Dumbo

Sometimes the simplest stories resound the most in people’s hearts. After the expensive box-office failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia, Disney Studios made sure to keep Dumbo’s production costs low (at $813,000, it’s the least expensive Disney animated feature), and audiences demonstrated that a well-told story doesn’t need a big budget: Dumbo grossed over $2.5 million in its original release (more than Pinocchio and Fantasia combined). The story follows a mute young circus elephant cruelly nicknamed Dumbo because of his abnormally big ears. After his mother is locked up for being overly protective of him, Dumbo is left alone to humiliating and exhausting circus jobs, finding solace only in the friendship of a mouse named Timothy and a quartet of rambunctious crows (the racial representation of the latter raised some debate about stereotyping). Memorable moments include the infamous “Pink Elephants on Parade” music sequence, a dazzling hallucination of Dumbo’s after he accidentally drinks champagne, and “Baby Mine,” when Dumbo sneaks a visit to his imprisoned mother and is tearfully cradled in her trunk. Dumbo is beloved by many, but perhaps no endorsement is stronger than this: it was Walt Disney's own favourite amongst films made by his studio. Colour, Blu-ray Disc. 64 mins.