Dumbo - 4 stars out of 10

Dumbo - 4 stars out of 10

"Dumbo" is not the movie that you remember from your childhood.  Rather than taking us on a Lion King-esque journey, "Dumbo" just feels incomplete.  Allow me to make several excuses for Disney.  First, this film is not based on a fairy tale or a novel.  "Dumbo" takes its inspiration from a short story (written as a prototype for a toy).  Second, this film was intentionally economical in order to recoup the losses from the preceding "Fantasia."   As a result, we have an uneventful story without any twists or turns.  There are several "Bambi sequences" as I like to call them, where an extended period of screen time features various shots of animals without any action or furthering of the plot.  It all builds toward the trippy "Pink Elephants on Parade" dream sequence that adds nothing to the story (except that it eats up enough time to put the film over an hour in length) and then 3 minutes of Dumbo flying as a conclusion to the film.  Regardless of these reasons, I don't find this to be up to Disney standards.  Okay, now for the good stuff.  The animation of the main character is quite stunning and is the masterpiece of one of the original Disney animators, Bill Tytla.  Even though the animation is expressive, we don't get to know Dumbo very well because he doesn't speak.  Being mute adds personality for a character like Dopey from "Snow White" or Ed from "Lion King," but it is difficult to become attached to a main character who does not speak (no matter how cute/big his ears are).  The characters who do speak are well cast with traditional Disney voice actors, particularly Sterling Holloway (Pooh, Cheshire Cat, adult Flower) in a cameo as the Stork, Verna Felton (Fairy Godmother, Queen of Hearts) as two of the elephants, and Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket) as the leader of the crows.  Speaking of the crows, they have received a lot of grief for being racial stereotypes but they are actually the most positively portrayed characters in the film, supporting and believing in Dumbo.  They also have the best song of the film, When I See an Elephant Fly, with its clever wordplay and catchy melody.  The music from this film isn't very singable (and therefore not very memorable), but it is a joy to listen to with its 1940's big band sonorities and the voice talents of The Sportsmen.  "Dumbo" is a Disney classic because of the fame of the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride at the Disney parks but be prepared for a different movie experience than you had as a kid.