I never enjoyed Dumbo. It's a sad story; they live in an animal-exploiting-circus ; everybody is a bastard in this film.
I like Dumbo and his mom, but this movie never gave me a good vibe.
Actually, quite the opposite.
Also the end is utter crap, so he's famous, thank you very much!... because his existance is only justifiable according to what others think of him.
Wtf....
I agree.
And the fact that the hero of the movie is essentially an infant means that he's just not that interesting a personality.
That's true, but in other instances that's used as a vehicle for happiness or energy (like Bambi).
Here being a child relates only to being weaker.
Dumbo is so repeatedly abused Oliver Twist wouldn't want to trade places with him:-(
That's LIFE. The physically different are discrminated against and abused.
Thank goodness Disney had the GUTS and COURAGE to show things as they are, back in the 40s, BEFORE they became simps to corporate/commercial considerations and fads.
You people want everything to be whitewashed, but Dumbo tells it as it IS.
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But we should remember that Timothy was mostly nice to Dumbo and that the crows helped him too in the end.
But yeah, I agree with you that the message has its flaws even though there was a happy ending.
What was flawed about the message?
The message basically says that what society may regard as a 'weakness'/a basis for derision, could in fact be a secret strength. That's a very empowering message. It's basically saying 'Fuck You' to the bullies and conformists. Unfortunately, today's society doesn't want to hear a message that challenges the idea that the different could be better, or at least equal. Everything MUST conform. It's the corporate-socialist way (and yes, I realise that there's an irony in big business/corporations turning out to be the de facto socialists, but that's the globalised 'group think' world we're living in). Amazing that Disney hasn't deleted this film, seeing that it's basically anathema to its current beliefs/business model.
It is flawed because it suggests that you're only worth something if you're disabled if you become famous.
shareI don't think the film is saying that. Dumbo is not 'worthy' because he's famous, but the sad truth is that he needs to become famous to *prove* to everyone else that he *is* worthy. He shouldn't have to, of course, but that's not the same as saying "he's only worthy because he's famous."
shareAnd I agree that it couldn't have been the intention of the film-makers to send out a negative message.
But it's very easy to wonder "what about the kids, who never will turn their weakness into something impressive?"
And as a poster in another thread said, most of the characters in the movie just come across as two-faced.
Like, do you think that the other elephants who ostracized Dumbo would still like him if he lost his ability to fly?
You make some reasonable points, and I agree that it's a shame Dumbo would not be appreciated unless he had his super-powers, so to speak. He shouldn't need super-powers to be treated with respect and dignity, but I don't think the film is giving the other elephants any credit here. They were wrong to ostracise him when he was merely a deformed 'freak', and they don't get any credit for finally respecting him, once he turns his deformity into some sort of power. But is the message in this film any different from say the X-Men comics, or all manner of super-hero stories in which a character finds power/strength through adversity/something that might otherwise have been a deformity/basis for discrimination?
shareAgain, it is not like I think that the film-makers had anything but the best intentions.
But if you think about the ending, it is a tiny bit more problematic than it could have been.
Perhaps a scene where the other elephants had to actually apologize to Dumbo would have helped?
But I'm not saying that it's a bad movie although it's not among my biggest favorites from Disney.
Only that I think that the ending could have been better...
I've got it as my third favourite Disney film, after Pinocchio at #1 and The Jungle Book at #2. There's a real power and poignancy to the themes of ostracisation (for a physical disability/deformity) and parental estrangement/watching a parent being abused and treated as mentally ill for defending their child. It's really powerful, and even slightly disturbing, stuff, if you think about it. Pinocchio also has those elements of darkness (with the story of a child who is tempted to transgress and take the easy way through life, and suffer the penalties for doing so).
shareDumbo, Bambi, Pinocchio, Land Before Time, The Land of Faraway…, all dark films, no argument there but there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why these films were made. We do our children a great disservice by not presenting them with managed and controlled mediums which depict a range of feeling, emotion as well as glimpses into a world which is NOT made up of rainbows, unicorns and glitter/gold, there are dark forces in this world, to include negative emotions and feelings, and our children need a healthy way to at the very least glimpse, process, and experience these very real aspects of their reality. Maybe they’re living in an unimaginable destructive environment, think about how these films may provide hope to a child experiencing firsthand something similar.
Fuck rainbows.
Does it have to be gloomy and cruel if there are no rainbows?
Bambi, for instance, had an awful ending, but the whole story is aimed at illustrating what really goes on in nature and with men, including the many happy moments in the first year of the deer, so the realistic and sad ending feels appropriate, as in sad but true.
In Dumbo we are talking about just plain cruelty and sadism, where there is no need for it.
Which would work great if it was a message about animal circuses, but it's not, as you can see with the "happy" ending. So it's just free cruelty and sadness.
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But what is awful and sad about the ending of "Bambi" though?
It ended with Bambi and Feline having twins.