Dumbo (Remastered)

As a veritable fleet of storks, all armed with somebody’s new prides and joys, descends upon a small circus in Florida, Mrs Jumbo awaits her own very special delivery. While baby bears, tigers, giraffes, kangaroos and even hippopotamuses are all delivered, the skies clear of feathered messengers and it appears that she’s been looked over. However, with elephants not exactly perfectly weighted and sized to simply pop in an Express Post envelope and drop in a handy bright yellow post box, the assigned delivery stork has been having a bit of a struggle. He eventually catches up with Mrs Jumbo en route to the circus’ next engagement, and finally straight from heaven above she receives a baby for her to love.

Initially the delighted talk of all the pachyderms, this envy over the new “little� one in their midst turns to enmity after a simple wee sneeze from Jumbo Junior – following which his simply ginormous ears are unveiled. Shunned by his own kind, who dub him Dumbo, then ridiculed by the public, he isn’t entirely sure what’s going on. However when his mother is locked up in solitary for simply doing her motherly duties by protecting her son, he’s soon keenly aware of his lonely and put upon existence – goodness, he’s even been relegated to the role of a clown. But then elephants ain’t got no feelings – after all, they’re made of rubber...

Cue a wise-cracking, Cagney-esque mouse in a natty little red Sergeant Peppers outfit named Timothy. Against all the “eek a mouse!� laws of nature he soon becomes a mentor, protector and most importantly friend to little Dumbo, and helps inspire him to both believe in and find himself, be proud of his difference and to triumph over the small-minded bigotry of those around him.

A rather low-key mid-WWII release, Dumbo is another Disney animated classic that tends to have the public divided. Many dismiss it as nought but a simply cartoon, whilst others have the ability to see the sheer beauty that resides within its simplicity. Sure it isn’t necessarily as stylistically beauteous as its predecessors such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, however its straightforward Looney Tunes-like visual style – a wonderfully exaggerated world where trains bend and wobble and animals talk – lends it its own delightful splendour, and all with some of that incredible early-Disney characterisation and infusion of expression in the simplest of things that can have your heartstrings tugging and tears welling before you even know it.

It also isn’t a film to be dismissed as simple kids fare. Notably there are some scenes that would possibly have littlies rather troubled, such as when Mrs Jumbo is lashed and chained up, or when Dumbo is trapped in a burning building. Story-wise, themes of alienation and displays of that hideous affliction so many have of scorning and shunning difference rather than embracing it is well explored, and while not necessarily within the abilities of young children to so easily grasp on their own, they do offer parents a perfect opportunity to explain such issues in a context that’s able to be more easily understood.

Then, of course, there’s the seriously, seriously trippy pink elephant scene which appears to have escaped the drawing boards of the Fantasia team – just what WAS in the water cooler at Disney’s studios? If you thought Worker and Parasite was a total “what was THAT all about?� moment, just wait ’til you clap your eyes on this!

While some restoration work has obviously been afforded Dumbo, those expecting vision such as that lavished upon the recent release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs may be a little disappointed. The main bugbear is an often invasive amount of graininess, levels of which vary in different scenes. Otherwise there are a few wobbly bits, plus there are some flecks and specks to be seen, although for an animated film that is over 60 years old, and one that was produced on an alarmingly low and un-Disney-like budget, there are remarkably few.

Otherwise, however, and keeping in mind the source material’s age, this 1.33:1 release (its original ratio) is surprisingly good. Colour is what really pleases, regardless of some occasional inconsistencies, with the simple but effective cartoonish palette bursting with glorious life - Dumbo hasn’t been seen looking this good in many a long year.

Possibly the best one word summation for the remixed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack provided here is “curious� (thankyou Alice!). Unfortunately the original mono mix has not been included for purists (and for comparison’s sake), and what we’re left with can be rather jarring at times. Generally things are very centre channel specific, with some spread to left and right at times – so it all sounds kind of flat – then certain scenes, such as the thunderstorm have the rears and subwoofwoof suddenly bursting into almost alarming life. The age of the original sound is belied at times by some examples of hiss and crackle, however these generally don’t tend to be particularly intrusive and all dialogue is easy to understand.

As with many of Disney’s classics, the combination of score (in this instance a gorgeous carnival-like affair courtesy of Oliver Wallace and Frank Churchill) and delightfully crafted songs in Dumbo really adds volumes to the story. The surrounds are called into action to bolster many of these additions, and isn’t it nice to watch something with outbreaks of musical-itis that doesn’t make you want to run for the nearest exit?

At first glance there seems to be a heap of extras on offer here, and what we get is quite plentiful. Unfortunately, though, we miss out on a number of features from the region 1 release. Most notable of these is a commentary by Disney historian John Cranemaker, but we are also short-changed the original Disneyland TV show intro to Dumbo by Walt himself, a sound design featurette, a short special on the making of the sadly inevitable Dumbo II (are these guys capable of an original idea nowadays?), a heap of trailers for other Disney titles, two original trailers for the film (a BIG omission) and a couple of DVD ROM features. However, let’s concentrate on what we do get, shall we?

Animated Menus: Worth their own mention, these gloriously animated and seemingly lovingly created menus are simply divine, and if the transitions between selections start to grate you can simply skip them.

Featurette - Celebrating Dumbo: Newly created for the film’s 60th anniversary, this fourteen minutes gives a number of Disney’s latter day animation team, and good ol’ Leonard Maltin, a chance to wax lyrical about their impressions of Dumbo. Well worth a peek...

Animated shorts - Elmer Elephant & The Flying Mouse: Two eight to nine minute-long episodes from Disney’s Silly Symphony series (hmm, “Silly Symphonies�, “Looney Tunes�, “Merrie Melodies�... which came first?), both of which have a thematic relationship to Dumbo, and both of which rather excitingly come to us in RCA Victor’s high-fidelity sound system! Anyway, the first dates back to 1936, and tells the tale of young Elmer and his visit to Tillie Tiger’s birthday bash, where he gets picked on for his schnozz but inevitably ends up saving the day (complete with serious “aww!� value). The second concerns a young mouse with birdlike aspirations, however when his wish comes true he finds it isn’t all that it’s flapped up to be...

Sing-along songs - Look Out For Mr Stork & Casey Jr.: Both in simple stereo, the first follows the traditional karaoke-styled route of highlighting the words as they pop up over the relevant scene from the film, whilst the second allows you to follow the bouncing dismembered Mickey Mouse head...

Disney story time - Dumbo’s Big Discovery: With options of “read along� or “read to yourself�, this is a brief and child friendly story that takes a few liberties with the film’s way of telling things. If you choose the “read along� option you get added interactivity and animations, plus assistance from Timothy Mouse and an unnamed woman – sadly though there’s no Tinkerbell bell when it’s time to go to the next page...

Art gallery: An impressive collection of conceptual art, character and story development sketches, behind the scenes photos and other relevant pictures numbering 168 in all, all reasonably easily navigable.

Music video - Baby Mine - Michael Crawford: AGH! This at least comes to us in DD5.1, and features alternate cuts of Frank Spencer (he must HATE that!) doing his thing with the gorgeous song, and scenes from the film (which serve as a nice example of how good the feature scrubs up on this DVD by comparison). To think, they dropped interesting extras yet added this.

Sure, this release won’t win any awards for sound and vision (not that it’s hideous by any means), and we do miss out on some extras region 1 were graced with, however this DVD of Dumbo would be well worth the outlay simply for the film on its own.

Short, delightfully sweet, incredibly touching and even inspirational, 60 years on Dumbo remains a triumph of animation, and still a film that every child – no matter what their age – should experience at least once in their lives. Can I wholeheartedly recommend it? I think I can... I think I can... I think I can... I think I can... YES!!!

I thought I could... I thought I could... I thought I could...