Dumbo (1941)

Before the words “Walt Disney” became synonymous with Corporate Giant, it was the name of an artist still unsurpassed in imagination and legend. Disney’s 1940s animated films still dazzle above and beyond anything produced now, and 71-year-old “Dumbo” is among his best works. It’s the story of a baby elephant with large ears, and his harsh circus life where mother is abused and imprisoned for protecting her young one. Dumbo, even this is a cruel nickname, must perform in clown makeup, and is placed atop a burning scaffold and forced to jump into a small pool of goop. Pure humiliation. This is classic dark Disney, a film about a broken child, mixed with much hope and magic. The plot borrows from “Pinocchio” with another tinier, smarter pal in Timothy B. Mouse, but it’s a clever twist, and a funny joke, too. The animation, story, and music are pure joy, even if the gang of crows almost flies into Jim Crow stereotyping. Note the use of watercolors, and the dazzling, still daring and freakishly scary Pink Elephant scene. A