Dumbo
Directed by: Tim Burton
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Colin Ferrell, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Roshan Seth, Deobia Oparei, Joseph Gatt, Miguel Muñoz Segura, Zenaida Alcalde, Douglas Reith, Phil Zimmerman, Sharon Rooney, Frank Bourke, Sandy Martin, Lars Eidinger
Family/Fantasy - 112 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 27 Mar 2019
Written by: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Colin Ferrell, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker, Finley Hobbins, Roshan Seth, Deobia Oparei, Joseph Gatt, Miguel Muñoz Segura, Zenaida Alcalde, Douglas Reith, Phil Zimmerman, Sharon Rooney, Frank Bourke, Sandy Martin, Lars Eidinger
Family/Fantasy - 112 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 27 Mar 2019
Is there a set of Disney fans out there whose favorite film is 1941’s Dumbo? Do they replay it over and over again and relish the emotions they feel of scene after scene of animal abuse? I will never understand why anybody would watch Dumbo and then anticipate a remake, even if it is directed by Tim Burton. Dumbo’s story is nauseating. A baby elephant is considered a freak. While trying to protect her offspring, the mother elephant is declared mad, carted off, and the baby is then mocked and exploited for the majority of the film. Why the fond memories for this? We all have our personal cinematic horror shows, those films we abhor more than the average viewer, and Dumbo has a reserved place in my top three. One may argue I am blind to the larger message, that I’m stuck on the details - a sort of ‘can’t see the forest for the trees’ issue. Probably, but at least I am aware enough that I walked into this remake with a bias.
That is not wrong. Every single movie-goer walks into the theater for any film with inherent biases, preferences, and flaws. It’s what makes us human. We watch movies through our own lenses, which is why sometimes it feels like folks who just sat through the same film feel like they saw different movies. Unlike millions of others, I am no fan of the unending deluge of Disney remakes. Some work like The Jungle Book or Maleficent, but others like Beauty and the Beast are downright mind-numbing because they hew so close to the original. I will go ahead and self-identify to dreading the upcoming Lion King and Aladdin remakes. Disney has all the right in the world to mine their previous intellectual property and do whatever they want with it; however, they should continue to be called onto the carpet for laziness and a lack of creativity for repacking older animated tales into half live-action/half CGI.
That is not wrong. Every single movie-goer walks into the theater for any film with inherent biases, preferences, and flaws. It’s what makes us human. We watch movies through our own lenses, which is why sometimes it feels like folks who just sat through the same film feel like they saw different movies. Unlike millions of others, I am no fan of the unending deluge of Disney remakes. Some work like The Jungle Book or Maleficent, but others like Beauty and the Beast are downright mind-numbing because they hew so close to the original. I will go ahead and self-identify to dreading the upcoming Lion King and Aladdin remakes. Disney has all the right in the world to mine their previous intellectual property and do whatever they want with it; however, they should continue to be called onto the carpet for laziness and a lack of creativity for repacking older animated tales into half live-action/half CGI.
It is easy to confirm no elephants were harmed in the making of Dumbo, because there were no elephants on stage with Colin Farrell and company. So, Dumbo is live-action to a point. Just wait for the constant Twitter corrections when folks who rave about the live-action Lion King are pelted with relentless, “There’s nothing live-action about it! The animals are computer generated!” If a studio insists on re-doing a tale of neglect and misery, at least balance the drudgery with human characters for the audience to identify with and cheer on. Unfortunately, writer Ehren Kruger, perhaps best known for penning three Transformers scripts, offers an emotionally stunted dad and two kids quickly learning it is best to just figure out things on their own, rather than involve a man who will only scold and misunderstand everything.
It is 1919 and Holt Farrier (Farrell, Winter's Tale) is back from The Great War, minus one arm. His wife and mother of their two children died during the 1918 influenza pandemic, so Holt needs to put the time and effort in to get to know his kids again and start a new life. I guess familial bonds were a bit tougher 100 years ago. Instead of long chats and reassurance, Holt fusses at his kids throughout the film and is more obstacle to their path to help Dumbo fly than as a supportive Timothy Q. Mouse. The family travels with The Medici Brothers Circus, a traveling hovel which looks like leftovers of an 1819 circus as they set up shop in such metropolitan locales as Wetumpka, Alabama and Moultrie, Georgia.
When Dumbo pops out and word spreads about his aeronautical ability, the bright lights, big city comes calling in the form of a steampunk-looking tycoon, V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton, Spotlight), and sultry Parisian big top diva, Colette Marchant (Eva Green, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children). Vandevere purchases The Medici Brothers Circus, all of its employees, and Dumbo to set up shop in a Coney Island Disney World. Character arcs include learning cold-hearted capitalism makes one yearn for the simple life you sold away, perhaps separating a newborn elephant from his mother wasn’t the best move on Earth as the elephant’s wails and screams finally break into your soul, and allowing your daughter to pursue a behind-the-scenes science career rather than set herself on fire in front of country bumpkins is not actually a step down the social hierarchy.
1919 was a different time, but it’s hard to believe a father, who I suspect loves his children in his own awkward way, cannot understand his daughter when she says, “I want to be known for my mind; I don’t need the whole world staring at me.” This speech is also a bit too on the nose for the time period, but we’re dealing with flying elephants here folks. We’re also dealing with some low-tier acting. Both Colin Farrell and Michael Keaton deliver baffling performances while the two kids are downright atrocious. Danny DeVito and Eva Green float to the top, but they have less to do. Despite the acting and the detours the film takes to make it twice as long as the 64-minute 1941 version, what 2019 audience wants two hours of elephant abuse? This material is too dark for the six and under crowd and the pre-teens aren’t going to latch onto it either. Therefore, decide well if you’re ready to imprint your 7 to 10 year-olds with some cinematic scarring. But hey, at least Disney had the wherewithal to take out the racist crows.
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