Dumbo Thesis

The 2019 Dumbo film is an attempt on making sure the “bad guy” is always punished and also being as inclusive as Disney can be, while the original 1941 film is honestly racist and just plain mean in certain aspects. The white cast plays all roles in the original film, including, as the actors put it, ‘jive talking’ black crows where the leader is named Jim Crow, and even black workers who sing “We work all day, we work all night. We never learned to read or write.” The original Dumbo is disheartening as he’s bullied for being different and only rewarded once his talents are discovered, while the current film strays very far from the earlier plot line and is twice as long. Tim Burton’s Dumbo seems to be an open minded adaptation where people become a larger component of the storyline and Dumbo is allowed a kinder ending with his mother in the wild rather than simply being reunited with her. The inclusivity in the 2019 version is very refreshing in comparison to the first; for example characters of different races are apart of the circus performers, the young daughter is an important character that is treasured for her intelligence rather than her appearance, and Dumbo is actually allowed freedom at the end instead of captivity. It seems as if the entire remake is just Tim Burton attempting to right the moral wrongs that were illustrated in the first film.