Dumbo (2019) Review

“Let’s get ready for Dumbo!”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Dumbo has been looked at as one of Walt Disney’s most respected films due to being an unconventional yet inspiring story. When the studio decided to remake all the hits, it was a matter of time for this one to come around.


PLOT


The 2019 adaptation is an expanded and alternative version of the 1941 classic. The story takes place in 1919 and follows Holt Farrier return to work for the Medici Brothers’ Circus after losing his arm in the Battle of Argonne. He reunites with his children Milly & Joe, but his boss Max Medici informs him that he had to sell the horse stable after his wife & co performer Annie died of the Spanish flu. Still wanting to have him around, he’s tasked to be a caretaker for a pregnant elephant named Jumbo. She does quickly gif birth to her calf son by the following day, but Medici would be stunned that the calf has oversized ears. This leads to Max ordering Holt to hide the ears to avoid public rejection. That ends up backfiring when the calf accidentally reveals them in his debut performance, resulting in the crowd mockingly giving him the titular name. Sadly, Jumbo would be sold back to the previous buyer after her rampage in defending her son caused a big tip to be collapsed and kill an antagonizing handler named Rufus (Phil Zimmerman). However, the Farriers would discover Dumbo can fly with his ears and they give him the confidence to do so with a feather performing a firefighter act with the clowns. The public praise for his talent would get the attention of entrepreneur VA Vandevere who owns his own amusement park, `Dreamland’. He offers a collaboration with Max to perform at the park in order to solve the latter’s financial problems. Dumbo would be scheduled for a debut performance with trapeze artist Colette Marchant ends disastrously when his panic over the absence of a safety net causes him to nearly fall off the high platform. He then flies away when hearing his mom in one of the exhibits after being sold to Vandevere, which Milly deduces. Knowing that Jumbo will be a distraction, he decides to shutter her exhibit and intend to euthanize her. Max then breaks the bad news that his troupe will be laid off a given a month severance. Shortly upon this does VA’s butler resign and inform them what Vandevere tends to do with Jumbo, inspiring them to break her free. Max’s troupe participate by using their talents to break out Jumbo, while Holt and Collette guide Dumbo to fly out of the circus. Holy pulls it off by opening the tent from outside. When Vandevere realizes what’s happening, he tries to stop the elephant from shutting off the electrical system of the park completely, but his mishandling of it causes a fire that quickly spreads. Luckily, Dumbo is able to save the Farriers from it before joining his mom in boarding a ship to India. With Dreamland fallen apart, Colette joins Max’s reestablished family circus where she flourishes and not only does Milly get to express her love of science with a lecture exhibition, but the circus is now given a policy to no longer to use captive wild animals. The film ends with Dumbo and his mom being embraced in India by a new herd of other elephants.


THOUGHTS


It does sound saddening that Tim Burton claimed to have had a depressing time directing this remake but ironically, this was a pleasant experience to get through due to the levels of heart warmth that are brought to the table. You already know you’re gonna get a joyful Danny Elfman score when Burton’s at the helm and we can talk about the production design on Dreamland being a jab at he feels of Disney Parks, but the visuals peak on Dumbo who is just as adorable as we remember him for. Considering many things were controversial about the original film, it was neat to see creative easter eggs that do the source material justice. Rather than have Dumbo drink champagne to see pink elephants, there’s a bubble show that brings that to life. There are no storks that deliver babies, but they do fly by when Dumbo is born. And instead of the crows that depict black stereotypes, we get infamous boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer paraphrase ‘When I See An Elephant Fly’ when introducing Dumbo. The fact Timothy Mouse doesn’t have a speaking role in his cameo scene, the human ensemble filled in the void, making them able to get the message across that the great values in life are appreciating what makes you different because you don’t need the affection to strangers to be content, as the family & community you grew up with are enough. It was a twist that the ringmaster is depicted as a good guy, but you can’t be surprised when he’s portrayed by the lovable Danny DeVito. Rather than be manipulative the way Michael Keaton is as the greedy Vandevere, Max is a boisterous guy who remains good hearted in his efforts to make ends meet like any average Joe. He made the collaboration with Dreamland so quickly because he was that desperate to end his worries. Once he realized he was deceived, he didn’t hesitate undoing his decisions. Reviving his circus to be free of wild animals was just the best way to go about being diverse because after what Dumbo went through, he understood no creature should go through any time of depression for something they didn’t ask for. Of course, he doesn’t make these decisions without the friends that paved the way. Breakouts Nico Parker & Finley Hobbins were a great pair as Milly & Joe because despite their loss, they do their best to compromise with what they got. Joe is more of the curious one who supports Milly’s ideas because her decision to be unconventional is what leads to their prosperity. Science may not be for everyone, but she keeps taking a chance because what she already knows isn’t always enough to solve the unknown. They are so consistent in wanting to please Dumbo because in their mind, helping him will help them cope with their loss. Colin Farrell shows Holt as a good dad to the kids, but change is visibly the hardest for him since he doesn’t know how to try new things until Dumbo came along. Like his kids, he comes around in adapting to the situation at hand because being behind would’ve gotten him nowhere. Despite using a fake arm when performing, he embraced being a one armed man when saving Dumbo. Last but not least, Eva Green was another welcome addition to the cast because as Colette, she’s an artist with a conscience since she builds with the Farriers and Dumbo in order to have a healthy relationship. And because of this along with already not getting along with Vandevere behind the cameras, she’s easily able to have sentimentality for what the elephants are going through. With all the effort put between the protagonists when it came to freeing the elephants, it was of course all worth it because now, they can all live in an environment where they can be accepted. I can praise this movie as much as I can for being rightfully different, but there were a whole new batch of things that didn’t make sense storywise. For instance, why does Medici give Rondo the Strongman (Deobia Oparei) four different roles paperwork related? I know he’s on a budget, but there’s more than a dozen people still working in the circus so four roles is a stretch. Rufus’ decision to get Holt in trouble with the elephants is stupid because had Max’s circus closed down completely and Dumbo flying gets dismissed, he’d lose a job too. It’s a pointless vendetta, so it serves him right that his greed gets him killed the way Vandevere loses his park. Speaking of which, it’s kinda dumb Vandevere didn’t see Dumbo fly before bringing him to Dreamland. If he wants to be so sure it’ll work out, he should’ve seen the talent do his thing. And honestly, why wouldn’t he tell at least Colette that there wouldn’t be a net for the sake of an emphasis on making Dumbo’s act a spectacle? I expected the Farriers to be ignored but if he wants Colette by his side at all times, this would’ve been an easy way to go about it. Also, how the hell did all the main characters get to Dumbo in time to find him in the exhibit Nightmare Island? I know they need to realize Jumbo is there, but they don’t show them drive over there which makes the scene less believable for me. I then gotta say that investor J Griffin Remington (Alan Arkin) was way too picky to call Dumbo a vanishing act? I understand training an animal is a hassle, but he should be impressed to see a flying elephant as much as the rest of the audience in the tent was. And why is the science exhibit still open at night for Dreamland? It’s not like I don’t want to see Holt connect with Milly before freeing Dumbo, but they still could’ve pulled it off in their apartment. It’s even bold for Holt to climb up the tent to give Dumbo a way out and I don’t want to doubt him considering he’s a one armed man, but there clearly could’ve been one of the circus performers available to do this for his safety at least. Ignore this, then your heart will still fill you with joy. In short, 2019’s Dumbo is a solid remake for nailing the warmth people felt before. If that is what has you enjoy the original classic to this day, then I hope you feel the same with this version.