Dumbo Film Review
Let’s talk about the white elephant in the room
When the trailers for Dumbo first came out, I wasn’t earger to go see it…
The film was directed by Tim Burton and the last time he directed a Disney live-action remake we got this monstrosity…
But I wanted to take the whole family out to the movies and I couldn’t really take them to go see Us. Not their idea of a family movie…
So we watched Dumbo instead and I wasn’t disappointed.
The Story
If you haven’t seen the original Dumbo I don’t blame ya. The film came out before my parents were born! I remember watching it as a kid and thinking how sad it was. Burton’s take on the material is just as tearjerking.
We begin at the circus where Dumbo is born. For some reason, everyone is really hostile towards Dumbo for being born with big ears. You’re in a circus people… everyone’s a freak!!!
Anyway, everyone soon warms up to Dumbo and his enormous ears. It’s easy to see why. The little guy is as cute as Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu…
Once the circus owner finds out that Dumbo can fly. Well, he realises he has a new cash cow or cash elephant on his hands. But the high life isn’t really what young Dumbo is looking for.
Dumbo must rely on his human allies to make sure he gets what he really wants most of all. To be reunited with his mum…
While we’re on the subject of humans…
The Cast
Unlike the original, this remake is told from the perspective of the humans and what a fine selection of humans we have here…
Colin Farrell is great in this role. He wasn’t the studio’s first choice, that was Will Smith, but he’s busy remaking another Disney classic so it went to Farrell instead. I’m glad it did.
Farrell keeps getting overlooked for big roles and when he does land a big one, they replace him with a bigger star anyway! Look how they treated him as Grindelwald…
Why get Johnny Depp when you’ve got a perfectly good actor in the role? I hope his work on Dumbo earns him a bit more respect.
Burton devotee, Danny DeVito, is back playing a small character who’s larger than life…
Every time I see DeVito in a film it reminds me of my childhood. He was in so many films that I watched as a child. He’s great playing villains with at least one redeeming quality.
Our next performer is another Burton alumni, Michael Keaton playing a Walt Disney like character…
It’s crazy to me that Disney would create a character that’s based so much on their founder and make him a villain. Goes to show that Disney isn’t entirely averse to risk.
The striking Eva Green also has a part to play in this circus…
She’s a welcome addition to any cast and I’m sure it helps that she’s dating the director…
And finally… the kids!!!
It’s always hard to judge the performance of children. They’re kids after all! As long as they’re not being annoying, I’m happy to have them around. Just like real life!
Fun fact: These kids are not annoying…
Technical Aspects
Dumbo doesn’t take special effects to new heights. Right from the start, you can tell you’re viewing a make-believe world, but that’s okay. It’s a world where elephants can fly, it’s not supposed to be grounded in reality. It’s not National Geographic!
The animals and the sets all feel very CGI. You can tell a lot was shot in front of a green screen. At some points, Dumbo feels real enough to touch. Other times, not so much. I’m fine with that.
The story is what’s meant to keep you engaged and on that front, Dumbo soars.
The writers have done an excellent job reinventing the storyline through the lens of the humans and it works surprisingly well. All the main beats are there, but it’s told in a different way.
For example, in the original film, Dumbo gets drunk and hallucinates seeing pink elephants parading in the sky. As the ringmaster makes clear in the film, no alcohol is to be kept around the baby…
Burton’s live-action remake still features pink elephants, but it comes about another way that struck me by how creative it was. There’s a lot of these moments in the film.
As for the music, they did away with the controversial black crows' scene from the original and therefore, I didn’t get to hear the best song from that movie! Here it is for ears of all sizes…
But you did get the sweet lullaby, “Baby Mine,” to bring out dem feels.
Conclusion
Before and after Captain Marvel, so much has been said about the role of critics and what demographic films are being made for. Part of a critic’s job when appraising a film is to consider the type of audience that would most likely go and see the film.
In the case of Dumbo, it’s family audiences. In particular, young children. Based on those criteria, Dumbo passes with flying colours…
Not as Dumbo as I’d thought it’d be.
4 out of 5 pink elephants
Thanks for reading, for another film review…
