Dumbo

Dir: Tim Burton

2019

**

In 2001, the 60th Anniversary Edition DVD of Dumbo featured a sneak peek of the proposed sequel Dumbo II, including new character designs and storyboards. Robert C. Ramirez was to direct the sequel, in which Dumbo and his circus friends navigated a large city after being left behind by their traveling circus. The sequel also sought to explain what happened to Dumbo's father, Mr. Jumbo. Dumbo's circus friends included the chaotic twin bears Claude and Lolly, the curious zebra Dot, the older, independent hippo Godfry, and the adventurous ostrich Penny. The animals were metaphors for the different stages of childhood. Dumbo II was supposed to be set on the day immediately following the end of the first Dumbo movie. However, rightly or wrongly, John Lasseter cancelled the film soon after being named Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2006. Fast forward a few years and, having totally run out of ideas, Disney decide that instead of writing anything new, they would now focus on making live-action remakes of all their animated classic, most of which would be just as animated as the originals. This is mostly a bad idea but I did wonder whether films like Pinocchio and Dumbo could work. Thing is, there are some lovely live-action adaptations of Pinocchio already, so Dumbo seemed one of the logical places to start. I think it could have been something wonderful, but it wasn’t. I’m guessing the current people at Disney had never seen Tim Burton’s remake of Planet of the Apes, so wouldn’t therefore know of the dangers of asking for his assistance. I didn’t want to see a full on shot-for-shot remake of Dumbo but this ‘re-imagining’ of the original sucks out all of the charm of the first and replaces it with sad looking CGI and pointless humans. The first half of the film vaguely covers the original film and then the second half is its own monster. Set in 1919, equestrian performer and World War I amputee, Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) returns after the war to the Medici Brothers' Circus, run by Max Medici (Danny DeVito). The circus has run into financial troubles and Medici has been forced to sell the circus' horses after Holt's wife and co-performer, Annie, died from the Spanish flu outbreak, so Medici reassigns Holt as the caretaker for the circus' pregnant Asian elephant, "Mrs. Jumbo". Mrs. Jumbo gives birth to a calf with unusually large ears and Medici orders Holt to hide the ears before allowing the public to see the calf. However, the calf accidentally reveals his ears in his debut performance in Joplin, Missouri, and the crowd mockingly names the calf "Dumbo" while pelting him with peanuts and other objects. Mrs. Jumbo, horrified and enraged by her son's mistreatment, rampages into the ring, causing extensive damage and accidentally collapsing the big top, which results in the death of an abusive handler. Afterwards, to prevent a public relations problem, Medici resorts to selling Mrs. Jumbo. Holt's son and daughter, Joe and Milly Farrier (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins), comfort Dumbo and discover he can fly by flapping his ears. The children also discover that feathers are the key to Dumbo's willingness to fly. In another performance, Dumbo plays the role of a firefighter clown to put out a fire with water sprayed from his trunk, but the performance goes wrong and Dumbo is trapped on a high platform surrounded by flames. Milly delivers a feather to Dumbo, giving him the confidence to fly. The audience is astounded when Dumbo flies and word of his talent begins to spread. V. A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), the entrepreneur and owner of a bohemian amusement park called Dreamland in New York City, approaches Medici and proposes a collaboration; Medici would become Vandevere's partner and the Medici Brothers' Circus' troupe would be employed to perform at Dreamland. Later, Vandevere demands that Dumbo fly with French trapeze artist, Colette Marchant (Eva Green). Colette and Dumbo’s debut performance at Dreamland goes wrong with Dumbo nearly falling off a high platform leading to him trumpeting in alarm since there is no safety net. Dumbo hears his mother's call in response and realizes that his mother is in an exhibit elsewhere in Dreamland. Dumbo flies out of the circus ring, reuniting with his mother, to the disappointment of the audience. Fearing that Mrs. Jumbo may become a distraction to him and ruin his reputation, Vandevere orders her to be terminated. Vandevere also fires all the Medici performers from Dreamland. When Holt and the rest of the Medici troupe learn that Vandevere intends to kill Dumbo's mother and it's no longer safe for the two elephants to live with them, they resolve to set both her and Dumbo free. The circus performers utilize their various talents to break Mrs. Jumbo out of her enclosure while Holt and Colette guide Dumbo to fly out of the circus. Vandevere attempts to stop them, but starts a fire triggered by the enraged mismanagement of Dreamland's electricity system, which spreads and destroys the park. After Dumbo saves Holt and his family from the fire, Holt, Colette, the kids, and the troupe bring Dumbo and his mother to the harbor, where they board a ship back to their native home in India. Afterwards, the renamed Medici Family Circus is re-established and flourishes with Colette as the newest troupe member, Milly as host of a science lecture exhibit, and performers dressed as animals in line with the circus's new policy of not using wild animals in captivity for entertainment (while it is implied that Vandevere was arrested and tried for misconduct). Meanwhile, Dumbo and his mother reunite with a herd of wild elephants who applaud their newest members as he flies with joy for their future to come. It was decided that none of the animals would talk and that there would be no musical number like the original. Basically, they cut out everything that people loved about the original. The whole Dreamland thing had nothing to do with the spirit of Dumbo and I find it rather odd that a giant like Disney would try to criticize the idea of the big greedy organisation (dealing with attractions and theme parks) without an inch of irony. Dreamland buys the circus, takes what it wants and then gets rid of the rest. Remind you of anyone? Dreamland itself was designed by Rick Heinrichs who said he was heavily influenced by the works of Edward Hopper. I’m guessing he means another Edward Hopper and not the famous painter who created Nighthawks. Hopper’s famous paintings were all done a good few decades after the First World War. Heinrichs has said that “having worked with Tim many times in the past, I know that Burton is a little less interested in giving a history lesson as he is in the emotional story being told” but here he fails at both. It’s a combination of bad ideas and poor design. It didn’t need all the humans, in fact it was worse for them. I get why they got rid of the crows but cutting Timothy the mouse out of the story was a step too far. I had no enthusiasm for it whatsoever, even when elements of Batman Returns crept into the story. Sadly not even Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton or Alan Arkin could save it. DeVito said that when Burton called him up asking him to be in this film, he referred to the project as "the completion of the circus trilogy" after the pair had worked on Mars Attacks and Big Fish together – both films featuring the actor as a sort of circus ring leader. Tim Burton hasn’t made a good film in years and sadly this is one of his worst. The original Dumbo was created to make money fast after Pinocchio and Fantasia bombed at the box office and it outsold both of them put together, saving the studio. 78 years later, and the remake took a massive hit, under performing globally. The irony never stops. It’s horrible, I think Dumbo was the only one not drinking.