Rewatching the Cheerful, Boozy, Possibly Racist 'Dumbo' As a Parent

Disney
Disney

Ever since the birth of my younger child recently, I’ve embraced the parenting method of entertaining my 3-year-old son with the help of various hi-def screens. Getting him to sit through an entire feature film is a challenge, so I’ve learned that choosing a cheerful, comforting, and memorable movie is the way to go -- something where, if we get interrupted, we won’t feel lost jumping back in or devastated by giving up completely.
 
This, along with my son’s love of elephants and my subscription to Netflix, is how we recently came to be screening Dumbo. Not counting the viewings of the “Baby Mine” clip during pregnancy when I needed to sob, I hadn’t watched the 1941 Disney classic in decades, and I was floored by how different the animated movie is now that I’m a parent. So is Dumbo worth letting back into your living room this holiday season? Here are my prevailing takeaways from a parental rewatch.

Its hand-drawn animation holds up

We all "ooh"ed and "aah"ed over the sweeping ballroom scene in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, and have watched in awe as cinematic animation continues evolving. But even now, the vividness of Dumbo’s colors remains captivating, even by the opening credits’ circus-poster motif. The animals’ natural realism, the torrential sleet, and the coastal Floridian waves brought to life remind you that human hands can still create some pretty gorgeous moving pictures.  
 

There’s a reason Dumbo is like a children’s book come to life

One of Dumbo’s storyboardists was Bill Peet, who went on to become a beloved children’s author. It makes sense that his sketches were heart-melting, but not overly cutesy, as they were inspired by the birth of his first son. Nor is it surprising that Peet went on to write kids’ books. Dumbo is rich with subtle aspects that could spin off into their own tales, like the anthropomorphic circus train and, of course, Mr. Stork. While there are definitely some scenes that go on a bit long for a small child’s attention span (like the raising of the circus tent), these little touches of wonder make it pretty ideal G-rated viewing.
 

Dumbo, like its intended audience, is short and sweet

Instead of there being an evil witch to defeat or a prince to marry, Dumbo’s an ugly-duckling tale where the goal is acceptance -- or even just lack of humiliation. In some ways, that’s a harder concept to explain than just, “Oh no! There’s Cruella de Vil! She’s mean!” On the other hand, the themes of inclusion and self-love never go out of style. Happily for parents, Dumbo is also a very short watch, apparently made quickly to try to recoup the money Disney lost on Fantasia. I kept thinking, as I looked at the time counter, that perhaps there was something wrong with the rental and it would be cut off, but no, it’s really only 64 minutes long, just the right length for repeated viewings.
 

However, Dumbo has complicated views of women

There are no male elephants in the movie, aside from Dumbo himself, even though all the other animals in the early stork scene have partners. Mrs. Jumbo and her son are tormented, not supported, by their fellow elephants, all snide, gossipy matrons. When the elephant with the green hat smiles, satisfied, after spreading malicious news about Mrs. Jumbo, I realized (depressingly) how accurately the writers grabbed on to some of women’s worst tendencies. On the other hand, Dumbo is one of few Disney flicks that features a loving, protective mother who survives the entire movie.

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Those crows are cringe-inducing

Let’s face it: the Dumbo crows are a tad minstrelsy (not to mention the “Roustabout” chorus, made up of faceless black men). Cliff Edwards, a white man, provided the voice for head crow Jim Crow -- yes, that’s his name -- while his crew was voiced by the Hall Johnson Choir, a black singing group. I took the coward’s way out and didn’t bring up either issue with my son, who currently lives in a wonderful world where he has so far only acknowledged that some people are “brown” and some people “gold,” but otherwise hasn’t said anything else about race in America. How do you explain a stereotype to a young child, or why and how these characters were given a race? Perhaps in a few years when he becomes more attuned to cultural issues, we’ll rewatch again and discuss.

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Booze helps elephants fly

Another topic that’s tricky to address with your child -- or merely ponder as they fail to notice -- is how Dumbo gets drunk with Timothy Mouse off the clowns’ Champagne and they see those pink elephants. Animated drunks seem to have by and large fazed out of the Disney milieu, but Dumbo and Pinocchio are noteworthy in that they actually feature underage imbibing. Moreover, Dumbo probably wouldn’t have discovered his amazing talent (spoiler alert: he can fly!) if he hadn’t gotten sloshed. So: yay booze?
 

To stream or not to stream... 

Like most vintage Disney films, Dumbo hasn’t gotten more politically correct with age, but if you’re able to explain to your kids how times have changed or allow that they’ll be focused on floppy ears and hummable melodies, it’s easier to digest as simply a movie meant for kids. The movie’s not too long, not too confusing, not too scary, not too princessy, not too snide, or overly clever. If you’d prefer an official rating, at one point my son shouted, “I wish I was in the movie!” which I think is, like, three stars for a 3-year-old.

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Claire Zulkey is a writer in the Chicagoland area who runs the very old blog Zulkey.com. She has two small sons and no time to write a better bio. She's on Twitter: @zulkey.