We have all seen Dumbo, you know, that Disney movie about the sweetest little elephant with ears so big that he can fly?
Well, our favorite little elephant has become life in the new live-action Dumbo movie now in theaters! The live action movie was directed by Tim Burton, so it has a little more of a dark side than the original cartoon. The movie focuses on an army man and his children, his wife died due to illness before the movie begins. He is coming back from war back to the circus, where his children are. His children live there because the army man and his wife were the main act in the circus before he left for the army and she died. The circus is about to shut down, but then the new elephant they have brought n gives birth to Dumbo, who the family immediately falls in love with.
Like the original, his ears are very big, which leads him to get made fun of by everyone, and the saddest moment in the movie is when his mother is sold back to the previous owner, leaving Dumbo to be alone.
The children are playing with Dumbo when a feather falls into his cage. He pushes it with his trunk, and then he begins to fly. The children are so excited, and no one believes it at first until they see it for themselves. Soon, Dumbo is the headlining act in the circus and everyone comes to see him.
Soon after Dumbo is noticed, an amusement park owner, who is the villain and is very awful, comes and buys the circus, and everyone in it. Everyone is forced to move to this new place and Dumbo is forced to do his act, even more, this time with the owner’s girlfriend on his back, which causes many problems.
One night, Dumbo hears his mother, because she had been part of the spooky animal exhibit at the park. He escapes the tent and flies to her, where they are reconnected, but the owner brings him back and tells the park workers to send the mother away to be killed. When the circus employees find out about this and that they are all about to be fired, they come up with a plan for all to escape, including Dumbo and his mother.
They have Dumbo perform in one of his shows, as they sneakily take the mother from her cage. Dumbo flies out of the tent and in the process, knocks over many different things, causing the tent to burst into flames. The children are still there, so Dumbo and the army man go and save them, and they all go to a dock. The dock has a large ship that is going to the jungle. Dumbo and his mother say goodbye to their new friends and get on the boat, to finally live peacefully and happily.
I give the Dumbo movie 5 stars because it appeals to all age groups and is a great new twist on the classic tale. It also subtly talks about the problems with animal captivity, which is a topic I feel everyone needs to understand.
*all gifs from giphy.com