156. Dumbo; movie review

DUMBO
Cert PG
112 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat, brief violence

Thirty-two years ago, Mrs W and I shared our first Christmas lunch in our flat and watched Disney's Dumbo on our tiny black and white television.
It's a magical film in which a tiny shy elephant finds that his 'affliction' of deformed ears makes him special rather than different.
If the real-life version was going to match up to the classic, it had to be very very good.
I'm afraid Tim Burton's film isn't. It is simply ok.
It stars Colin Farrell as a former circus horse rider who returns from forces' action with only one arm and in desperate need of a job.
Danny DeVito is the boss of a circus which is on its uppers and has sold most of its assets including the veteran's horses.
Thus, he offers him the job as the elephant trainer with a particular eye on a cow who is pregnant with a potential star attraction.
However, as we all know, the baby elephant turns out to be an initially unwanted novelty with enormous lugs.
Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins play the veteran's two children who look after little Dumbo and are the first to see him fly.
Meanwhile, Michael Keaton is the ambitious amusement park owner who wants to show off the floating pachyderm and have his partner (Eva Green) on his back.
The problem with this version of Dumbo is that it lacks the charm of the original.
This may be down to a lack of surprise or because the audience doesn't invest in the characters because there are too many of them.
Indeed, it is possible that Burton's ambition is greater than it needed to be and in trying to outdo the original he has lost its sparkle.
I guess I am struggling to define exactly why Dumbo didn't chime with me. But, despite looking forward to it, I am afraid it didn't.
Its box office ratings suggest that my opinion isn't universal, although I wonder how many attendees have turned up because of a glowing childhood memory and been disappointed.

Reasons to watch: It's Dumbo!
Reasons to avoid: Doesn't have the magic of the animation

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? The original Dumbo turned around Disney's fortunes. Pinocchio and Fantasia both failed at the box office, and European film distribution was impossible at the time due to World War II, so Disney needed a hit and it needed to spend as little money as possible to ensure its American audience showed up for the movie. It spent less than $1m on a 64-minute long Dumbo.

The final word. Colin Farrell: "I think Edward Scissorhands was one of the first films I saw of his and it’s still one of my favourite films of all time, probably. So yeah the idea of something that was as sweet and fantastical, almost otherworldly while being grounded in some recognizable world that we can relate to under the directorship of him is kind of a dream." Slash Film

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