Dumbo (2019)

Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019). 

Being of the opinion that Walt Disney’s original Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941) is one of the greatest movies ever made, I was not entirely thrilled at the prospect of a remake, in spite of my admiration for director Tim Burton. But, ever the open-minded film enthusiast, I watched it anyways! 

Dumbo is, of course, the story of the circus elephant born with oversized ears who silences his naysayers when his ears provide him with the ability of flight. 

The first half of Burton’s movie roughly follows the original, while the second half continues Dumbo’s story after the events of the first movie, chronicling the baby elephant’s tenure as the star attraction of an early amusement park and the daring rescue attempt of his imprisoned mother. In this respect the new Dumbo is kind of a remake and a sequel rolled into one. 

Perhaps with some predictability, it is the first half which suffers most in comparison with the original. Although the original movie runs little more than an hour, its basic story is retold here in about 40 minutes. The result of which is the narrative beats all fall a little off the mark. For example, Dumbo’s ability to fly is established within the first 20 minutes of the movie, rather than at the climax. The introduction of an antagonist who is swiftly dispensed with roughly halfway through is also slightly jarring. 

Absent are the crows and Timothy Mouse, replaced by elephant wrangler Colin Farrell and his children Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins. The genuinely moving relationship between Dumbo and his only friend Timothy is sorely missed and as a result the emotional core of the movie seems sadly lacking. The tragic-comic original contains both moment of great joy and great sadness, while this Dumbo is content to coast along without reaching such emotional depths. 

That said, being a Burton production, it looks fabulous, has an appealing cast including Eva Green, Michael Keaton and a neat turn from Danny DeVito as the circus ringmaster and does makes enough of an effort in the second half to justify its existence. The Dreamland amusement park setting, in particular, features some spectacular production design and the rescue attempt has some genuine moments of excitement. If the movie had concentrated more on these events and less on a watered down reiteration of the original it may have been a Burton classic. As it is, I guess half a good movie is better than none and it is a definite improvement over the director’s ‘re-imaginings’ of Planet of the Apes (2001) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). 

By all means watch and enjoy Tim Burton’s Dumbo, especially it’s superior second half. Just don’t expect it to soar to the same thrilling heights as Walt Disney’s masterful original.