The Dumbo live-action trailer just dropped with a gorgeous look at Ninth Wonder of the
Universe, the world's only flying elephant.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I'm breaking down the first teaser
trailer for Dumbo which is jam-packed with easter eggs and other intriguing details you
might have missed.
The trailer kicks off with a cover of Baby Mine, the beautiful and iconic song that Dumbo's
mother sang to him while she was locked up in solitary confinement.
The song received an Oscar nomination for best original song in 1942 and for the live-action
version it's sung by Norwegian singer-songwriter Aurora.
The song is part of a heart-breaking moment from the original movie where Dumbo's mother
cradles the baby elephant in her trunk as she sings the lullaby.
At the time, Mrs Jumbo had been locked away after getting angry when her son was tormented
by some boys.
She was branded a Mad Elephant and there's a nod to that in the "Mad Elephant" sign you
can see behind Dumbo in this image.
And, just before that, it even looks like another elephant was being carted away in
a cage, perhaps his mother?
In the original, Dumbo's mother is still with him at the end, so the trailer for the live-action
movie could be teasing something darker possibly, akin to Tim Burton's previous movies.
Now, in the original film, on the advice of the crows, Timothy Q. Mouse employs a psychological
trick with a pretend "magic feather" to give Dumbo the confidence that he can fly.
The new movie tips its hat to that moment when new character Milly holds the feather
up to Dumbo telling him to show others what he can do.
Indeed, Milly's words to the young elephant echo Timothy Q Mouse's line when Dumbo flies
for the first time at the circus.
"Let's show 'em, Dumbo."
"Here Dumbo.
Show 'em."
By the way, the new film isn't going to be a direct recreation of the original movie.
In fact, at CinemaCon, Disney revealed that while "the original ends with the elephant
flying", Tim Burton's film actually "[takes] that as a jumping off point for Dumbo's newest
story" which will be an expanded version of what we're expecting.
Which means that the feather in this scene here is probably more of a reminder to Dumbo
of what he can do already, rather than a mental trick to get him to consciously fly for the
first time in front of an audience.
I think Milly is going to play a key role in the new movie – in fact, notice the actual
key she's wearing as a necklace.
And she seems to be replacing the part of Timothy Q. Mouse as Dumbo's best friend and
confidante.
She's played by Nico Parker, the daughter of actress Thandie Newton and filmmaker Ol
Parker.
I love this image of a pink elephant surrounded by bubbles, which is a lovely call-back to
the scene in Disney's classic animation where Dumbo and Timothy Q Mouse accidentally got
drunk on champagne and started hallucinating pink and multi-coloured elephants!
Also, notice, as he's about to be raised up on this platform here, that Dumbo is wearing
a triangular-shaped headpiece with a D on it, which very much reminds me of the scene
in the animated movie where Dumbo carries a flag adorned with the letter D as he's about
to launch himself into the air to form the top of an elephant pyramid.
Speaking of pyramids, the choreography and geometric shapes in this scene here pay homage
to the extravagant musical numbers staged by famed director and musical choreographer
Busby Berkeley, which is actually 100% perfect for Tim Burton's Dumbo because, as well as
films such as 42nd Street, Busby Berkeley also choreographed the musical Billy Rose's
Jumbo, which just happens to be another movie about a circus featuring an elephant named
Jumbo, and, of course, Jumbo Jr was Dumbo's real name in the original animation.
It looks like Burton is going to wow us with plenty of fantastic visuals of Dreamland and
I'm curious whether that "Wonders of Science" attraction might be a sly reference to the
former Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot, Walt Disney World.
Something it doesn't look like we'll see adapted from the animation are the storks which deliver
the baby circus animals including Dumbo himself.
There's likely a nod to this via the flock of birds which fly past the elephant's enclosure,
which seems like a bit of a message to the audience that we shouldn't expect exactly
the same movie as the original because no, these aren't storks.
Another thing I really don't think we'll be seeing in this new film are the animated crow
characters as they've been heavily criticised as racist stereotypes of African Americans.
They do, of course, sing the famous "When I See An Elephant Fly" song and I wonder if
we'll get an updated version of that in this movie.
As I mentioned before, the new movie is a sort of continuation or expansion of the original
film from 1941, by the end of which Dumbo was famous, with aircraft even being made
in his likeness during World War Two.
In terms of the timeline of the live-action film, that's set just after the Second World
War.
Notice that Colin Farrell's character Holt, who's a veteran, is missing an arm, presumably
an injury from the war; and he and his two children discover Dumbo for the first time
hiding underneath a pile of straw.
At Disney's CinemaCon presentation, it was revealed that Danny DeVito runs a travelling
circus that's struggling to keep going.
DeVito's character is called Max Medici and he's trying to use Dumbo's fame as an "amazing
flying elephant" to bring people to the circus.
However, Medici also has to reprimand his employees for their mistreatment of Dumbo
and it seems this might be why Dumbo's hiding away here.
I think the scene where Holt and his kids discover Dumbo might also be a little tribute
to when Mrs Jumbo unwrapped her new delivery from the storks in the animated feature and
revealed the adorable calf for the first time.
And talking of Dumbo and his mother, I also liked how the weather vane at the beginning
of the trailer has a young elephant holding onto the tail of an older elephant, just like
we saw Dumbo do with his mother many times in the original film.
Now, how excited are you for the new Dumbo movie?
And what other cool details or easter eggs did you spot in the trailer?
Let's keep the conversation going in the comments below!
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Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!