Review of Dumbo (1941) by Wayne K — 27 Apr 2018
A stripped down, simplistic affair, even more so than Pinocchio was, Dumbo makes great us of its 60-odd minute runtime. The sequence when Dumbo and Timmy accidentally get drunk and experience an onslaught of Pink Elephant imagery is the best sequence in the film, and it's still remarkable how visually inventive and out of this world it remains to this day.
The rest of the movie is enjoyable, especially the bit with the jive-talking crows, which our contemporary uber-PC world has rendered offensive and unacceptable. Personally, I thought they were great characters.
They're not bullies, they don't try and hurt our heroes and even given the big-lugged elephant the ability to fly. To me they never came across as being insulting or crude. As I mentioned before, it's the simplistic nature of the film that people remember it for, and how easy a character Dumbo is to like.
He's not very interesting, but he is wide, eyed, naïve and curious, and sometimes that's the most effective way to view a world as confusing and twisted as ours.
This review of Dumbo (1941) was written by Wayne K on 27 Apr 2018.
Dumbo has generally received very positive reviews.
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