When I was a kid and still to this day I've always liked the pink elephants on parade scene especially the part after they get smashed by a big pink elephants cymbols and turn into small pink elephants eventially marching around the screen and Dumbo and Timothy. I especially like that part of the music. Anyone else have a favorite part to this scene or the music in this scene
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Oh, that whole scene was terrific - but I really like the balletic, ice-skating bit with the two elephants edge-lit in a pink/green light. Very cool.
And the elephant made out of elephant heads. That is just off-the-tracks insane!
What pisses me off about sequences like that, is comments like "what were they smoking back then" or "another acid moment from Disney", and so on.
This only confirms that too much drug is bad for your brain. Before weed and LSD, people actually had something that was called fantasy, creativity and imagination. Combine this with talent, skills, experience and hard work, and you will end up with moments like the one referred to in this thread.
What pisses me off about sequences like that, is comments like "what were they smoking back then" or "another acid moment from Disney", and so on.
This only confirms that too much drug is bad for your brain. Before weed and LSD, people actually had something that was called fantasy, creativity and imagination. Combine this with talent, skills, experience and hard work, and you will end up with moments like the one referred to in this thread.
In the case of the Pink Elephant sequence though, the intention was to depict Dumbo and Timothy's state of mind while under the influence (of booze in this instance). So the idea that the artists exposed themselves to or recalling similar perception altering experiences to achieve a believable effect on screen is entirely plausible.
I have no reason to doubt, however, the disney artists insistence that they did not. Normally, depictions or impressions of the effects of mind altering substances (or just weird happenings) are exagerrated anyway. By those who have never experienced them and by those who have. And generation after generation regularly claim to infer the chemical inspiration in anything presented in such non conventional way. (Oz, Wonka etc)
Most certainly fine sirs! Tell me you have never dropped a tab and turned on the Dumbomeister? Boo-hoo. This is straight acid trip animation my bros!
Dumbo was made around the same time as Fantasia, a film even more ahead of its time, and one we always marveled at -- this, and the excellent satire of it "Allegro Non Troppo" which was made 5 years later by an Italian filmmaker. If you like this kind of fantasy animation, I highly recommend these two. (Just kidding, you can enjoy them without LSD. Just take mushrooms instead!)
I agree. Who is going to be able to animate a whole scene over days and weeks while high? It's surrealism.
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Lady Dulcinea
Especially when it's Disney. I heard that for The Adventures of Mr. Toad, one of the main animators was drafted in WWII and he left in the middle of one drawing, and 3 years later I think it was, came back and went RIGHT BACK to work on the exact same drawing he was doing when he got called out.
shareThat scene is such a wonderful fantasy. The children really enjoyed it. I was thinking about someone being high and watching that part of the movie. The film is still as wonderful as I remember it.
shareI've never thought about someone being under any substance influence when I was watching this part has a kid or now today as an adult. The frenetic nature of the scene is impressive and stands as one of the key points in the film, allowing the artists to come up with what ever they want to and allowing the freedom to do with what ever came to mind.
"Toto, I've [got] a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
As a kid, that scene seriously freaked me out. It scared me. Watching it now, I totally appreciate it. It's a magnificent piece of animation. I think I like the balletic part best.
shareI agree — I remember being extremely frightened of that scene when I was a kid. Now I love it, and can't believe how modern it looks and feels, more than half a century later!
shareWas druge use even prevalent in 1940 or whenever they made this? My impression is no, it wasn't.
To me, it seemed like a little bit of a gratuitous sequence for the animators to let their imaginations run crazy and do things that you could never do in any other medium of art. But that's also why it's entertaining to watch.
Basically whilst the song was sung and my favourite was the first "Look out. Look out. Pink elephants on parade." line.
shareYeah; I gotta commend any kids media that can actually make belly dancing cool.
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