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Dumbo
Photos: Impawards, Gaby Smith
Ever since I first heard that Disney was working on a live action
Dumbo, I have been anxiously awaiting its arrival, gobbling
up every piece of concept art, every teaser trailer, and
every tiny clip we were teased with before Dumbo once again
graced the big screen. Finally, last Saturday, I got to see my
favorite Disney character take flight again, and steal away my
heart once more.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Dumbo fan. He’s my number 1
buddy and I literally don’t remember not loving him. Beyond
personal bias toward Dumbo, I feel like his story was a good
choice to re-tell with a live-action adaptation. The original
Dumbo holds the award of shortest Disney film, clocking in
at a mere 64-minute run time. The story was beautiful, but it
was truncated and audiences were left with a half-story for 78
years.
Directed by Tim Burton, I expected this movie to be bizarre,
dark, and a bit scary. Instead, I found it to be beautiful, uplifting,
and inclusive. While there is a semi-spooky scene (there’s
a location called “Nightmare Island”), and the film does
recognize the poor treatment of performance animals, I was
not brought down by this movie. Quite the opposite, actually.
All-in-all, I really enjoyed Tim Burton’s Dumbo, and would
gladly go see it again. The CGI was spectacular (I fell in love
with Dumbo all over again), the acting was entertaining (even
though Colin Farrell’s southern accent is amusing at best), and
the movie left me feeling the full rainbow of emotions — joy,
hope, sadness, heartache, nervousness, and triumph. The film
was digitally stunning, kept me engaged, and had a great score
to help tie the whole thing together.