The First Trailer of Tim Burton's Dumbo Takes Flight

Disney are currently in a money-making trend to remake all of their classic animated films into live action remakes with little to no change. So far, they have been good. Maleficent may have meant to be some sort of fantasy take on what is essentially a character being raped. Beauty and the Beast tried to fill in the blanks for some plotholes in the 1990 film. Pete’s Dragon was a full on new take on its source material. And now it is Dumbo’s turn to be remoulded into a new story.

The first trailer for the 2019 film, directed by Tim Burton, was released on June 13^th. A film based around a circus, focused on a misunderstood character who is mocked by society? Sounds right up Burton’s alley. He’s told similar stories in the past, most notably with Edward Scissorhands. A lot of people think Tim Burton has lost his touch, and has been on creative autopilot for the past few years. The two Alice films were fun, but nothing to write home about.

 

Now, out of all of the animated films, Dumbo may be the most iconic. So much so, I expect whenever a new international Disneyland is considered, the first two things on the checklist are the castle and then the Dumbo ride. Still, the 1940s classic is actually the shortest of the animated canon, barely being over an hour, mostly thanks to the huge animators’ strike that occurred on the Disney studio lot at the time, and the loss of European revenue during World War II. As such, the most noted things remembered about the film is Dumbo himself, the trippy pink elephants sequence, and the flock of singing crows, who haven’t aged well in the eyes of the politically correct.

The live action film’s first trailer dropped, and at least makes it clear it will follow the basic beats of Dumbo. But, interestingly, none of Tim Burton’s familiar traits are seen in the trailer. There’s not even a trace of Danny Elfman. There is a moving rendition of “Baby Mine” by Aurora, likely used to reignite those old feelings of nostalgia that Disney is heavily relying upon to bring in the customers to view their often unnecessary remakes of their greatest hits. How long will it be before they decide to remake Frozen? Why not just re-release the original films and watch the profits come rolling in?

So, what’s the story in Balamory? Colin Farrell is our main character, presumably sharing the spotlight with our leading elephant. Cause it isn’t like Dumbo couldn’t carry the whole film on his own last time. Granted, Dumbo didn’t exactly accomplish much on his own in the original, but still, it was about him. Farrell’s character is a war veteran who appears to have lost an arm, and is hired by ringmaster Danny DeVito to care for the young, orphaned baby Dumbo, whose huge ears have made him a mockery in the struggling circus.

We see in the trailer that Dumbo is separated from his mother, who even appears to be removed from the circus grounds this time around. Great, punch us in the kidney stones even more why don’t you! I also find it interesting that Farrell’s character has a stump for an arm. This could form a connection between him and Dumbo – both unusual creatures mocked and misunderstood by society. However, this trailer is only a teaser and doesn’t really explore the story or characters much beyond making it very clear this is a nostalgic piece first and foremost.

The trailer emphasizes the theme of family here, showing Farrell’s children, played by Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins, becoming quite close to Dumbo. Strangely of all, a scene shows Dumbo’s mother being removed from the grounds, and everyone is just standing there letting her go. I would have assumed the film’s plot may have involved Farrell trying to reunite mother and son. Apparently absent from this film is Dumbo’s friend and confidante, Timothy Q. Mouse, who was essentially the guiding hand throughout the film. I am assuming Farrell has that role, or if Timothy appears, it’ll be as a normal mouse.

Since the original film is barely an hour long, expansion is a necessity. I am only speculating here, but Farrell’s family will discover Dumbo can fly somehow (complete with some silly attempt to realistically explain it), and he’ll become a sensation. Michael Keaton appears as an evil businessman who looks to exploit Dumbo, make him and Farrell famous, there will be a moment of regret, and Dumbo will be sent off to reunite with his wayward mother.

It may just be me, but the story that the remake is going with sounds both a little cliché, and akin to The Greatest Showman – about a troubled, impoverished man who finds fame and fortune through the circus and exploiting social outcasts, ends up abandoning them for bigger things, makes mistakes, expresses regrets, and returns to his original sense of family. Though in this case, Dumbo will be entirely fictional, whilst The Greatest Showman made great use of artistic licensing when it came to P.T. Barnum’s life.

In conclusion, the trailer admittedly doesn’t give much away about what’s in store for this new version of the tale. But, it doesn’t need to. Disney knows just how beloved Dumbo is, and they will milk this flying elephant for all that it is worth. This film is nostalgia incarnate, and combined with Christopher Robin, they will have a swimming pool’s worth of money to swim in, and then build eight more swimming pools to swim in too.

But, one is guaranteed though. The pink elephants are glimpsed in the trailer. Now imagine what Tim Burton could do with one of the most frightening moments in children’s entertainment?

Oh, and Dumbo looks adorable. My one complaint is that they didn’t capitalise on his signature ears by actually focusing on them, and his iconic flight is a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment. Hopefully, whenever the second trailer comes out, it’ll focus a little bit more on the story.