Dumbo
Dumbo, the story of a cute, flying, baby elephant... it could only be Disney
Dumbo was one of Disney's earliest successful movies, and only their fourth film release, after the huge success of Snow White And The Severn Dwarfs in 1937 (the first, feature length, animated film ever) Walt Disney, always looking for ways to further improve animation gave his next films lavish budgets, so much so that when Pinocchio and Fantasia were released over the following years they struggled to make any money, so with this in mind, Dumbo was made on a more reasonable budget resulting in another lucrative hit for Disney, in fact Dumbo, despite being released during World War II became Disney's biggest box office success of the 1940's.
In 2017 the film was chosen by the National Film Registry, a department of the Library Of Congress to be preserved for it being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
So if you have never seen the film, if you think you are to grown up, to cool to watch a silly little Disney film, think again, Dumbo is a roller coaster ride of emotions all packaged up into a tight 64 minutes and if nothing else should at least bring a smile to your hardened face in all it's technicolor glory! Whether you publicly admit to this is another matter!
So excuse yourself from whatever you are doing, lock your door, sit back, relax and prepare yourself for repeated arh gestures as we take you back in time, to a land called Disney and let your imagination run away with you...
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| Let Disney Take You On A Journey |
Dumbo's Tale
Dumbo's story begins in Florida where a circus has been resting during the winter and is about to leave for it's first destination, before it does however babies arrive for many of the animals, in true Disney style these little bundles of joy arrive via storks, a much easier and less embarrassing way to explain to children where babies come from, could you imagine a Disney film where we see animals popping out babies left right and centre horrifying 1940's innocent minds?
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| A Bundle Of Joy |
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| But No Joy For Poor Mrs Jumbo |
Mrs Jumbo an expectant elephant however misses out on her bundle of joy as her stork appears to have been delayed and got lost along the way, missing the circus train and leaving poor Mrs Jumbo bundle less and sad. He eventually catches up with her and delivers her new baby, Jumbo Junior, all the other elephants in the carriage instantly find him adorable and cute until he sneezes and his large ears unfold, shocked at his appearance they laugh and nickname him Dumbo.
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| Typical, The Stork Has Lost His Way Resulting In A Late Delivery |
After a long train journey the circus arrives at its next destination during a thunderstorm and all the animals help to erect the main circus tent, the following day the circus puts on a big parade down the high street with all the animals and acts showcasing their skills, Jumbo Junior or as he is now known, Dumbo, follows his mother in the parade while carrying a doll on his back, the crowds start cheering and laughing at him as he trips up on his large ears into a large dirty puddle.
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| Arh how cute its Dumbo |
Back at the tent we see Dumbo getting a wash and then playing hide and seek around his mothers legs in a peek a boo sort of game, children from the town arrive and start making fun of him, one particular boy with large ears himself I might add starts pulling on Dumbo's upsetting him, this sends Mrs Jumbo into a fit of rage, as it would if someone was picking on your child, she picks the naughty boy up and starts spanking over the roped fence with her trunk, causing a panic in the tent and knocking the ring master over, she is taken in chains to a trailer with a mad elephant sign put outside. Now on his own Dumbo is shunned by the other elephants until a friendly mouse named Timothy takes Dumbo 'under his wing' to teach him the 'tricks of the trade' and the two form a close friendship.
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| I see You Dumbo Mother And Son Having Fun |
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| Dumbo Makes A New Friend Timothy |
While the Ringmaster is sleeping and trying to think up a spectacular idea for his circus, Timothy creeps into his tent and whispers Dumbo's name into his ear, he awakes suddenly with the idea of forming an elephant pyramid with Dumbo at the top. When the elephants perform this new trick for the audience Dumbo 'misses his mark' by tripping over his ears bringing down all the balancing elephants and the big top, circus tent too!
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| Oh Dumbo What Have You Done? |
Following the disastrous elephant pyramid routine Dumbo is made a clown something that the other elephants find most shameful, as a clown Dumbo finds success and he becomes a valuable part of the act however this doesn't stop him from feeling miserable and so Timothy tries to cheer Dumbo up by visiting his mom, on his way back he develops hiccups which prompts Timothy to get him to drink out of a bucket of water not realising that alcohol has mistakenly been knocked into the bucket, drinking the water makes Dumbo drunk and we are treated to his now famous drunken visions, consisting of very strange elephants and some unusual, colourful patterns.
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| That's What Best Friends Are For Timothy Helps Dumbo |
Dumbo and Timothy wake up on a branch of a tree after both drinking from the boozy bucket, woken by some wise cracking crows they all wonder how an elephant could climb so high, after loosing his balance both Dumbo and Timothy start to fall to the ground until Dumbo flaps his ears and...drum roll please... starts to fly!
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| Wise Cracking Crows |
Unsure of his new talent Dumbo doesn't believe he can fly until the crows and Timothy pass him a 'magic feather' telling him as long as he has the feather he will be able to fly. At the circus the clowns have worked their new, young stars speciality into the act, featuring a burning building the clowns show up as firemen to rescue baby Dumbo and Timothy, Dumbo jumps from the top of the building but looses the feather, Timothy tells him that he can fly and that the feather wasn't really magical, Dumbo flaps his ears and soars back up to the top of the tent to the audience's amazement. Dumbo is turned into a big star, Timothy becomes his manager and the closing scene shows Dumbo and his mother Mrs Jumbo in their own private car as the circus train rides off into the sunset.
Dumbo Screenshots
More screenshots from the film
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