Dumbo (1941)
Based on a storyline Dumbo, the Flying Elephant written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl.
While a large circus spends the off-season in the "Winter Grounds" in Florida, a flock of white storks deliver babies to the animals (“Look Out for Mr. Stork”). One elephant, Mrs. Jumbo, does not receive her baby, and keeps scanning the sky. The circus sets out on a new tour on a moving train called Casey Jr. (“Casey Junior”). A belated stork, Mr. Stork, catches up with the moving train and drops off the expected baby elephant, Jumbo Junior. The other elephants are initially delighted, until they see the baby has far-oversized ears, and promptly nickname him "Dumbo". However, Mrs. Jumbo shows her baby great care and love, defending him from the teasing of the other elephants. The circus reaches its next stop and begin setting up (“Song of the Roustabouts”).
Dumbo, clumsy due to his ears, is made into a sideshow attraction. When some rowdy boys start to bully Dumbo and his ears, Mrs. Jumbo spanks their leader and throws hay bales at them. Circus staff remove Dumbo from the pen, and Mrs. Jumbo flies into a rage, eventually dousing the ringmaster in a water tub. She is subsequently deemed mad and locked in a cage. Dumbo is blamed for the incident and shunned by the other elephants.
Timothy Q. Mouse, a mouse that travels with the circus, befriends Dumbo after scaring the other elephants and decides to make him a star. He whispers in the ringmaster's ear while the latter sleeps, and convinces him to try a new stunt with Dumbo as the top of a pyramid of elephants. However, Dumbo trips on his ears during the show and knocks over the pyramid, injuring the other elephants and bringing the big top crashing down. After this, the other elephants exile Dumbo completely, and he is put in with the clowns' firemen act, jumping from a "burning building" prop into a vat of pie filling. Despite his newfound popularity, he hates the job and becomes depressed.
Timothy decides to take Dumbo to see Mrs. Jumbo, but they cannot see each other's faces and can only intertwine trunks (“Baby Mine”). Meanwhile, the clowns decide to increase the popularity of their fireman act by dangerously raising the platform Dumbo jumps from. In celebration of the plan, they drink champagne, and a bottle of it falls into a water vat (“The Clown Song [A.K.A. We’re Gonna Hit the Big Boss for a Raise]”). Dumbo, crying after visiting his mother, gets the hiccups, so Timothy takes him to the vat for water. Both of them get drunk, and hallucinate pink elephants (“Pink Elephants on Parade”).
Dumbo and Timothy are later discovered asleep high up in a tree by Dandy Crow and his friends. Initially making fun of Timothy's assertion that Dumbo flew with his ears while drunk (“When I See An Elephant Fly”), the crows are soon moved by Dumbo's sad story. They decide to help Timothy, giving him a "magic feather" to help Dumbo fly. Holding the feather, Dumbo does indeed take off a second time, and he and Timothy return to the circus with plans to surprise the audience.
During the clowns' act, Dumbo jumps off the platform and prepares to fly. He drops the feather, but Timothy assures him it was only a psychological aid, and Dumbo successfully flies about the big top, much to the delight of the public, and shoots peanuts at the other elephants as payback. Dumbo gains fame and fortune, Timothy becomes his new manager and signs him to a Hollywood contract, and Mrs. Jumbo is freed. She and Dumbo are given a private coach on the train, and the crows wave goodbye to the elephants as they travel away (“When I See an Elephant Fly”).
TRIVIA
Visual Style
To keep the film simple and inexpensive, character designs are simpler, background paintings are less detailed, and a number of static frames were used in the character animation.
Backgrounds were rendered using watercolor paint as opposed to oil paint and gouache.
Dumbo’s animation, done by Bill Tytla, was much more cartoony and exaggerated than previous features.
Deleted Scene(s)
A deleted scene titled The Mouse’s Tale involves Timothy telling Dumbo about prehistoric times where mice were as large as elephants and terrorized them. He explains that this is why elephants are scared of mice in current times.
NOTABLE SCENE(S)
Pink elephant dream