Dumbo

     

     Probably the shortest of all the actual Feature Animations, Dumbo is just 64 minutes long, really though did it have to be any longer, the answer is no everything is contained in that hour of the story, theres no excess production values or unnecessary storyline. When RKO was set to release it and saw its length they tried to get Walt to either shorten it to a short or lengthen it, Walt of course defended his movie and kept it at its one hour mark. I always happen to forget all there is in Dumbo, for some reason as years go by I don't watch it, I only think about the elephant with the big ears and flying. Then I re-watch it and see the stork sequence, Casey Jr., the circus acts and the pink elephants on parade segment and remember how much there was actually crammed into that one hour time. Dumbo for those that don't remember stars off with the storks bringing all the baby animals to their mothers, Mrs. Jumbo unfortunately has Mr. Stork who's a little behind in getting her baby to her, once he arrives and sets her tiny baby elephant down, its love at first sight with her baby. Though her baby has a unique characteristic he has giant ears, which are the butt of many jokes and fighting for her baby will lead to her being separated from him at one point. Dumbo has no friends, until little Timothy Mouse comes along and sees Dumbo for who he is and not his ears and is ready to help Dumbo get into the spotlight. After his big starring role chance ends in disaster and being demoted to a clown, one day Dumbo finally decides to wander away from the circus. While he's out and about, he comes across a flock of crows that give him a magic feather that when held in his trunk gives him the ability to fly, with this new trick Dumbo comes back to steal the show. When you  dive into Dumbo's history you learn it was really rushed and project and on top of it being the shortest it was also the cheapest animated film to make $813,000. The reason is Walt needed it to be cheap to make so it would bring in lots of revenue to make up for losses with 'Pinocchio' and 'Fantasia'. This and Snow White are also the only classics to use watercolors because they were cheaper than the oil based paints and wouldn't be used again until Fantasia 2000 and then again for Lilo and Stitch. The sad thing about Dumbo is how many people are bringing up racial issues with it (the roustabouts are all black and the crows have a black southern slang) and then the parents having issues with Dumbo drinking and seeing hallucinations. All I have to say is common people its a cartoon, its not real life, suspend real life and just have fun with the movie, why this wasn't a problem back then was for that same reason, nobody cared back then about stereotyping and censorship, it was about having fun and realizing its a movie not a real life depiction. Plus anyways like Pinocchio turned green and and into a donkey for smoking a cigar, Dumbo got drunk and saw creepy little pink elephants and after seeing that why would a kid want to drink or smoke, when it comes down to it, I blame parents for not taking the responsibility and time to talk to their kids about what they saw. I do love Dumbo though and it has a wonderful soundtrack that goes along with it as many of the original classics did, and I like that its short and to the point. Really I think Dumbos a great movie for kids to see because its moral is actually about not caring what you look like or that your clumsy or can't do things right the first time and also being able to use those unique traits for a good cause. Then you also have the importance of friends like Timothy to help get you back on your feet when things seem to be going no where fast.
     Anyways as the ringmaster might say "on with the show", even though it has a lot of bad rap going around, it remains one of the Disney classics and features probably the most beloved of the classic characters and that's Dumbo himself. So many people love Dumbo and if you don't believe that look at his ride at the Magic Kingdom, guaranteed your not getting to fly and elephant in under 30 minutes. It's either lots of kids watch this movie and love the character and film or they just want the chance to control the ride. I'm going with the first one, because now with Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Triceratops spin they have more control over the vehicles, yet they still line up for Dumbo. It's also one of those rights of passage rides that is passed down from parents to kids, the parents rode it when they were little and remember that feeling of flying Dumbo and pass it onto their young ones. With all this dedication to riding Dumbo it only makes sense Disney would want to jump at the chance to expand on the franchise and with the Fantasyland