DUMBO
This sub-project is part of the larger Classic Disney Project. Please visit the main project page for details on the goals and objectives of this project.
CAST
- Edward Brophy, Timothy Q. Mouse (c)
- Herman Bing, The Ringmaster
- Verna Felton, Mrs. Jumbo, The Matriarch Elephant (c)
- Noreen Gammill, Catty Elephant (c)
- Dorothy Scott, Giddy Elephant (c)
- Sarah Selby, Prissy Elephant (c)
- Cliff Edwards, Jim "Dandy" Crow (c)
- Hall Johnson, Deacon Crow
- James Baskett, Fats Crow (c)
- Nick Stewart, Specks Crow (c)
- Jim Carmichael, Dopey Crow (c)
- Malcolm Hutton, Smitty (aka Skinny) (c)
- Sterling Holloway, Mr. Stork (c)
- Margaret Wright, Casey Jr. (c)
- John McLeish, Narrator (c)
- Billy Bletcher and Eddie Holden as Clowns
- Jimmy MacDonald as Lion
- Pinto Colvig as Gorilla
- Billy Sheets as Joe
NOTE: Dumbo the flying elephant and star of the film is the only protagonist in a Disney animated feature to have no spoken dialogue and is thus not connected to any voice actor.
(c) = Connected
Film Facts
Plot: A young elephant under the tutelage of Timothy Q. Mouse, Dumbo comes to learn that his oversized ears grant him unique abilities, allowing him to soar to fame as the world's only flying elephant, saving a struggling circus in the process.
- Disney based this film on the book Dumbo the Flying Elephant by Helen Aberson, with illustrations by her husband, Harold Pearl, from the prototype of a novelty toy called a Roll-a-Book. No copies of the original book are known to exist.
- Dumbo was Walt Disney's fourth full-length animated feature film. The film premiered at the Broadway Theater in New York on 23 Oct 1941.
- At just 64 minutes, Dumbo was one of Disney's shortest full length feature films.
- Dumbo won an Academy Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, while Baby Mine was nominated for Best Song.
- In 1955, the film became the first Disney animated feature to be shown on television; and in 1981, Dumbo became the first Disney animated film to be released on home video.
Dumbo Controversy: In the film, Dumbo meets a group of crows who are depicted using African-American stereotypes of the time, with jive-like speech patterns and jazzy-gospely songs sung in harmony. The lead bird, known today as "Dandy Crow", was originally called "Jim Crow," and was voiced by a white actor who engaged in the vocal equivalent of blackface. (None of the crows' names were stated in the film but their names can be seen in the scripts and on model sheets used by the animators). The racist elements of this scene are undeniable; however, there also are those who find the portrayals positive and progressive, pointing out that most of the crows were voiced by African-American actors in an era in which there were few casting opportunities for them. it is also noteworthy that the crows are actually among the few friendly and intelligent characters in the film.
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