Dumbo (1941)


Today's movie, at just over an hour long, is one of Disney's shortest.  It's the 1941 classic, Dumbo.

The Movie:

 Dumbo is the 4th movie in the Disney Animated Canon.  After the expensive films Pinocchio and Fantasia did not do well at the box office, Disney needed a cheaper movie to help make some money.  This movie ended up being Dumbo.

Dumbo tells the story of the title circus elephant, whose real name is Jumbo Jr.  Dumbo has unusually large ears, and he is mocked by other elephants and humans alike.  When one particularly cruel child picks on him, his mother flies into a rage to protect him, getting her locked up.  Timothy Q. Mouse then steps in to mentor Dumbo, leading him on a series of events to eventually become the famous flying elephant.

This movie is definitely a product of its times, as some elements would not make it into a modern Disney movie.  The infamous "Pink Elephants on Parade" sequence happens because the protagonist (accidentally) gets drunk, and his ability to fly is only discovered because he wakes up in a tree the next morning.  And it is in that very tree that we meet a group of jive-talking crows, one of whom prominently smokes a cigar, which at least raises an eyebrow from a modern perspective.  Even the idea of circus elephants has become a thing of the past, and for the most part circuses altogether.

That said it is a charming, if short, movie.  It is, though, quite unusual.  Dumbo himself never speaks at all.  And the film packs a bunch of music in the short run-time, but most of the songs are sung over the visuals and not by the characters.  The only song actually performed on-screen is the crows' "When I See an Elephant Fly."  Other memorable numbers include "Baby Mine" and "Casey Junior."

Presence in the Parks:

 Dumbo is the basis for the iconic Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride found at Disney parks around the world.  The original opened at Disneyland in 1955 a month after the opening of the park, while the one at Disney World opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971.


Dumbo at Disneyland, July 1988

In 1993 the Magic Kingdom ride expanded from 10 to 16 elephants.


Dumbo at Magic Kingdom, June 1995

In 2012, as part of the expansion of Fantasyland, Dumbo was closed and moved from behind the carousel (where the entrance of New Fantasyland now is) to a new section of Fantasyland called Storybook Circus, which took over the area that used to be Mickey's Toontown.  The ride reopened with a new interactive queue placed inside a circus tent and a second Dumbo ride, spinning the opposite of the original.





Dumbo in Storybook Circus, May 2015

The new Storybook Circus area also includes a splash-pad themed around the Casey Junior locomotive from the movie called the Casey Jr. Splash 'N' Soak Station.  Casey Jr. is also the basis for a ride in Disneyland and is used in the Main Street Electrical Parade that has appeared on both coasts at different times.


Casey Jr. in the Main Street Electrical Parade, July 1983

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