X
- 1941
- G
- RKO Radio Pictures
- 1 h 4 m
- 1941
- G
- RKO Radio Pictures
- 1 h 4 m
Summary This simple animated tale is set in a circus and spotlights a baby elephant, Dumbo, who is mocked and ridiculed because his ears are too big, only to be assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.
- 1941
- G
- RKO Radio Pictures
- 1 h 4 m
- 1941
- G
- RKO Radio Pictures
- 1 h 4 m
Dumbo
96
7.6
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Summary This simple animated tale is set in a circus and spotlights a baby elephant, Dumbo, who is mocked and ridiculed because his ears are too big, only to be assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It's not only one of the best classic-era Disney features, but also one of the best animated films from any studio at any time.
Though it was made during a bitter artists' strike in 1941, it's one of Disney's most charming and perfectly proportioned films, uninflated by the cultural pretensions Uncle Walt was fond of slipping in.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 227 User Ratings
7.6
78% Positive
176 Ratings
176 Ratings
19% Mixed
44 Ratings
44 Ratings
3% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 227 User Ratings
7.6
78% Positive
176 Ratings
176 Ratings
19% Mixed
44 Ratings
44 Ratings
3% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
One of the best of Disney's animated features. An ugly duckling variation, lifted by those unforgettable characters.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
With its genuinely cute hero and appealing storyline, Dumbo's exactly right for younger children but not too milk-soppy for anyone over eight. Indispensible.
By R.L. Shaffer
FULL REVIEW
In its scant 64-minute running time, the big-top melodrama of Dumbo reduces me to a blubbering, mucus-drizzling wreck at least once with every viewing.
Dumbo ends happily enough...but all that comes in a rushed finale; the movie is more interested in capturing the shadings and sounds of sadness (so many scenes take place in the blue night).
Невероятноя, сказочная, детская сказка. Сюжет заставляет переживать и сочувствовать героям. Скучать точно не придётся. Рекомендую всем посмотреть этот фильм и может потом посмотреть ремейк 2019 года.
Report
One of Disney's classics, though after seventy-five years, its reputation may have outpaced the film itself. After the financial disappointments of Pinocchio and Fantasia a year earlier, the studio tightened its belt on Dumbo in an effort to make up for the losses. It worked in one sense, giving Disney the box office victory it needed, but that penny-pinching and corner-cutting hurt the finished product.
Dumbo is astonishingly short, barely an hour including credits, which forces a sudden, jarring climax. The story's pace is quite smooth until then, taking its time to build characters and back-story, so by contrast the immediate rush to wrap everything up in a frenzied flash is extremely disruptive. While it's cruising along in the first half, though, things are good enough. Speckled with colorful characters and a fresh circus setting, it bottles that classic, emotive Disney magic while still taking a few risks. The infamous pink elephant scene, in particular, is an unexpectedly surreal animator's playground that's several decades ahead of the curve. I was shocked to find offbeat similarities to Danny Elfman's work in the film's score, too, which may suggest an even broader influence.
Playful and heartfelt, though tragically under-cooked, Dumbo feels like a breezy short story when compared to the richer, more complete films elsewhere in the studio's early catalog.
Report
I watched this as a kid. Wasn't always my favorite. I just never really got into Dumbo. Good for the kids though.
Report
Personally, and despite recognizing its legion of admirers and fans, this is one of the classic Disney films that I least appreciate. I don't really know why. As a child, I could have seen it if I wanted to, but it never attracted me, nor did it charm me when I saw it as an adult. Maybe because it's set in a circus (I hate the circus, I always have). However, I recognize that it is a quality work, even if it is not as exquisite and detailed as other films from the same period. After some reading, I discovered that the film was released at a time when the studio needed to make a financial hit, following the box office failures of “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia”. That's why the film is less beautiful, it has simpler and cheaper animations. And interestingly, it was a great success, although I feel that, at the moment, it is a little forgotten.
The story of the film is very simple. So simple that it almost can't handle a feature film! It all starts with the birth of a baby elephant, which is brought by a stork to a visibly emotional mother elephant. Everything looks perfect, but the little baby sneezes and his ears immediately take on an immensely large size, turning the baby into a strange creature that everyone makes fun of. Things get even worse when his mother is arrested and separated from him for trying to defend him. Sad, lonely and friendless, transformed into the clown of the circus, he will have to trust a little mouse to figure out how to turn around and win his place and everyone's respect.
The movie is a lot shorter than most Disney movies, and that's a good thing, because, as you can see, it doesn't have a script solid enough to last much longer. The film drags on and makes several musical breaks in order to last at least an hour, and there are a number of songs that seem like real parenthesis, or intervals, in the story told. This happens with the tender song “Baby Mine”, in which Dumbo is affectionately snuggled by his imprisoned mother, and with the dreamlike scene of the pink elephants, which provides us with a psychedelic and frenetic visual that only reappears in the film art many decades later. Between pauses and advances, the story works satisfactorily and gives rise to a good soundtrack full of quality songs.
As I've already mentioned, the visual quality of the animations in this film is far from the best ever made by Walt Disney Studios. I appreciated the softness of the colors and the light, but the line is quite blurred and faint, and we don't have drawings as detailed and rich as we have seen in previous and later films. Although the title character is mute, communicating his emotions and thoughts through non-verbal language, the film has a good cast of voices including Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, Verna Felton, Cliff Edward, Herman Bing, Dorothy Scott and Sarah. Selby, among others.
Report
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination