and voice actor.Herman Bing was also the brother of Gus Bing .-Biography:...
as The Ringmaster, and though not truly evil is a strict and occasionally arrogant man. He later appears as a villain in the video game Disney's Villains' RevengeDisney's Villains' Revenge is a video game produced by Disney Interactive for PCs or Macintosh computers, released in 1999. The gameplay is a simple interactive "point-and-click" method in various forms, featuring the player helping Jiminy Cricket save the happy endings of several of the Walt...
- Margaret Wright
Margaret Wright was an actress. She provided the voice of Casey Junior in Dumbo, and after her death Casey Junior's voice was succeeded by Cathy Cavadini in all later Dumbo projects. She appeared as herself on Disneyland and The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter...
as Casey Junior, the tender engine hauling the circus train. Casey Junior has a 2-4-0Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels....
wheel arrangement, a small four-wheeled tender at the back, a big tall funnel, a little lamp hat, a short stumpy boiler, a short stumpy dome with a whistle on the top and a small cowcatcher at his front.
- Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...
as Mr. Stork
- Cliff Edwards
Cliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
as Jim Crow
- Hall Johnson Choir
Hall Johnson was one of a number of American composers and arrangers—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who elevated the African-American spiritual to an art form, comparable in its musical sophistication to the compositions of European Classical...
as Crow Chorus
- Noreen Gammill as Elephant Catty
- Dorothy Scott as Elephant Giddy
- Sarah Selby as Elephant Prissy
- Malcolm Hutton as Skinny
- John McLeish as the narrator
Development
Dumbo was based upon a children's story written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl that was prepared to demonstrate the prototype of a toy storytelling display device called Roll-A-Book, which was similar in principle to a
panoramaThe moving panorama was a relative, more in concept than design, to panoramic painting, but proved to be more durable than its fixed and immense cousin. The word “panorama” is derived from the Greek words “to see” and “all.” Robert Barker invented the first panorama to describe his impressive...
. It involved only eight drawings and just a few lines of text, and had Red Robin as Dumbo's ally instead of Timothy Mouse.
Dumbo was first brought to the attention of
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
in late 1939 by Disney's head of merchandise licensing Kay Kamen, who showed a prototype of the Roll-A-Book that included
Dumbo. Disney immediately grasped its possibilities and heartwarming story and purchased the rights to it.
Originally it was intended to be a short film, but in 1940, after the financial failures of both
PinocchioPinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
and
FantasiaFantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
Walt decided to expand the story into a feature film to help generate income for the Disney studio. The studio's income had also been negatively impacted due to the war in Europe. Storymen
Dick HuemerDick Huemer was an animator in the Golden Age of Animation.- Career :...
and
Joe GrantJoe Grant was a Disney artist and writer.Born in New York City, New York, he worked for The Walt Disney Company as a character designer and story artist beginning in 1933 on the Mickey Mouse short, "Mickey's Gala Premiere". He was a Disney legend. He created the Queen in Snow White and the Seven...
were the primary figures in developing the plot. They wrote the script in chapters, much like a book, an unusual way of writing a film script. Regardless of this, very little was changed from the original draft.
Casting
None of the voice actors for Dumbo received screen credit, but Timothy Mouse, who befriended Dumbo even in his darkest days and was instrumental in helping him find greatness within himself, was voiced by
Edward BrophyEdward S. Brophy was an American character actor, voice artist, and comedian. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he was known for portraying gangsters, both serious and comic.-Career:...
, a
character actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
known for portraying gangsters. He has no other known
animationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
voice credits. The pompous matriarch of the elephants was voiced by
Verna FeltonVerna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
, who also played the Fairy Godmother in
CinderellaCinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
, the Queen of Hearts in
Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
, and Flora of the Three Good Fairies in
Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
. Other voice actors include the perennial
Sterling HollowaySterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...
in a cameo role as Mr. Stork,
Cliff EdwardsCliff Edwards , also known as "Ukelele Ike", was an American singer and voice actor who enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. He had a number-one hit with "Singin' in the Rain" in 1929...
, better known as the voice of
Jiminy CricketJiminy Cricket is the Walt Disney version of "The Talking Cricket" , a fictional character created by Carlo Collodi for his children's book Pinocchio, which was adapted into an animated film by Disney in 1940...
, as Jim Crow, the leader of the
crowCrows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
s, and John McLeish, best known for narrating the
GoofyGoofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
"How To" cartoons, providing the opening narration.
Animation
When the film went into production in early 1941, supervising director
Ben SharpsteenBen Sharpsteen was an American film director and producer for Disney. He directed 31 films between 1920 and 1980....
was given orders to keep the film simple and inexpensive. As a result,
Dumbo lacks the lavish detail of the previous three Disney animated features (
Fantasia,
Pinocchio, and
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
): character designs are simpler, background
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s are less detailed, and a number of held cels (or frames) were used in the
character animationTraditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
. Although the film is more "cartoony" than previous Disney films the animators brought elephants and other animals into the studio to study their movement.
Watercolor paintWatercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
was used to render the backgrounds.
Dumbo and
Snow White are the only two classic Disney features to use the technique, which was regularly employed for the various Disney cartoon shorts. The other Disney features used
oil paintOil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varnish may be added to increase the glossiness of the...
and
gouacheGouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
. 2002's
Lilo & StitchThis article is about the movie. For the television series, see Lilo & Stitch: The Series.Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on June 21, 2002...
, which drew influences from
Dumbo, also made use of watercolor backgrounds.
The simplicity freed the animators from being overly concerned with detail, and allowed them to focus on the most important element of character animation:
actingActing is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
.
Bill TytlaVladimir Peter "Bill" Tytla was one of the original Disney animators and is considered by many to be the best character animator to work during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation...
's animation of Dumbo is today considered one of the greatest accomplishments in American
animationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
.
Disney strike
During the production of Dumbo, Herbert Sorrell leader of the
Screen Cartoonists Guild labour union, demanded Disney sign with his union. Disney declined saying that he would put it to a vote. Sorrel again demanded that Disney sign with his union, but Disney once again refused. On May 29, 1941, shortly after
Rough AnimationTraditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
on
Dumbo was complete, much of the Disney studio staff went on the
Disney animators' strikeThe Disney animators' strike was a labor strike by the animators of Walt Disney Studios in 1941.-History:The 1930s led to a rise of labor unions in motion pictures as in other industries such as The Screen Actors Guild which was formed in 1933. Animators of Fleischer Studios went on strike in 1937...
. A number of strikers are caricatured in the feature as clowns who go to "hit the big boss for a raise". The strike lasted five weeks, and ended the "family" atmosphere and camaraderie at the studio.
Distribution
Completed in fall 1941, Disney's distributor RKO Radio Pictures initially balked at the film's 64-minute length and wanted Disney to either make it longer, edit it down to a
short subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
length, or allow them to release it as a
B-movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
. Disney refused all three options, and RKO reluctantly issued
Dumbo, unaltered, as an A-film.
Music and sound
- Baby Mine (Betty Noyes
Elizabeth "Betty" Noyes Hand was a singer and actress best known for dubbing the singing voice of Debbie Reynolds in the film Singin' in the Rain. Today, this is a well known example of dubbing in a movie musical due to the irony of the fact that Debbie Reynolds' character in Singin' in the Rain...
)
- 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 raise") (Billy Bletcher, Eddie Holden and Billy Sheets)
- "Pink Elephants on Parade
Pink Elephants on Parade is the name of a segment, and the song played therein, from the Disney animated feature film Dumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q...
" (The Sportsmen) (soundtrack version has music preceding 2 minutes before it)
- When I See an Elephant Fly (Cliff Edwards and the Hall Johnson Choir)
- When I See an Elephant Fly (Reprise)
On
Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic-References:*...
, "
Pink Elephants on ParadePink Elephants on Parade is the name of a segment, and the song played therein, from the Disney animated feature film Dumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q...
" is included on the green disc,
Baby Mine is on the purple disc, and
When I See an Elephant Fly is on the orange disc. On
Disney's Greatest HitsDisney's Greatest Hits is a 3-disc CD-set, released by Walt Disney Records in 2001 and 2002.- Volume 1 - Blue :# Strangers Like Me # Reflection # I Won't Say...
,
Pink Elephants on ParadePink Elephants on Parade is the name of a segment, and the song played therein, from the Disney animated feature film Dumbo in which Dumbo and Timothy Q...
is on the red disc.
Box office
Despite the advent of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
Dumbo was still the most financially successful Disney film of the 1940s. After its October 23 release,
Dumbo proved to be a financial miracle compared to other Disney films. The simple film only cost $813,000 to produce, half the cost of
Snow White, less than a third of the cost of
PinocchioPinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
, and certainly less than the expensive
FantasiaFantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
.
Dumbo eventually grossed $1.6 million during its original release; it and
Snow White were the only two pre-1943 Disney features to turn a profit. It was intended for Dumbo to be on the cover of the December 1941 issue of
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, but the idea was dropped when the
Japanese bombed Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, resulting in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entering
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and reducing the box office draw of the film.
The film was re-released in theaters in 1949, 1959, 1972, and 1976.
Critical reception
The critical reactions to
Dumbo were positive, as many critics of the day felt that
Dumbo was a return to roots for Disney after growing increasingly "arty" with
Fantasia.
The film holds a 97% at movie aggreator
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Reviews for the film were generally positive.
It is now considered a Disney classic. Movie critic
Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
described it as "One of Walt Disney's most charming animated films".
In 2011,
TIMETime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films".
Television broadcast
This was one of the first of Disney's animated films to be broadcast, albeit severely edited, on
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, as part of Disney's anthology series.
Home video
Dumbo, along with Alice in Wonderland were the first of Disney's canon of animated films to be released on
home videoHome video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
. The film was originally released on June 26, 1981 on
VHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Betamax, followed by a
LaserdiscLaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
release in June, 1982 and then once again on VHS and Betamax as part of
Walt Disney ClassicsWalt Disney Classics was a brand name used by Walt Disney Home Video on their American, Japanese, European and Australian home video releases of Disney animated features. The first title arrived in stores on December 6, 1984...
Video Collection release on December 3, 1985.
The film was then remastered in 1986 and 1989 and released on VHS and Laserdisc as a 50th Anniversary Edition of Dumbo on July 12, 1991, followed by an October 28, 1994 VHS and Laserdisc release as a part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection. In 2001, a 60th Anniversary Special Edition was released in VHS and DVD formats. In 2006, a "Big Top Edition" of the film was released on DVD, followed by a UK Special Edition release in May 2007.
A 70th Anniversary Edition of the film was released in the United States on September 20, 2011. The 70th Anniversary Edition was produced in two different packages: a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and a 1-disc DVD. The film was also released as a movie download. All versions of the 70th Anniversary Edition contain deleted scenes and several bonus features, including "Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo" and "The Magic of Dumbo: A Ride of Passage," while the 2-disc Blu-ray version additionally includes games, animated shorts, and several exclusive features.
Awards and nominations
Dumbo won the 1941
Academy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
, awarded to musical directors
Frank ChurchillFrank Churchill was an American composer of popular music for films. He wrote most of the music for Disney's 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including "Whistle While You Work" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come"...
and Oliver Wallace. Churchill and lyricist
Ned WashingtonNed Washington was an American lyricist.-Biography:Washington was nominated for eleven Academy Awards from 1940 to 1962...
were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for "
Baby Mine" (the song that plays during Dumbo's visit to his mother's cell), but did not win for this category. The film also won Best Animation Design at the
1947 Cannes Film Festival- Jury :The entire jury at this festival were French.*Georges Huisman *Raymond Borderie *Georges Carriere *Chosson *Joseph Dotti *Escoute *Jean Grémillon...
.
| Year |
Ceremony |
Award |
Result |
| 1941 |
Oscar Awards The 14th Academy Awards honored American film achievements in 1941 and was held in the Biltmore Bowl at the Biltmore Hotel. The ceremony is now considered notable, in retrospect, as the year in which Citizen Kane failed to win Best Picture. Best Picture of the year was awarded to How Green Was My...
|
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture |
|
| Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
(For the song "Baby Mine") |
|
| 1947 |
Cannes Film Festival - Jury :The entire jury at this festival were French.*Georges Huisman *Raymond Borderie *Georges Carriere *Chosson *Joseph Dotti *Escoute *Jean Grémillon...
|
Best Animation Design |
|
Lists
American Film InstituteThe American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
- AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers - Nominated
- AFI's 10 Top 10
AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- Nominated Animated Film
Allegations of racial stereotyping
The crow characters in the film can be seen as African-American
stereotypeA stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
s. The leader crow was originally named "
Jim CrowThe Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
" for script purposes, and the name stuck. The other crows are all voiced by African-American actors, all members of the Hall Johnson Choir. Despite suggestions of racism by critics such as
Richard SchickelRichard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....
who have criticized the portrayal as racist, others reject these claims. Defenders note that the crows form the majority of the characters in the movie who are sympathetic to Dumbo's plight, are free spirits who serve nobody, and intelligent characters aware of the power of self-confidence, unlike the
Stepin FetchitStepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry....
stereotype common at that time. Furthermore, their song "When I See An Elephant Fly", which uses intricate wordplay in the lyrics, is more oriented to mocking Timothy Mouse than Dumbo's large ears.
Sequels
The 2001 60th anniversary DVD release featured a sneak peek of a
direct-to-videoDirect-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
sequel,
Dumbo II. The preview showed 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 wander 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 set on the day immediately following the end of the first Dumbo story. However, no further announcements have been made since. The project seems to have been canceled, as
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's BeginningThe Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is a 2008 Disney animated feature film, and the direct-to-video prequel to the 1989 film The Little Mermaid...
,
Tinker BellTinker Bell is a 2008 computer animated film based on the Disney Fairies franchise produced by DisneyToon Studios. It revolves around Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M. Barrie in his play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, and featured in the 1953 Disney animated film, Peter...
, and its sequels were the last projects for
DisneyToon StudiosDisneyToon Studios is an American animation studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, responsible for producing direct-to-video and occasional theatrical films for Walt Disney Studios....
. However, some of the backgrounds for the canceled sequel were recycled for
The Fox and the Hound 2The Fox and the Hound 2 Soundtrack Album is the album containing songs from Reba McEntire, who was the voice of Dixie in the film, as well as other well-known artists such as Trisha Yearwood, Chip Davis and Little Big Town. Composer Joel McNeely has a few score tracks on the album: "Depressed...
.
Dumbo's Circus
Dumbo's Circus was a live-action/
puppetA puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
television series for preschool audiences that aired on The Disney Channel in the 1980s. Unlike in the film, Dumbo spoke on the show. Each character would perform a special act, which ranged from dancing and singing to telling
knock knock jokesThe knock-knock joke is a type of joke, probably the best-known format of the pun, and is a time-honored "call and answer" exercise.It is a role-play exercise, with a punster and a recipient of wit.The standard format has five lines:...
.
Books
- Walt Disney's Dumbo: Happy to Help: (ISBN 0-7364-1129-1) A picture book Disney Press
Disney Press is a department of The Walt Disney Company specifically used to produce books of various genres and for various age groups . Many of the books Disney Press produces are picture books based on Mickey Mouse and friends and other characters from many popular Disney animated features...
by Random House Disney, written by Liane Onish and illustrated by Peter EmsliePeter Emslie is a professional illustrator, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario. Aside from being an illustrator, Emslie also teaches character design in Sheridan College. He has illustrated well over 50 books for Disney licensees, including Random House...
. 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
Little Golden Books is a popular series of children's books. The first 12 titles were published on October 1, 1942:#Three Little Kittens#Bedtime Stories#Mother Goose#Prayers for Children#The Little Red Hen#Nursery Songs...
brand. It was written by Alan Benjamin, illustrated by Peter EmsliePeter Emslie is a professional illustrator, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario. Aside from being an illustrator, Emslie also teaches character design in Sheridan College. He has illustrated well over 50 books for Disney licensees, including Random House...
, 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
Peter Emslie is a professional illustrator, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario. Aside from being an illustrator, Emslie also teaches character design in Sheridan College. He has illustrated well over 50 books for Disney licensees, including Random House...
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.
Theme parks
Dumbo the Flying ElephantDumbo the Flying Elephant is a carousel-style ride located in Fantasyland at five Disney parks around the world. The original attraction opened at Disneyland in October of 1955, three months after the park opened...
is a popular ride that appears in Walt Disney World’s
Magic KingdomMagic Kingdom Park is one of four theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort located near Orlando, Florida. The first park built at the resort, Magic Kingdom opened Oct. 1, 1971. Designed and built by WED Enterprises, the park's layout and attractions are similar to Disneyland in Anaheim, California...
, Disneyland,
Tokyo Disneylandis a 115 acre theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States and opened on April 15, 1983...
,
Disneyland Park (Paris)Disneyland Park is a theme park at Disneyland Paris, a resort complex just outside of Paris, in the new town of Marne-la-Vallée, France. The first of two parks built at the resort, it opened as Euro Disneyland on 12 April, 1992...
, and
Hong Kong DisneylandHong Kong Disneyland is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is the first theme park located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks. The park opened to visitors on 12 September 2005...
.
The
Casey Jr. Circus TrainThe Casey Jr. Circus Train is an attraction found at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Based on the train of the same name from the 1941 film Dumbo, it gives passengers a tour of many miniature versions of classic Disney animated film scenes. This tour is similar to the one given on the slower paced...
is an attraction found at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
In June 2009, Disneyland introduced a flying Dumbo to their nighttime fireworks show, in which the elephant flies around
Sleeping Beauty CastleSleeping Beauty Castle is the fairy tale structure castle at the center of Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late-19th century Neuschwanstein Castle,with some French inspirations .-Disneyland version:Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles...
while fireworks synched to music go off.
Casey Junior is the second float in the Main Street Electrical Parade and its versions. Casey, driven by Goofy, pulls a drum with the parade logo and
Mickey MouseMickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
and
Minnie MouseMinerva "Minnie" Mouse is an animated character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney. The comic strip story "The Gleam" by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson first gave her full name as Minerva Mouse. Minnie has since been a recurring alias for her. Minnie is currently voiced by actress Russi...
.
Video games
Dumbo appears in the popular
PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
game
Kingdom Heartsis an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
in the form of a summon that the player can call upon in battle for aid.
Sorais a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square Enix's best-selling Kingdom Hearts series. Introduced in the series' first game in 2002, Sora is a cheerful teenager who originates from Destiny Islands and has been best friends with Riku and Kairi since early childhood. When they plan to...
, the protagonist, flies on him and Dumbo splashes enemies with water from his trunk. Game director
Tetsuya Nomurais a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
has hinted at a world based on the film for the upcoming
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.
The Ringmaster appears as one of four villains that in
Disney's Villains' RevengeDisney's Villains' Revenge is a video game produced by Disney Interactive for PCs or Macintosh computers, released in 1999. The gameplay is a simple interactive "point-and-click" method in various forms, featuring the player helping Jiminy Cricket save the happy endings of several of the Walt...
. In the game, the Disney Villains alter the happy endings from
Jiminy CricketJiminy Cricket is the Walt Disney version of "The Talking Cricket" , a fictional character created by Carlo Collodi for his children's book Pinocchio, which was adapted into an animated film by Disney in 1940...
's book; in particular, the Ringmaster forces Dumbo to endlessly perform humiliating stunts in his circus. In the end, the Ringmaster is defeated when he is knocked unconscious by a well aimed custard pie.
In other Disney films
In
The Great Mouse DetectiveThe Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures...
, a bubble-blowing Dumbo toy can be seen, said toy obviously being based on the scene when Dumbo and Timothy were drunk.
See also
- Disney animators' strike
The Disney animators' strike was a labor strike by the animators of Walt Disney Studios in 1941.-History:The 1930s led to a rise of labor unions in motion pictures as in other industries such as The Screen Actors Guild which was formed in 1933. Animators of Fleischer Studios went on strike in 1937...
- Roles of mothers in Disney media
External links