Dumbo

Release Date: October 31, 1941

Watch Date: February 1, 2023

 

    This is a hard movie to watch if you have kids, since it’s mostly about a baby being bullied for what you could draw parallels to being a birth defect but is pretty obviously just large ears that he will absolutely grow into. If people bullied my kids like that, well I can relate to the actions taken by Mrs. Jumbo.

    There’s also a surprising amount of racism in this movie about an adorable baby elephant. From the scene of the African-American crew setting up the circus while singing a highly offensive song, to the obviously meant to be stereotyped as African-American crows – one is literally named Jim Crow. Now I’m the last person to pretend that Disney was perfect and ahead of the rest of society, especially in the 1940s but still…this is rough.

    The pink elephant scene always creeps me out – and not just because it features a baby getting very drunk. I know it’s meant to be trippy, but it goes on for far too long. We get it. The pink elephants are on parade. Being drunk can be weird. Cool. Move on please.

    ‘Baby Mine’ is the most well-known, and long lasting, part of this film. It’s earned that reputation. It’s short and sweet, and at least to me, speaks to motherhood and the words we often struggle to say in order to reassure our children during the rough times. It’s a super cute scene too – all the baby animals curled up with their parents while Dumbo and his mom try desperately to connect. It’s touching, and a little bit heartbreaking at the same time.

    I really like the idea of Dumbo, but I always struggle with the actual watching. Bob was mostly gobsmacked at just how bad the racism was, and in between those moments he sat bored. Which, I’ll be fair, was better than I expected it to be. I figured I’d have to drag him through it like I did Fantasia. But we managed. Let’s hope the live action version does it better…or at least with a little less racial bias.