The Heartless “Dumbo” (2019) Epitomizes the Worst of Disney (Part I of II)
(3.5/10)
I sensed something was amiss early in the live-action adaptation of “Dumbo” (2019), when the film dedicates the first fifteen minutes to the manufactured tragedy of inordinate number of human characters before a single elephant makes an appearance.
First, there’s Max Medici (Danny Davito). He’s the owner of the Medici Circus that’s been going through tough times, but he has made an investment that he hopes will bring much needed attention to his floundering circus: an Asian elephant named Mrs. Jumbo who is pregnant with a baby elephant.
Tasked with taking care of the mother and the baby elephant is Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), who with his wife used to be the star equestrian performer for the Medici circus until he left for World War I. He’s unable to perform now because he’s come back from the war not only as an amputee but also a widower. His wife died of the flu during his absence, leaving his daughter Milly (Nico Parker) and son Joe (Finley Hobbins) without a parent until his return.
Humans played minimal role in the original 1941 Disney animated film, and from the very beginning, it never feels that these human storylines are particularly relevant to the story about Dumbo the elephant.
To be sure, I rarely complain that a film adaptation is insufficiently faithful to the original material. Faithfulness is overrated; I’ve seen far too many movies that failed because they sought to achieve faithfulness at the expense of creativity.
In fact, if there ever was a live-action adaptation of an animated film that needed to depart from the original, “Dumbo” would be it. The scene from the animation where Dumbo gets so drunk he hallucinates pink elephants doesn’t seem particularly appropriate to re-create for a young audience. Nor do I think it would have been wise to see Dumbo jumping off of an inflaming tower into a small bucket. This movie incorporates elements of these scenes in a more appropriate, even if clumsy, way.
Of course, these scenes aren’t what made the original animation a classic. What was special was its sense of magic, the inspiring and uplifting story about a ridiculed elephant with unattractively large ears that learned to do the impossible.
But such heart is nowhere to be seen in this live action dud.
