Dumbo (1941)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Ben Sharpsteen

Writers:

Helen Aberson (book) &
Harold Pearl (book) ...

Release Date:

23 October 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Music

Tagline:

Walt Disney's Latest . . . Most Lovable . . . Funable Characters !

Plot:

Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.

Plot Keywords:

Elephant | Circus | Mouse | Ear | Stork

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

James Baskett	...	Crow (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Herman Bing	...	The Ringmaster (voice) (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Clown (voice) (uncredited)
Edward Brophy	...	Timothy Q. Mouse (voice) (uncredited)
Jim Carmichael	...	Crow (voice) (uncredited)
Cliff Edwards	...	Jim Crow (voice) (uncredited)
Verna Felton	...	The Elephant Matriarch / Mrs. Jumbo (voice) (uncredited)
Noreen Gammill	...	Catty the Elephant (voice) (uncredited)
Eddie Holden	...	Clown (voice) (uncredited)
Sterling Holloway	...	Mr. Stork (voice) (uncredited)
Malcolm Hutton	...	Skinny (voice) (uncredited)
Harold Manley	...	Boy (voice) (uncredited)
John McLeish	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Tony Neil	...	Boy (voice) (uncredited)
Betty Noyes	...	Singer (voice) (uncredited)
Dorothy Scott	...	Giddy the Elephant (voice) (uncredited)
Sarah Selby	...	Prissy the Elephant (voice) (uncredited)
Billy Sheets	...	Clown / Joe (voice) (uncredited)
Nick Stewart	...	Crow (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Chuck Stubbs	...	Boy (voice) (uncredited)
Margaret Wright	...	Casey Jr. (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Dumbo the Flying Elephant (USA) (working title)
Walt Disney's Dumbo (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/4 | USA:Approved (certificate #6809) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Peru:PT | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Denmark:A | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. (cut) | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Australia:G

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The first Disney movie for Sterling Holloway (the Stork) and Verna Felton (the Elephant Matriarch). Both would become regulars in Disney animated films for the next thirty-five years.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The elephant matriarch always leads her group of female elephants, which includes being in front with all the other females following her. The elephant matriarch enters the wagon last when the train is loaded.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Through the snow, and sleet, and hail / Through the blizzard, through the gale / Through the wind and through the rain / Over mountain, over plain / Through the blinding lightning flash / And the mighty thunder crash / Ever faithful, ever true / Nothing stops him, he'll get through.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Bob Gratton, ma vie/My Life: Le million du millionnaire - 2e partie (#3.15)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Look Out for Mr. Stork

A perfect film

A perfect film. The design is beautiful and deceptive in its simplicity. While it may lack the overstuffed quality of `Pinocchio' or the abstract one of `Fantasia,' the style of `Dumbo' is elegant, vivid, and occasionally grotesque in ways that recall not only classic circus posters but also Paul Cadmus paintings and vintage `New Yorker' cover art. In fact, the entire production has a hint of nostalgia about it; for all its dark story elements, the film presents a rosy-hued portrait of old America (with Casey Junior cheerfully pulling his traveling circus through green open fields) that must have seemed very comforting as audiences prepared for the unforeseeable terrors of another World War. (A `Dumbombers for Defense' poster in the film's epilogue is the one joking reference to an increasingly unsteady world situation.) In the midst of this cozy landscape, we find a simple, tender story about acceptance and mother love, with the characters of both Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo finding a wonderful eloquence in their muteness. These performances are true triumphs of animation. The other characters, both good and bad, are painted with broad, memorable strokes. It's become fashionable to look rather harshly upon the Jim Crow sequence and all its uncomfortable associations, and it can be difficult for a modern audience to watch it without cringing slightly. But it should be pointed out that the crows are not only the film's cleverest characters (both in terms of thought and language), they are also the only ones except Timothy to show any sympathy whatsoever to the little elephant; after all, they are outsiders themselves. The sequence is a play on a stereotype, that can't be denied, but I would argue that it is an attempt to revise that stereotype into something positive and sympathetic. The songs and score are flawless, and the show-stopping, nightmarish pink elephant sequence keeps things from getting too artistically conservative--and, just like the rest of the film, it still thrills us no matter how many times we have seen it. 10 out of 10.