Dumbo Trailer Reaction
Article by Ray Schillaci
I’m one of those people that is very skeptical about Disney successfully turning their animation classics to live action via CGI. Yes, 2016’s The Jungle Book was a surprising success, but 2017’s Beauty and the Beast had me on the fence, leaving out key numbers from the broadway play, CGI overload, and a less than rousing “Be Our Guest” than the original. Now, the Mouse House’s latest adaptation is one of the most heartfelt beloved animated classics, Dumbo. Their pick as the ringmaster to bring this fantasy to life is the highly imaginative talent that gave us Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton.
When I first heard about this, I had immediate reservations. Burton was also the director that gave us the over-bloated 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland and the disastrous 2001 Planet of the Apes. Also, the idea of taking the sensitivity and the beauty of such a drawn character as Dumbo and getting audiences to suspend belief feels like a mile high challenge. Even with the unveiling of the teaser trailer, my doubts still lingered.
But, Disney has now unveiled their second trailer of the little pachyderm at the big top, and it looks downright sensational, possibly capturing the sweetness of the original. Damn, if I didn’t get choked up watching some of the most famous scenes recreated in live action. The film almost looks too good to be true. The casting looks near perfect with Danny DeVito as the ringmaster, Michael Keaton as an entrepreneur, Colin Farrell as an ex-circus performer, and the stand out being Nico Parker who plays Milly, daughter of Farrell’s character. She and her brother are the ones that discover Dumbo.
What’s missing from this new tale of the flying miracle? Rumor has it that Timothy Q. Mouse who was kind of the Jiminy Cricket for Dumbo will not make an appearance. TQM was so expressive and might have proved too difficult a task for the effects masters, and could have taken away from the wonder of Dumbo. But, there is an appearance of a mouse with a ringmaster outfit on.
The other noticeable missing cast members were announced awhile back with Disney avoiding any controversy. The crows that taunt Dumbo have long been considered just as dark a mark on Disney as their 1946 feature that will never see the light of day on the home entertainment market, Song of the South. What was once never a second thought in the ’40s, portraying jive talkin’ characters that were obviously African-Americans as crows, is just downright wrong.
All that being said, you need to check out this new trailer for Disney’s Dumbo. It’s a perfect treat to whet our appetites over the holiday season. This new peek into the tale of the big-eared wonder cannot help but deliver a warm, nostalgic feeling into our hearts, and may even have you teary eyed. The best part, children will experience a whole new wonder. We can only hope that the Burton’s film lives up to this remarkable trailer.
