The 1941 Disney classic DUMBO, based on the book by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, has been energized by Ehren Kruger's screenplay and Tim Burton's direction and the result is a live action plus photo-realistically computer-generated version that focuses a bit heavily on the evils of corporate greed...
Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) was once a circus star, but he went off to WW I and returned missing his left arm. His wife fell victim to the Spanish flu outbreak, but his two children (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins) greet him. Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) hires Holt to take care of Dumbo, a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him the laughing stock of the struggling circus troupe. But when Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly, silver-tongued entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the little elephant a star. From that point on the celebrity status turns sour when corporate greed in the form of both Vandevere and J. Griffin Remington (Alan Alda) destroy the magic. But Dumbo escapes to find his mother, Colette embraces the Farrier family, and of course it all turns out well.
The performances by the actors are fine and the production itself is colorful if a tad overdone in the final stages of the Dreamland circus of Vandevere, but the tenderness between the children and Dumbo and Dumbo's mother Jumbo, and the pro-animals messages save the sentiment of the original.
Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) was once a circus star, but he went off to WW I and returned missing his left arm. His wife fell victim to the Spanish flu outbreak, but his two children (Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins) greet him. Circus owner Max Medici (Danny DeVito) hires Holt to take care of Dumbo, a newborn elephant whose oversized ears make him the laughing stock of the struggling circus troupe. But when Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly, silver-tongued entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), and aerial artist Colette Marchant (Eva Green) swoop in to make the little elephant a star. From that point on the celebrity status turns sour when corporate greed in the form of both Vandevere and J. Griffin Remington (Alan Alda) destroy the magic. But Dumbo escapes to find his mother, Colette embraces the Farrier family, and of course it all turns out well.
The performances by the actors are fine and the production itself is colorful if a tad overdone in the final stages of the Dreamland circus of Vandevere, but the tenderness between the children and Dumbo and Dumbo's mother Jumbo, and the pro-animals messages save the sentiment of the original.