Friday 14 May 2010

Remember Dumbo?


Hands up who remembers Dumbo?



Everyone remembers songs like "When I see an Elephant fly "surely? The enchanting tale of the big eared baby pachyderm ?And if you are too young to remember any of that then you really ought to go and watch it if only for glorious retro art work in the Roustabouts song scene and the incredible art work through out. A bit of nostalgia is good for the soul.

Dumbo was Disneys 4th big animation feature in its animated classic stories series , described as a full length feature production it falls a bit short at 64 minutes but is just the right length for younger viewers and in its new cleaned polished and sparkling Blu ray edition it is a joy of 1940's animation artwork. The animator, Bill Tytla, who painted Dumbo, used a water colour background and it is this return to the simplicity that gained it a reputation as being one of the great masterpieces of American animation. Using watercolours for the background gives more artistic freedom to the animators than oil and acrylics, it was later used to great effect in Lilo and stitch as well. Bet you didn't know that did you?



It wasn't all plain sailing though, there were complaints that it was too short but Disney refused to change it and to complicate matters at the time of production some of Disney studio staff were on strike demanding a pay rise. If you take a good look at the drunken clowns going to see the circus boss asking for a raise and you will see those strikers caractured .




So is Dumbo worth watching again or is it a bit passe for modern taste? Well we all enjoyed it even visiting twenty something niece but do not take my word for it. Go on, look at this clip and see what you think . It is an extract from the French version, just to add a bit of foreign culture to your day... and talk of adding something to you day, watch this clip of the pink elephants dancing, bizarre or what? Hmm someone I suspect had been drinking too much coffee or popping more blue smarties than they should have very techno and before its time!

Now settle down with your popcorn and snuggle down on the sofa and prepare to be entertained 1940's style..

Dumbo is avaialble from Amazon.co.uk price about £15.99 for the special edition not bad for an evening of retro techno !

5 comments:

  1. I loved Dumbo and so did my children so hopefully we are now onto the next generation they will too :-)
    Thanks for dropping in on my blog. Not sure I will be making a throw but knowing Twiglet and I we will find something creative to use them for. I have now made several of different colours and they are really fab.
    A x

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember Dumbo so well - the story book and the movie, when I finally saw it. Magical! Thanks for the reminder - this will definitely be an addition to the grands' summer box.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for the kind comments on my blog, and oh! haven't you brought back memories with Dumbo; I remember bawling my eyes out crying in our local cinema as a child, I think I soaked my mother's sleeve blubbering that poor Dumbo was hiccup(!) in BIG trouble and wanting to bash anyone who upset him about his ears! Never could watch it after that...got it on dvd for ED & YD and got them hooked, albeit tearfully, on it as well. Lovely blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow thanks for suggesting! I wanna see this movie!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You learn something new everyday (how politics can be involved even in the most seemingly innocent movies for example)^^ I will however not let it tarnish the reason why Dumbo is one of those rare childrens movies that makes me burst into loud noisy sobs-the lovely relationship between Dumbo and his mother. <3

    ReplyDelete