I've never found 1941's 'Dumbo' anything extraordinary, in all honesty.
While Dumbo is extremely cute and simply adorable, he's the only great thing that this film has going for it. The animation, even when compared to that of Disney's first two films, isn't that good. It's very cartoony, none of the characters have aged brilliantly in that regard.
The voice talent aren't anything grand, though that's expected given the main character doesn't speak. Edward Brophy's Mouse is amusing, though he's arguably a cut-and-paste of Jiminy Cricket from 'Pinocchio'.
The message of the film is a little blurred, also. It certainly teaches the audience not to judge a book by its cover, but you expect it to stir up questions about circuses and the way the animals are treated, e.g. Dumbo's mother, but it never truly does.
There's also a scene where Dumbo enters a hallucinogenic state which begins funnily, though really does go on for too long. It feels like it's just there to fill the already slacking run time, which adds to my belief that it's a film that was rushed out to make money - that could be me being overly cynical, though.
Reading this review back, it does come across as if I hate the film - I don't, I just think it has a number of flaws to it.
While Dumbo is extremely cute and simply adorable, he's the only great thing that this film has going for it. The animation, even when compared to that of Disney's first two films, isn't that good. It's very cartoony, none of the characters have aged brilliantly in that regard.
The voice talent aren't anything grand, though that's expected given the main character doesn't speak. Edward Brophy's Mouse is amusing, though he's arguably a cut-and-paste of Jiminy Cricket from 'Pinocchio'.
The message of the film is a little blurred, also. It certainly teaches the audience not to judge a book by its cover, but you expect it to stir up questions about circuses and the way the animals are treated, e.g. Dumbo's mother, but it never truly does.
There's also a scene where Dumbo enters a hallucinogenic state which begins funnily, though really does go on for too long. It feels like it's just there to fill the already slacking run time, which adds to my belief that it's a film that was rushed out to make money - that could be me being overly cynical, though.
Reading this review back, it does come across as if I hate the film - I don't, I just think it has a number of flaws to it.