Dumbo

He’s not. The trailer goes so fast that I didn’t realize that though Keaton has just spoken, the person leading the parade is actually just some random clown guy or something. Nevertheless, the choreography does look similar.

“Clown choreography!” my mother read in amusement as the end credits rolled.

“Actually,” I volunteered, “I kept thinking as I watched, ‘This movie has such great clown choreography!'” I know, I’m weird. But it does have killer clown choreography and some mesmerizing synchronized acrobatics that my mother absolutely loved. It also has cool costumes by Colleen Atwood and a powerful score by frequent Burton collaborator Danny Elfman that I liked a lot.  A lot.

The Good:
Before the days of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Burton used to work with a bunch of other people, and they’re all in this movie. Well, okay, not all of them. (And, I mean, Johnny Depp’s in his early movies, too, but you know what I mean.)  The point is, in Dumbo Burton does assemble an impressive cast of stars he’s worked with previously. Michael Keaton. Danny DeVito. Eva Green.

The movie has an excellent cast, and I love all the actors involved. Seeing so many familiar and welcome names and faces in the trailer is a big part of what made me want to watch this re-imagining of Dumbo. The human protagonists are played by Colin Farrell (an actor I love) and two young newcomers, Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins. Rounding out the cast are (surprise!) Alan Arkin, Roshan Seth (aka the guy from Temple of Doom who says Indiana Jones is being crazy and insulting at dinner then turns out to be a member of the cult), Sandy Martin (from Three Billboards), and a bunch of other great actors I’m less familiar with.

My personal favorite of the lesser known supporting cast is Sharon Rooney as the circus’s delightful Mermaid, Miss Atlantis. My entire family loved her.  She’s the person who sings the film’s iconic lullaby “Baby Mine” (because in this movie, the adult elephants don’t talk either), and also has this amazing bit near the end that delighted us all so much.  I don’t know if the rest of the audience found this as amazing as we did, but we were laughing out loud and exclaiming in delight.  (Sometimes I’m surprised we don’t get kicked out of the theater.)

Of Dumbo‘s big stars, Eva Green is probably the one I was least a fan of going into the film. In the past, I’ve never fully warmed to Green. I don’t dislike her. I’ve just never been a fan. But to my surprise, she turned out to be the best one in the movie.  By far. My husband thought so, too. He correctly observed that Green has such palpable, instant chemistry with every single one of her co-stars, including Dumbo.

“Oh yeah,” I agreed enthusiastically after the movie.  “She was great with Dumbo.  They really seemed to have a bond.”

And he reminded me, “There is no Dumbo.  It’s CGI.”

That blew my mind.  I mean, I knew Disney didn’t hire a young elephant and train him to fly for this film.  I knew there wasn’t really an elephant.  But I didn’t consider the fact that Eva Green is not working with an elephant in her scenes with Dumbo.  What is she looking at?  What is she tapping with her foot?  Probably some guy with tape on his head.  (Is it Andy Serkis?)  I’m now dying of to watch a behind the scenes special to see how they filmed Green’s scenes with Dumbo.  She really looks like she’s got this intense chemistry with a creature who isn’t there.  It’s some of the best green screen acting I’ve ever seen.

Though I liked the movie tremendously, I think all of the characters are underwritten (except maybe the little girl).  Basically so much of what we understand about the characters is what the actors are giving us non-verbally (possibly with the help of Burton’s direction).  Green really gives us a lot, far more than anyone else.  I really felt like I got her, and I found her presence so exciting. She enlivens the movie and gives it some emotional depth.  You could say she gives it wings and makes it take flight.

One thing I admired about the film is its ability to keep the story child appropriate without dumbing it down.  So often, if characters said a bit more, the material might become inappropriate for the young audience.  They don’t solve the problem by substituting child friendly language for curse words or vague euphemisms for harsh concepts.  They simply say nothing.  There’s one moment when Keaton’s character is attempting to threaten, insult, and control someone.  When what he might say becomes too harsh, he simply stops forming words.  That’s much better than saying a lot of terrible, ridiculous dialogue that too often finds its way into children’s movies.  That’s probably why the characters seem a bit underwritten.  Adults can fill in some things for themselves.  This story is set in a very harsh world, and some of the concepts need to be obscured, too.

That’s another thing I loved about Dumbo, what it has to say about the world in which it’s set.  We just saw Us, so I’ve already been thinking about 1) how our dreams and our nightmares are two sides of the same coin, and 2) how imprisoning a class system can be.  This Dumbo takes place in 1919.  It’s a hard old world out there, and we definitely see that.  These days, nearly everyone believes that circuses are (usually) horrible for animals.  But here the circus folk are not really exploiting the animals any more than they themselves are being exploited.  They’re not making a fortune by trotting out these animals to be gawked at.  They’re also submitting themselves to the gawking eyes of the paying audience because they need the money to live.  Somehow, this movie manages to give us a sympathetic ringmaster (DeVito) and elephant wrangler (Farrell) by showing how they’re as much trapped by circus life as the animals.  (I always like to see Danny DeVito playing a basically good guy.  “He sold the horses because he had no one to ride them,” my husband said in his defense.  “He sold the horses,” I agreed with a nod.  “He didn’t sell the children.  And they brought nothing to the table.”)

Of course, some terrible things must happen.  So the movie gives us some terrible people to make them happen.  Nobody in this movie is exactly what you’d call good (except maybe the children), but to make the protagonists sympathetic in a less complicated way, the film introduces a few really evil, rotten, vicious (practically one-note) villains.  (I remember my Grandma grumbling viciously, “I hope he gets his!” about people like this.  In this movie, guys like this always get theirs.  In one case, surprisingly quickly.)  (But even villains like this seem trapped by the system.  One guy seems so determined to abuse the elephant because he’s trying to make the Colin Farrell character look bad since the guy came home from the war and took his job.)

Michael Keaton plays a more complicated villain.  I wish we got a little more Keaton, but the nature of the character kind of fascinates me.  What makes him so rotten is that he’s trying so hard to be respectable, and he can’t quite pull it off.  He manages to put together this amazing Dreamworld, but that’s all it is, a dream world.  Following the American dream, he’s pulled himself up by his bootstraps and appears to have created an entire empire.  Then the bank tells him, “Yeah, actually, you have nothing.”  So he’s a villain, but he’s a victim, too, in a way.  (What’s so wrong with wanting Dumbo to save Dreamworld?  It feels like a good fit.  The animated Dumbo saved Disney.  I mean, that happened with so many of their films.  The studio was always on the verge of bankruptcy because Disney wanted to be an innovator.)

It is extremely hilarious to watch a Disney movie that appears to skewer the entire Disney brand.  (My husband said, “It shows you, this is what a bad Disney park would be like.”  I think maybe the good Disney park is the bad Disney park.)  But what can Tim Burton do?  Disney’s giving him money to make his movie.  What can any of us do?  We had to buy tickets.  We all want to see the elephant fly.

I also think Keaton’s character’s idea is kind of brilliant.  We’ve got to see someone fly the elephant.  Maybe in 1941 the elephant could just fly.  But when kids go to a Disney Park, the idea isn’t just to look at Dumbo.  They want to fly with him.

It’s a great idea to shift much of the focus of the story to human protagonists, too.  The movie actually introduces the possibility that Dumbo is some sort of guardian angel figure watching over these children.  (We don’t have to take this idea, but the Indian snake charmer mentions offhand that in his culture, sometimes gods appear in the form of elephants.  I’m not sure if Indian audiences will embrace this portrayal, but Roshan Seth is actually from India, if that matters.)

Burton’s Dumbo is fantastic in my opinion.  I wanted to see it but was afraid I wouldn’t like it.  But I did like it.  I would watch it again.  For pleasure.  The last thirty minutes or so kept reminding me of Beetlejuice.  There’s a manic energy that’s very similar, and there’s also a lovely magic in the air when it all comes together.  Some people are bound to disagree, but I think in addition to being a successful Disney cash grab, Dumbo is also a good film.

Best Scene Visually:
Both my children were spellbound by the re-imagining of “Pink Elephants on Parade.”  We all loved this segment, but my son gasped aloud in approval, “Oh this is a great part!”  The entire performance of the Dreamland circus is fantastic.

Best Scene:
I’m extremely fond of the first time Dumbo flies in front of a crowd because I actually felt a split-second thrill of danger as I realized in horror, “Oh my God!  He can’t catch her!”

Even better, though, is when Dumbo flies with Eva Green for the first time.

Actually, all of the sequences of Dumbo’s flight are marvelous. (“That’s what I liked about the movie,” my son reported afterwards, “when Dumbo did all that awesome stuff and saved everybody.”

Best Action Sequence:
I absolutely love the Mermaid’s role in the plot at the end.  My entire family loved it.  I’m now extremely curious about Sharon Rooney.  I’d love to see her in other things.

Best One-Liner:
Alan Arkin has a pretty great line near the end, but my mother and I actually laughed out loud at this one thing Michael Keaton says to Colin Farrell about his family.  I thought the line was delicious, and Keaton’s delivery was just perfect.

The Negatives:
My family felt that the beginning of the film is slow.  I didn’t mind this as much.  I mean, it’s Dumbo.  But in the beginning, I had no idea that I would end up actually loving the movie.  I thought at first it was just going to be a film that was tolerably palatable.

Definitely, like Casey Junior, Dumbo picks up steam as it goes.  The introduction of Eva Green invigorates the story.  She’s so fabulous in this.  I was stunned by how good she is.  It’s too bad that the movie isn’t firing on all cylinders even before she appears.

I do think many of the characters are underwritten.  The actors compensate for this, but I’d still like some more material for them.  Michael Keaton, in particular, needs a bit more development and screentime to match.

Young Nico Parker’s line reading sometimes bothered me.  I felt she was a bit flat.  (I mean, she’s not Wednesday Addams!)  Of course, as my family reminded me in the car, her mother has recently died, which could cause a lingering flatness of affectation.  Also, she may be trying to be mature and sensible to fill her mother’s role.  I don’t have a problem with the actress.  She’s very young, and clearly this is the direction Burton is giving her.  I just think that it works better in some scenes than in others.  Her brother’s behavior seemed much more natural, less stiff.  (But now that I think about it, her recent bereavement could be responsible.)

I just asked my son, “What did you not like about Dumbo?” and he replied, “I liked all the parts in Dumbo.”

Granted if the 1941 Dumbo is your favorite Disney movie, you might rage, “Why don’t we get more Timothy?”  I, personally, don’t care much that the mouse is barely included in the story.  I honestly think I like Burton’s version of the story better than the animated classic.  But my mom keeps saying we should re-watch the original now, and after I see it again, I may change my mind.  (I doubt it.)

Overall:
I loved Dumbo.  I will admit that part of my overwhelmingly positive response was born out of surprise that the movie didn’t horribly disappoint me.  The trailer made me want to see the movie.  I saw the movie, and it was good.  I’m still not crazy about the amusement park ride, though.  I will say that if you can get a good angle, it’s a fantastic photo-op.  I’ll bet Tim Burton’s family photos are amazing.  Wouldn’t it be awesome to watch a slideshow of his vacation?  I really enjoyed his take on Dumbo.