Right this is probably a bit stupid but since it is technically an adaptation, this review is called Screen to Screen as it is a review of a new version of an old movie. Judge me all you want but it does make sense.
Dumbo
I saw Dumbo today and it's possibly the cutest film ever, definitely the cutest I've seen this year. That little baby elephant is so precious and perfect and I love him so much!
If you don't already know the story of Dumbo, you gotta educate yourself. That movie came out like 80 years ago, and it's only 62 minutes long. If you've never seen it, I'm judging you.
Either way, I'm going to describle the plot because this is slightly different from the original. It, of course, follows a circus, namely that of the Medici Brothers, and its cast.
It is run by Maximillian Medici, played by Danny Devito, and he has a great band of performers, including Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), who has just returned from war with only one arm, so is unable to perform his famous horse routine. His children are there waiting for him, his scientific minded daughter Milly (Nico Parker) and adventurous son Joe (Finley Hobbins). They have fallen on hard times, so Max buys a pregnant elephant, to have a new exhibit. When it is born with enormous ears, he is embarassed and wants to hide it. His mother Mrs Jumbo becomes very defensive and the circus is forced to sell her to keep itself safe.
But, the children form a bond with baby Jumbo, and when they discover that he can fly, he becomes the star of the show, attracting attention from all over, including from entertainment mogul V.A. Vandervere (Michael Keaton). He buys out the circus, and makes Dumbo, along with his star gymnast, Colette Marchant (Eva Green), an amazing flying act. The children then discover that Dumbo's mother is in fact part of a different exhibit in Vandervere's so-called Dreamland, and form a plot to rescue her, and release her and Dumbo back into the wild. In the end, the Medici family circus is successfully running, and the elephants are back where they belong. It's a lovely story and I really enjoyed it.
The story was good, as different as it was from the original, I could see why. They only had about an hour of original material to go on, and a chunk of that is a weird drunken nightmare* (which they did manage to get into the film a bit, with some impressive bubble work) and another big chunk is just really racist (they did manage to get a reference to this song** in as well). It was, of course, closer to the original in that Dumbo, of course, did not speak. While in the animation, the other animals spoke, this adaptation focused more on the humans, and making it more realistic, meaning the animals didn't have voices. This didn't stop us from understanding them, however. Dumbo was constantly smiling, trumpeting, his emotions were in his eyes and without words we knew exactly what he was thinking or feeling, and he was just so adorable.
I love all of Tim Burton's movies, I think he's a visionary director, and this one has been called one of his best, which I would agree with. It was so classically Disney, but kept his tone and style. I have to say, however, that had it been made ten or so years ago, the Eva Green character would have definitely been played by Helena Bonham Carter.
I loved Danny Devito's character, he seemed pure, and when he sold out, I knew he couldn't be as greedy as Vandevere, so I was happy when he helped Holt and the children rescue the elephants. I also loved the ending, seeing them back in their natural habitat and reunited was lovely.
The reference to the original were also great. As well as the aforementioned songs, I like the nod to Timothy Q Mouse.
He was one of the main characters in the original, but in this more realistic version, of course a mouse can't be coaching an elephant and talking to him. I guess Milly was the kind of Timothy character in this version, but it was nice to see the little mouse recognised, with his little hat.
I also thought the Dumbo plushies they were selling at Dreamland were great. They were adorable and I love that they followed the original Dumbo design. They looked like the actual toys you can buy at Disney, and I wouldn't be surprised if they actually were.
I really liked the children, I thought they were cute and good little actors. The message about female empowerment, scientists and everything, although a little progressive for the era, was really nice. Speaking of far fetched, the fact that Holt had a prosthetic arm at the end was a little unrealisic, but hey, if an elephant can fly, a man can have a working false limb in the 1940s!
Overall, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, and it was generally so cute. Go see it! Look at this precious little adorable boye:
* Pink elephants on parade
** I ain't never seen an elephant fly
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Dumbo
I saw Dumbo today and it's possibly the cutest film ever, definitely the cutest I've seen this year. That little baby elephant is so precious and perfect and I love him so much!If you don't already know the story of Dumbo, you gotta educate yourself. That movie came out like 80 years ago, and it's only 62 minutes long. If you've never seen it, I'm judging you.
Either way, I'm going to describle the plot because this is slightly different from the original. It, of course, follows a circus, namely that of the Medici Brothers, and its cast.
 |
| The Circus cast |
 |
| The Farrier family with Dumbo |
The story was good, as different as it was from the original, I could see why. They only had about an hour of original material to go on, and a chunk of that is a weird drunken nightmare* (which they did manage to get into the film a bit, with some impressive bubble work) and another big chunk is just really racist (they did manage to get a reference to this song** in as well). It was, of course, closer to the original in that Dumbo, of course, did not speak. While in the animation, the other animals spoke, this adaptation focused more on the humans, and making it more realistic, meaning the animals didn't have voices. This didn't stop us from understanding them, however. Dumbo was constantly smiling, trumpeting, his emotions were in his eyes and without words we knew exactly what he was thinking or feeling, and he was just so adorable.
 |
| LOOK HOW CUTE |
I love all of Tim Burton's movies, I think he's a visionary director, and this one has been called one of his best, which I would agree with. It was so classically Disney, but kept his tone and style. I have to say, however, that had it been made ten or so years ago, the Eva Green character would have definitely been played by Helena Bonham Carter.
 |
| Eva Green as Colette Marchant |
The reference to the original were also great. As well as the aforementioned songs, I like the nod to Timothy Q Mouse.
He was one of the main characters in the original, but in this more realistic version, of course a mouse can't be coaching an elephant and talking to him. I guess Milly was the kind of Timothy character in this version, but it was nice to see the little mouse recognised, with his little hat.
 |
| The mice |
I really liked the children, I thought they were cute and good little actors. The message about female empowerment, scientists and everything, although a little progressive for the era, was really nice. Speaking of far fetched, the fact that Holt had a prosthetic arm at the end was a little unrealisic, but hey, if an elephant can fly, a man can have a working false limb in the 1940s!
Overall, I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, and it was generally so cute. Go see it! Look at this precious little adorable boye:
* Pink elephants on parade
** I ain't never seen an elephant fly
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