Deep Dive Disney: Wes Looks at Dumbo

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this thing I’ve apparently gotten myself into that I’ve decided to call Deep Dive Disney. I’m going to be honest, this was a weird one. Today we’re looking at Dumbo in all its whimsical and uncomfortably racist glory. And I mean it, the racism is all over this bad boy. Almost every scene, even the cool ones, are tainted by some kind of 1940’s ignorance and general strangeness that would never fly in here in 2021. Combined with all of that, the movie isn’t really terribly interesting. For those who don’t know, Dumbo tells the story of a baby circus elephant with abnormally large ears. Because literally everyone, both human and animal, in this entire circus save for Dumbo’s mother and one mouse, are the absolute worst, Dumbo is tormented pretty much from birth for his big ears to the point where he’s brought to tears multiple times. However, after getting hammered one night, Dumbo learns that his large ears have the power to function like wings, and, with the help of Timothy the Mouse and some crows, Dumbo learns how to fly and proves that he’s awesome because of the exact thing that made everyone call him a freak. Peppered in along the way are tons of underwhelming songs, uncomfortable racial stereotypes, blatant animal cruelty and visual recreation of someone’s acid trip that somehow got spliced into the movie. Well, we may as well get a move on. As always, we split things into Seven Categories: Main Character, Villain, Side Characters, Songs, Memorable Scenes, Story, and of Course, probably the most relevant to this one, The Dark Disney Factor.

Main Character:

So… thing is, Dumbo isn’t really much of a character. He has no dialogue and spends most of the movie crying. The point of Dumbo is to be a sympathy magnet. You are supposed to feel bad for this character, and my goodness, I certainly do. Literally, from the second he’s born, everyone is calling this kid a freak because of his ears. It’s not enough that they’re calling him names, everyone around him is making it their mission to make sure this child, who couldn’t possibly be more than a few months old, knows that he is not wanted. His name isn’t even Dumbo! It’s Jumbo Jr. The name Dumbo is given it to him as an insult and it sticks. That’s right, even the name of the movie is insulting its main character. As someone who was bullied mercilessly growing up, I just wanted to give this poor little guy a hug.

Villains:

At first glance, one might think Dumbo doesn’t have a villain, and while there’s no antagonistic force on the level of The Evil Queen, I would say that the other elephants who shun and bully Dumbo to the point where a small child is brought to tears. It would be one thing if these were other small children, but there are fully grown adult elephants making Dumbo feel like an outcast simply because he doesn’t live up to the standards of their so-called “Proud Race.” All throughout the movie, they put down this poor baby and even blame him for his own mother’s imprisonment. They even go so far as to excommunicate Dumbo from his own species. Want even more proof that these ladies are the villains, one of them is voice by Verna Felton, who in a few movies would go on to voice The Queen of Hearts. These ladies are a bunch of elitist creeps, constantly gossiping about the goings on of the circus and claiming superiority over everyone else despite being scared out of their wits at a little mouse. Disgraceful hypocrites the lot of them.

Side Characters:

*Sigh* Well, we may as well talk about the damned Crows. Yes, they are depicted as horribly insensitive African American Stereotypes and talk like they came straight out of a minstrel show. That said, for all the other racist depictions, elitist hypocrisy and disturbing animal cruelty on display on this movie like it ain’t no thing, honestly the Crows didn’t seem that bad this time around. I mean, at least they’re nice to Dumbo and help him find his confidence after everyone around him has made it their mission to crush said confidence into oblivion his entire life, so, for that reason they’re actually kind of cool.

But, let’s talk about our pal Timothy the Circus Mouse. I’m going to be honest. I do have fond memories of this character. I’ll even admit that three-year-old Wes slept with a stuffed Timothy when he was little. That said, I was fully prepared to call Timothy the Dollar Store Jiminy Cricket. But honestly, he was far and away my favorite character in the movie. Afterall, he’s the only person who shows Dumbo any kindness and friendship simply because he feels it’s the right thing to do. He tries to build his confidence and comforts him when he’s feeling down. As a kid growing up with autism who was always made fun of because he was a little different, I really could have used someone like Timothy in my life at the time. For that, how can you not love this guy.

Songs:

There’s really only one song that I really want to discuss here since all the other songs are either unmemorable or fall into the Dark Disney Factor category. I almost considered giving praise to Song of the Roustabouts, but the visuals of the manual labor being performed by actual faceless black men I decided against it. So, let’s talk about the best song in the movie, When I See an Elephant Fly. It’s actually a pretty catchy number and I’ll probably be whistling it for a while to come. That’s another point for the Crows

Memorable Scenes:

One scene that really stuck in my mind was Timothy pulling an Inception and planting the idea to make Dumbo the star of the show. It actually lead me to a theory that Timothy is the one secretly running the show since the general consensus among the animals is that the ringmaster is an idiot. The scene makes me laugh, partially for its suggestive use of the word climax in a children’s movie.

Story:

So, while I was watching this movie, I broke down the story to its basic elements. A young animal, ridiculed by other members of his species for a strange deformity, discovers that the very thing that makes him different also makes him special and helps him gain the admiration of those who mocked him. Does that sound familiar? Well it should because that’s literally the exact same plot as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Now, the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer wouldn’t be recorded for another eight years so I can’t exactly claim that this is a rip off. If anything, Rudolph ripped off Dumbo. That said, I hate to say it, but Rudolph did it better. At the very least, Rudolph felt significantly less mean spirited, kept the racism to a minimum and didn’t include one of the writer’s acid flashbacks. My point is, the story of overcoming bullying and embracing your differences, that’s a wonderful story, I just think it’s been told better in other places.

The Dark Disney Factor:

Before we get to You Know What, let’s talk about Dumbo’s mother going on a rampage and getting locked up. Seeing this poor creature who was only trying to protect her child locked up is pretty dark in and of itself and I felt so bad for her.

But, I think the time was come to finally discuss Pink Elephants. So, after Dumbo is made a clown and is humiliated during the performance, the clowns all get shit-faced and poor their liquor into Dumbo’s water bucket. Must have been some strong stuff because after only a few sips, Dumbo, who I’ll remind you, is a baby, is tripping balls. Suddenly a barrage of spectral Pink Elephants are everywhere and the movie is taken over by a wide awake nightmare of surreal imagery. Pink Elephants Marching, blowing trumpets, merging into each other, turning into pyramids, you name it, this scene has it all. One part that used to scare me as a kid was this massive monster made of elephant heads. And this scene goes on for a while, and it’s right after this that we learn that Dumbo can fly, which implies that Dumbo made this discovery while in a drunken stupor. In the words of Homer Simpson, “To Alcohol, The Cause of, And Solution to, All of Life’s Problems.” But yeah, if you remember anything about this movie, it’s probably this scene simply because it’s so damned strange.

And yeah, that’s all I really have to say about Dumbo. I liked it as a kid, but it hasn’t held up as well as its contemporaries. However, next time, we’re skipping ahead to tackle a film that has become one of my favorites in subsequent re-watches as we kick off our two-part look at The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad