Dumbo (2019) review

It’s safe to say that out of all the live-action remakes that Disney has been making since 2010, Dumbo has been one of the more controversial entries to come from this venture. A lot of this stems from the legacy of its source material, which was Disney Animation’s 4^th official feature. The original Dumbo was released in 1941 and provided the studio a way to recoup from the financial losses of their previous outing, 1940’s Fantasia, by being a far more simplified project from a production standpoint. Nevertheless, the film went on to become yet another classic for the studio and has continued to be a staple of Disney’s pop-cultural identity, including the creation of one of the most iconic attractions at Disney theme parks, Dumbo the Flying Elephant. In other words, while a lot of animation fans have been against the idea of remaking Disney’s animated classics, to begin with, it probably doesn’t help that this latest live-action remake happens to be one that’s using one of the studio’s Golden Age features as its source material. There was also some skepticism when it was announced who was directing it, Tim Burton, effectively making this the second live-action Disney remake that he’s directed after 2010’s Alice in Wonderland. Sure, Burton may be one of the most iconic directors in the industry, but his recent directorial efforts haven’t necessarily been as successful as his earlier outings. And yet, you may be surprised to find that Dumbo kind of fits perfectly into Burton’s directorial wheelhouse. Thus, while it may not be perfect, this new take on the story of a lovable flying elephant manages to be a charming endeavor complete with Burton’s trademark visual flair.   

Following the end of World War I, veteran Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) returns to his old job as one of the performers for the Medici Brothers’ family circus. Unfortunately, the circus has fallen on hard times recently to the point where owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) had to sell the horses that were key to Holt’s original act after the death of his wife. Thus, Medici assigns Holt to be the circus’ new elephant handler, and as luck would have it, one of the elephants, Jumbo, ends up giving birth to a young calf. However, when it’s discovered that the young elephant has abnormally large ears, thus earning him the derogatory nickname of ‘Dumbo’, Medici tries to keep this a secret from the public to avoid any potential humiliation. Things begin to change, however, when Holt’s daughter Milly (Nico Parker) and son Joe (Finley Hobbins) discover that Dumbo can fly with the help of his ears and a single feather. Thus, when Dumbo’s ability is eventually revealed to the public, he quickly becomes a sensation. This ends up attracting the attention of theme park tycoon V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who offers Medici a business partnership to have Dumbo perform at the circus at his lavish theme park, Dreamland. There, he’s partnered with Dreamland’s star performer, trapeze artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green), to become what Vandevere hopes will be his latest and greatest attraction. However, when it’s discovered that Dumbo’s mom is being held in one of Dreamland’s exhibits, the Farriers and their friends begin to formulate a plan so that they can reunite the young elephant with his mama.

To this film’s credit, it arguably has a lot more opportunities to do something new with the story of Dumbo when compared to most other Disney live-action remakes. At just 64 minutes long, the original Dumbo is one of Disney Animation’s shortest features and, as a result, is very simply-plotted. In fact, the iconic moment where Dumbo discovers his flying ability doesn’t even occur until the very end of the film. Thus, the remake does expand upon this plot to the point where almost all the major moments from the original film, including Dumbo’s mom being locked up for attacking people, the famous ‘clown firefighter’ circus act where Dumbo flies in the circus for the first time, and of course, the ‘Baby Mine’ sequence are covered in just the first half hour. Admittedly, though, the new stuff that is added in to bolster the narrative for a longer runtime is sort of in the same simplistic vein. Compared to the original, this version relies a lot more on its human characters, thus meaning that there aren’t any talking animals; no baby-delivering storks, no ostracizing adult elephants, and no Timothy Q. Mouse (though he is alluded to, for the record). Despite this, however, the new plot that’s built around them is a rather basic ‘stop the corrupt businessman’ storyline that doesn’t really give these new human characters a lot to work with. Ultimately, though, there are still plenty of great moments of emotional poignancy in this film, and yes, many of them involve the adorable CGI elephant that shares its name.

As with any Tim Burton film, one of the biggest reasons to watch this new take on Dumbo is to see the latest showcase of that lavish visual style that he’s well-known for. And while this one doesn’t rely on his usual gothic imagery, it still manages to capture the majestic atmosphere of a classic circus of yesteryear with its bright color scheme and grand locales. Plus, unlike Burton’s previous Disney remake, Alice in Wonderland, this film has a far more balanced mix of practical sets and CG imagery instead of being a case of actors in front of a green-screen for a good chunk of the runtime. Speaking of actors, this film’s cast manages to do solid jobs in their respective roles even though, as noted earlier, they don’t really have a lot of material to work with. Much of the main cast is made up of Burton’s most frequent collaborators. Danny DeVito, for example, provides much of the film’s comic relief as the occasionally bumbling Medici while Eva Green (one of Burton’s newer regulars) gets a decent little arc in which her character Colette slowly but surely warms up to the little flying elephant. Meanwhile, Michael Keaton manages to overcome his character’s straight-forward ‘corrupt businessman’ persona thanks to his slick charisma. And yes, I too am amazed that this Disney-released film managed to get away with a villain character who’s clearly meant to be a caricature of Walt Disney himself. Finally, closing out the main cast is Colin Farrell as Holt Farrier and Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins as his children Milly and Joe, all of whom help bolster the film’s big emotional moments due to them taking on the role that Timothy Q. Mouse had in the original as Dumbo’s biggest allies.

As noted in the intro, there was quite a bit of skepticism when it was announced that Tim Burton would be directing this film because it didn’t seem like the kind of project that he’s known for doing. And yet, it ironically makes perfect sense for him to direct Dumbo because the character’s status as an outsider amongst his peers at the circus due to his large ears ties very effectively into Burton’s tendency to do films about outcast-type characters as evident from the likes of Edward Scissorhands and his two Batman films, and that’s just to name a few. Sure enough, this new take on Dumbo once again succeeds in endearing audiences to its titular protagonist. And while the new stuff that’s added in to buff up the plot is ironically just as simple in execution when compared to everything that we got from the hour-long 1941 original, its heart is very much in the right place. Plus, as one would expect from a Tim Burton production, its gorgeous visuals are second to none right down to the various nods to the original… and yes, that includes a reference to the infamous ‘Pink Elephants on Parade’ sequence. In short, while I’m not saying that it’s ‘better’ than the original Dumbo, it’s still a worthy adaptation of a Disney classic. And as anyone who’s been following this blog for a while will recall, this sums up my views on Disney’s live-action remakes in a nutshell. Contrary to what some may claim, these aren’t meant to be ‘replacements’ for their animated counterparts. Instead, they’re simply interesting new takes on these iconic stories, and regardless of how they turn out, the originals will still be there at the end of the day for both young and old to enjoy. And while this film does break the streak of well-received remakes that the studio has been experiencing since 2015’s Cinderella, I’m still genuinely looking forward to all the new spins on the animated classics of my childhood.

Rating: 4/5