Dumbo [Big Top Edition]

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In 2001 Disney released their Sixtieth Anniversary Edition of "Dumbo," but I was a little disappointed with the picture quality. In their new "Big Top Edition," Disney engineers have provided a new digital transfer that looks better than the old one, and they have supplied a few additional bonus items as well.

It's hard not to like this classic animation from 1941 about the adorable little elephant with the gigantic ears. Some folks consider it the best thing Disney ever did, a sweet tale filled with rollicking gags, tuneful music, yet sadness and heartache, too. That I've never personally found it as satisfying as its three predecessors in the Disney stable--"Snow White," "Pinocchio," and "Fantasia"--should not deter potential buyers of the DVD, especially buyers with young children. Both the movie and this spanking-new Big Top Edition have a lot going for them, not the least being the bundle of bonuses found therein.

"Did you ever see an elephant fly? Well, I seen a horsefly. I seen a dragonfly. I seen a housefly. But I be done seen about everything when I see an elephant fly."

The story, as you probably know, is a heartbreaker at first. Dumbo is born to a circus elephant whose friends all consider the newborn infant a freak. Even the stork (voiced by Sterling Holloway) who brings him has suspicions. Dumbo's ears, you see, are as big as the rest of his body. The poor dear has to endure the taunts of the other performers and finds little chance of fitting in. The only creature that befriends him is Timothy Q. Mouse (performed by the voice talents of character actor Edward Brophy, who practically steals the show). Together they form a bond of friendship that carries Dumbo through the darkest days.

The gloomiest of these times is when Dumbo's mother lashes out at a group of spectators who ridicule her baby. The mother is labeled mad and destructive, and she's chained in a cage. Probably the most touching scene is where Dumbo cuddles up to his mother in her cell, both of them outrageously and unfairly condemned as outcasts in an uncaring world. But then something happens. Returning to their own tent, Dumbo and Timothy stumble upon a bucket of water that has accidentally been spiked with champagne, and both of them get tipsy. After a brief Pink-Elephant dream sequence, they wind up in a tree being laughed at by a flock of crows. Cliff Edwards, also known as Ukulele Ike and the voice of Jiminy Cricket, here performs the voice of the leader of the singing birds. But back to that tree: How did they get up there? Easy, for a flying elephant. Once Dumbo recognizes his talents, they brush the dark clouds away, he earns his rightful place in the world, and he's back in his mother's arms.

"Dumbo" is a brief, simple fable of social prejudice and eventual redemption, a fable with a moral victory and a happy ending. It was based on a children's illustrated book that Disney had bought in 1939, originally to have been a short subject. It still is a kind of extended short, which in a way makes it even better because there isn't a whole lot of story line involved to get stretched much further. At little more than an hour, "Dumbo" is probably Disney's briefest full-length animated feature. The kids will like that, too, since the film's conciseness won't tax their patience or their endurance for long.

There are, nonetheless, a few lingering doubts I have about the film. The first is the animation itself. Some of it is gorgeous, like the opening sequence in the rain, but much of it looks ordinary. Gone are many of the beautiful, photorealistic backgrounds of Disney's three earlier full-length animated films, replaced by little or no backgrounds at all. Well, I understand that this was one of Disney's lowest-budget movies, so I suppose something had to go. The second thing I found wanting was the music. This is ironic and undoubtedly peculiar to me alone since the movie won an Academy Award for its musical score, and its big number, "Baby Mine," earned an Oscar nomination. Still and all, there's nothing in it to compare to "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Heigh-Ho," or "Some Day My Prince Will Come." Among the songs in "Dumbo," in addition to "Baby Mine," are "Casey Junior," "Song of the Roustabouts," "Pink Elephants on Parade," and my own preferred, "When I See An Elephant Fly." The latter is sung by five black crows, a group that conveys an uneasy racial stereotype that in today's world the Disney Studios might have given second thoughts to.

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