Review of Dumbo (1941) by Rodrigo F — 26 Dec 2017

One of Disney's classics, though after seventy-five years its reputation may have outpaced the film itself. After the financial disappointments of Pinocchio and Fantasia a year earlier, the studio tightened its belt on Dumbo in an attempt to make up for the losses.

It worked in one sense, giving Disney the box office victory it needed, but that penny-pinching and corner-cutting hurt the finished product. It's astonishingly short, barely weighing in at an hour including credits, which forces a sudden, jarring climax.

The story's pace is quite smooth until then, taking its time to build characters and back-story, so by contrast the immediate rush to wrap everything up in a frenzied flash is disruptive. While it's cruising along in the first half, though, things are good enough.

Speckled with colorful characters and a fresh circus setting, it bottles that classic, emotive Disney magic while still taking a few risks. The infamous pink elephant scene, in particular, is an unexpectedly surreal animator's playground that's several decades ahead of the curve.

I was shocked to find offbeat similarities Danny Elfman's work in the film's score, too, which may suggest an even broader influence. Playful and heartfelt, though deeply under-cooked, Dumbo feels like a breezy short story when compared to the richer, more complete films elsewhere in the studio's early catalog.