Dumbo (1941)

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

Directors:

Samuel Armstrong (as Sam Armstrong), Norman Ferguson

Writers:

Joe Grant (screen story), Dick Huemer (screen story)

Stars:

Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, James Baskett

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
James Baskett	...	Fat Crow (voice) (uncredited)
Herman Bing	...	The Ringmaster (voice) (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Dumbo (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Clown (voice) (uncredited)
Edward Brophy	...	Timothy Q. Mouse (voice) (uncredited)
Jim Carmichael	...	Straw-Hat Crow (voice) (uncredited)
Pinto Colvig	...	Clowns (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)
Hall Johnson	...	Preacher Crow (voice) (uncredited)
James MacDonald	...	Roaring Lion (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

The stork delivers a baby elephant to Mrs. Jumbo, veteran of the circus, but the newborn is ridiculed because of his truly enormous ears and dubbed "Dumbo". After being separated from his mother, Dumbo is relegated to the circus' clown acts; it is up to his only friend, a mouse, to assist Dumbo to achieve his full potential.

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Plot Keywords:

florida | pink | ear | circus | elephant | 

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Taglines:

U...Is For The UNIQUE Circus-Train Engine, CASEY JUNIOR ---That Talks Like A Human, Balks Like A Mule!

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Feature Animation - 500 S. Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$950,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,600,000, 23 October 1941

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

64 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the song "Look Out For Mister Stork" the lyrics state, "Remember those quintuplets and the woman in the shoe." The latter is in reference to the classic nursery rhyme "The Old Woman In The Shoe". The former is a reference to The Dionne Quintuplets from North Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Dionne Sisters were well-known for having been the first complete set of quintuplets to survive birth; many times during that era not all children in multiple births survived. The Dionnes were often exploited to the public before finally being reunited with their family.

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Goofs

The workers' outfits at the elephant wagon change during the scenes. When the first two are running into the picture, the right worker wears a white shirt with a blue jacket and after they start taking care of Matriarch, the white shirts are missing. The hats look different, too.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

The RKO logo is in gold on a blue background within a stylish gold border; all of this is on a red background.

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Alternate Versions

To secure a "FSK 0" rating, four seconds were cut from the German video version: when the elephant tower collapses, you don't see how a crying elephant splashes on the ground with a pain distorted face.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: The Christmas That Almost Wasn't (2017)

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Soundtracks

Rock-a-Bye Baby
(1886) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Effie I. Canning
Sung a bit by Sterling Holloway

User Reviews

One of Disney's Best

Dumbo (1941)

**** (out of 4)

One of Disney's greatest and cutest films centers on the elephant Dumbo, a small elephant with incredibly large ears. The large ears cause him to be picked on by many but with the help of his only friend, a mouse, he starts to be praised for what he can do. DUMBO is without question one of the studios greatest films and I think I'd say that it's also their very cutest. I think the characters here are among some of the best ever done for the studio and the screenplay is quite simple but it milks ever bit of emotion it can from the viewer. The most noticeable thing about watching this film today is how mean everyone in it is towards Dumbo. I'm sure most parents will be turned off by the behavior and I'm sure kids will be able to connect with Dumbo. There's no question that there's a message to be learned here and it's hard to believe that anyone could see this movie and not feel bad if they're the person picking on someone or get courage if they're the person being picked on. The story itself is quite simple and predictable but the characters from the leads to the supporting elephants to the crows are just so memorable and perfectly written. The songs here aren't quite as impressive as some of the other Disney films of this era but they're still pretty good. The animation is also quite simple but I thought this approach added for some beautiful scenes. DUMBO is clearly a film that works on so many levels and it remains one of the best of its kind.