Dumbo (2019) | Film Review

“You can stretch a story just so far, and after that it won’t hold together.” – Walt Disney

In recent years, Disney has made billions off of remaking their own classic films into modern day blockbusters (Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella), and capitalizing off their own nostalgia. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that in 2019, they are releasing THREE new takes on their timeless classics. With Aladdin and The Lion King waiting in the wings, it’s left to Dumbo – the adorable flying baby elephant – to usher in this year’s crop of Disney retreads.

In an attempt to fill several narrative gaps in order to adapt the fairly basic aspects of the original, Ehren Kruger’s screenplay follows Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus cowboy who returns from World War I – where he lost an arm – to find himself the widowed caretaker of his daughter and son, Milly and Joe (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins). In his absence, the circus has struggled mightily, and showrunner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) was forced to sell Holt’s beloved horses. Desperate to support his family, Holt takes up the only job available: an elephant caretaker.

As their beloved elephant, Mrs. Jumbo, is pregnant, Max’s master plan is that the baby will prove a heavy draw for families everywhere. This idea hits a roadblock when the baby (later to be named Dumbo) arrives with a birth defect in the form of grossly oversized ears. While Max panics and orders Holt to stick Dumbo in clown makeup for easy laughs, Milly uses her independent studies to conclude that this elephant – in fact – can fly. Once Mrs. Jumbo erupts in a fit of maternal instinct, forcing Max to send her away, it is up to the floppy eared elephant and the Farrier family to use Dumbo’s increasing fame to reunite the two, once and for all.

Helming this update on the 1941 classic is Tim Burton, a director known for his deeply rooted stake on grandiose visuals, and there is no shortage of Burtonisms at play here. Fantastical worlds under the big top suit Burton’s sensibilities. If that’s so, then why does Dumbo feel so…empty?

There is an entire world of magic we should love in Dumbo, not the least of which is Burton and his “greatest hits” players. DeVito tosses out his trademark growl, Eva Green brightens up the screen as a trapeze artist who can ride elephants while taming hearts, and frequent collaborator Danny Elfman’s score evokes classic Burton mystique. Batman himself even shows up when Michael Keaton’s V. A. Vandevere arrives halfway through as a Coney Island entrepreneur hell-bent on exploiting Dumbo’s attributes whilst gnawing on every syllable of dialogue he can (Vandevere’s Dreamland is a wondrous hodgepodge of Burton-esque imagery) . Toss all of those elements in a pot and stir in a misunderstood gala of circus freaks, and you should have the makings of a Tim Burton classic.

And somehow, it isn’t. In fact, there is zero reason Dumbo shouldn’t fly with all of the talent involved, and still it barely gets off the ground. One issue is the original cartoon was blissful in its innocence and simplicity. Dumbo was never meant to be a cautionary tale of capitalism and big business run amok, but it repeatedly hits these walls this go-round. This was a sweet elephant who turns a handicap into a glowing advantage. Yet here, that message is lost amidst an innate desire to punch up a script that was infinitely better the way it was almost 80 years ago.

All of the actors can walk out of Dumbo with their heads held high, there is nothing present – either in the film or their performances – that makes it a “bad film”. Instead, this is a textbook example of average. Every moment that centers on Dumbo raises the enjoyment factor, the rendition of the iconic character is captivating and absolutely adorable, but unfortunately too few characters are adequately fleshed out and there is just too much else going on that amounts to nothing, quickly forcing you to check the time, rather than finding yourself lost in the moment.

Longtime fans of the character will catch several nods to pink elephants and circus mice, but mostly they’ll be pulling into the driveway shortly after leaving the theater to break out the original Disney classic for a fresh taste of what they were hoping for: the tale of a baby elephant with horrendously oversized ears who overcame all odds to finally soar. It’s a lesson the 2019 Dumbo seems to have stretched so far, it has been almost forgotten entirely.