It had been a long time since I saw Dumbo.
So much so that I did not remember much about it. However, with the new live-action Dumbo coming out from Disney this week, I figured it was time to watch the film again. And at a sparse 64 minutes, Dumbo was not a hard watch at all.
There was a lot of the 1941 movie that I did not remember. There were some real mean spirited parts of the film. The crows were blatantly racist. The other elephants were simply bullies. Even Dumbo’s friends were using him through much of the film.
Yet, there was a feeling of magic here. The whole concept of seeing an elephant flying is amazing and they pull it out in a great moment for Dumbo. It really is able to put all of the negativity in its place right at the end of the movie.
It did feel too short. As if there was more to this story than what we got. Still, it was a fun watch. You got the story of someone overcoming their difficulties to become something special (those ears were really big). The drunk scene was disturbing.
I am looking forward to the new version of this movie. We will see if it can match the magic of the original.