Dumbo (DVD, 2001, 60th Anniversary Edition)

Disney has taken center stage lately with various "Broadway style" animation such as in Emperor's New Groove. None the less this Disney Fan is so thrilled Disney has been remastering and restoring their old classical masterpiece films yet keeping faithful to their original feel. DUMBO is one of those special timeless stories brought to the silver screen in 1941 and now 60 years later it is totally restored for DVD as eye candy for those like me, that have awaited such sweet & tasty Disney delights.

Pinocchio and Fantasia director Ben Sharpsteen directed the most Dumbo-Gigantic Disney classic inspired by Helen Alberson's story.

Disney is without a doubt the most enchanting company when it comes to remastering old classics. I watched Dumbo, and there wasn't any of that big hollywood glitz and glamour but there WAS brilliant perfection in showing the viewer what they watched years ago in detailed and digital greatness with hardly any artifacts or shimmering scene changes. What more can you ask for? A great dramatic story to go with that, you got it. A stork delivers Mrs. Jumbo - an elephant in Casey Jr.'s circus, a bundle of joy and she is so pleased with her new little baby elephant, Jumbo Jr. He has a little or should I say "HUGE" problem though. He has dumbo ears. When the adolescents hear of the elephant with huge ears, they all taunt the poor new kiddo and call him "Dumbo" instead of Jumbo. During the circus routine the little darling falls over his own ears! While the ornery brats are ridiculing Jumbo's baby she takes matters into her own hands. She takes one of the sneering little name callers and spanks him good.

She is classified as "mad" and sent to solitary confinement. Hmmm, and ones wonder what is wrong with adolescents these days? Dumbo is separated from his mother. He left on his own and is extremely sad and he misses his mother desperately. This part of the movie was dramatic. Every child I think can relate to how Dumbo felt not being able to be with his mother. This is a tear jerker and certainly a part of the story that merits ones to at least watch the movie once.

Dumbo comes across a mouse named Timothy. Now Timothy is a lot like Jimney Cricket in Pinocchio. Timothy encourages Dumbo and is a dear friend to him. Again, Disney displays the trueness of friendship and confidence through their well developed characters. So although this flick doesn't offer all the dazzling animated technology that is out there the story holds our attention. And isn't that what it is all about, the story?

The little elephant watches some birds and he realizes he has a special gift. It is then he gains some confidence in himself and becomes more of hero than a victim. Most of the songs in this movie wasn't that memorable, however if you want to see some of that eye-popping psychedelic there is one scene that makes me chuckle... "Pink Elephants on Parade" is without a doubt one of the funniest Disney scenes you will come to watch and the colors are ...well, watch it and you will see what I mean.

The Disney is getting so clever in bringing out their movies with special features.

A PERSONAL CHILDHOOD FAVORITE OF MINE!!!

Dumbo is a 1941 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney and first released on October 23, 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, Dumbo is based upon a child's book of the same name by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Perl. The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is cruelly nicknamed Dumbo. He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using them as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend aside from his mother is the mouse Timothy, parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants. Dumbo was made to make up for the damages of Pinocchio and Fantasia. The film has been criticized as being racist (the leader crow in the film was named "Jim Crow" and the name stuck), yet is also considered to be one of Disney's finest films. It was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studio, is now generally regarded as a classic of animation. The film tells the story of a baby elephant named "Dumbo', who can fly with his huge ears. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney's shortest animated features.

Could it just be one of your personal favorites? Or maybe your child's?

Dumbo is locked in the Disney vault, so to find a copy is VERY hard. But when you have a five year old little girl that loves Disney movies, you'll do whatever it takes to find it! This movie is such a wonderful story...I remember it from when I was a little girl and I wanted my daughter to share in the love of this story. And she did! We had just come from the circus a few weeks before and her favorite animals were the elephants, so this was a real treat for her! I highly recommend watching it as it really truly is one of the best "non princess" movies Disney has!

This is an absolute must for any classic Disney collection. Also, no kid from this generation should be left out from watching this all-time jewel. Now if anybody were to ask me to pick something to remove from it, I would say the pink elephant parade. It's not necessarily bad, but I thing the whole story could have done just fine without it.

best older disney movie, a good mother and baby movie to watch, glad to see on new dvd remasted format, good songs and great message