I went to see Dumbo today, I'm still not completely sure what I thought of it but I guess it lived up to expectations? I should preface this by saying that the original animation is one of my favourite Disney movies of all time so I didn't have high hopes for this movie going in, but I was excited for it nonetheless as I love a good circus theme, I thought Danny DeVito was perfectly cast as the ringmaster, I was pleased to see Michael Keaton as he's been one of my favourite actors since I was a kid but he's been in a lot of lousy movies, and I thought the CGI of Dumbo looked well done. And to be fair all of those expectations were met: the vintage circus theming was great, DeVito and Keaton gave great performances, and even if the CGI was a bit overused in other parts of the move the elephants themselves were great. The first half of the movie I was actually really enjoying it, but then the second act happened and they went to Dreamland and it became the Dumbo sequel no one asked for, featuring 80% less Dumbo and focusing on a bunch of human characters I couldn't care less about. And because it focused so much less on Dumbo, it forgot the original film's observations of sadness, loneliness, and the bond between mother and child. Yes Dumbo got sad and missed his mum and a lot of the plot revolved around freeing Mrs Jumbo, but it lacked the emotional pull. Dumbo wasn't soul crushingly lonely because he had two bland kids who could barely act following him absolutely everywhere. He wasn't mocked and rejected by the other elephants in the circus because they weren't there. He had minimal interactions with his mother, and what he did have were rushed so their separation and reunion were lackluster. I know its its own movie and a remake has the right to exist in it's own context, that's a point I believe strongly and I think it's incredibly small minded to state that a story can't be revisited because a version already exists - people have the right to interpret a story in a way that's meaningful to them and retell that story in their own vision. But comparing it to the original is obviously a natural reaction, and for me it doesn't come close.
It had a lot of references to the original; Baby Mine was beautifully done although significantly shorter, I loved that they kept Casey Jr, that the stork visited Mrs Jumbo, they did include my main man Timothy even though just barely - I appreciated that the kids placed him next to Dumbo and stated that everybody needs a friend so the mouse (who was unnamed but wearing Timothy's iconic red jacket and hat) could be Dumbo's friend, and then they proceeded to feed the mouse peanuts. I loved how Danny Elfman wove elements of the original soundtrack into the new one - the film basically opened with an instrumental version of Casey, Jr, and OMG let me tell you about Pink Elephants on Parade! I know everyone always says this scene in the original is creepy nightmare fuel, and whilst I agree to an extent the sheer artistry of the animation in that scene has always held me spellbound and I love it. The scene existed in this movie too, but it was part of the circus act instead of being a drunk hallucination, and let me tell you it was PERFECT. I would watch the movie again for that scene alone, it was so beautifully done, the score was amazing, and Dumbo watching it awestruck from the wings was one of the purest scenes in the whole movie.
Overall I'm still not sure how I feel about it honestly. It had some beautifully done scenes, but I didn't appreciate how it had become so focused on the humans and moved away so much from Dumbo. I didn't like how the humans were talking to Dumbo and he could understand them - the humans are entirely separate in the original, mostly anonymous characters who barely exist in the animals world and they certainly don't communicate. Communication is such a huge theme in the original and is kind of the whole point of why Dumbo's mute, so allowing the humans to talk to him so easily lost that entire pathos to the story. Overall it just felt a bit messy, it got too sidetracked by what should of been the side plot, and lost track of what made the original so great in the first place and just doesn't possess the same magic and wonder. Which is pretty much what I expected of it going in.
I know Disney has quite a few releases coming up this year: there's the live action Aladdin which I'm excited for as I don't have any strong feelings about the original animation, and the new The Lion King which I'm dubious about as I do have strong feelings about the original. Then there's Toy Story 4 which I could't care much about to be perfectly honest as I feel like those characters are being stretched too far by now. And Frozen II at the end of the year which I'm VERY anxious about as the original is so very important to me and it's always nerve wracking having characters that hold such personal meaning being taken into new territory. What are you looking forward to most this year from Disney?
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