Difference between revisions of "Dumbo (1941)"

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[[File:Dumbo-1941.jpg|thumb|250px|Dumbo, the main character of Dumbo Disney's animated movie in 1941]]Dumbo was released on October 23, 1941. The American animated film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The movie is based on the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo", as in "dumb". He is ridiculed for his big ears, but capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.
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[[File:Dumbo-1941.jpg|thumb|250px|Dumbo, the main character of Dumbo Disney's animated movie in 1941]]
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Dumbo is an American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was one of the Disney Classic animated series that was published by the time. The film was released on October 23, 1941 under RKO Radio Pictures. The movie is based on the storyline by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney. Jumbo Jr. is the main character of the movie, a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is called "Dumbo", resembles "dumb". He is often moved for having big ears, however, he has the ability to fly using them as wings. Throughout the film, Dumbo has only one true friend named Timothy. ThHe mouse who is being his only true friend, aside from his mother.
  
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==Plot==
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Dumbo, a youthful carnival elephant, was brought into the world with cleverly enormous ears has been given the nickname "Dumbo". One day, he was getting insulted by a group of children. In an attempt to protect Dumbo, his mother became extremely angry to the children that caused her being secured. In later times, Dumbo's huge ears created accidents that harm a lot of different elephants. He was then made to dress like a comedian and perform risky tricks. Dumbo then learned that his huge ears gave him the ability to fly. He baffled everybody at the bazaar with his new ability.
  
== Plot ==
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==Controversy==
A youthful carnival elephant, named Dumbo, was brought into the world with cleverly enormous ears and given the brutal moniker Dumbo. One day at a show, he is insulted by a gathering of children, actuating his mom into wrath that gets her secured. After Dumbo's ears cause a mishap that harms a considerable lot of different elephants, he is made to dress like a comedian and perform risky tricks. Everything changes when Dumbo finds that his tremendous ears really permit him to fly, and he bewilders everybody at the bazaar with his new ability.
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[[File:The crows.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The group of crows that assist the titular elephant in Dumbo]]
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The film has been criticized by some for having racial prejudice. The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films (2018), mentions that ''"All of the circus laborers are African American, the only time that blacks are seen in any great number in the entire movie."''<ref>Murguia, Salvador (2018). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch7eswEACAAJ The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films]. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 164. ISBN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-6905-7 978-1-4422-6905-7].</ref> Near the end of the movie, Dumbo and Timothy, meet a group of crows who were designed to conveniently match racial stereotypes of African-Americans.
  
== Controversy ==
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The crow group sparks controversy because the crow was sounding a Southern African American dialect while in fact it was voiced by a white actor, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Edwards Cliff Edwards]. He was also named after the pre-Civil-War minstrel character,[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_(character) Jim Crow], where the term “Jim Crow” was taken from "Jump Jim Crow”. It was a parody song performed by a white man in blackface. The parody song refers to African-American people.<ref>https://screenrant.com/dumbo-crows-disney-plus-version/</ref>.
[[File:The crows.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The group of crows that assist the titular elephant in Dumbo]]
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The film has been criticized by some for its handling of race. The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films (2018), notes that "All of the circus laborers are African American, the only time that blacks are seen in any great number in the entire movie."<ref>Murguia, Salvador (2018). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch7eswEACAAJ The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films]. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 164. ISBN [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4422-6905-7 978-1-4422-6905-7].</ref> The led crow in the movie was voiced by a white actor, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Edwards Cliff Edwards], imitated a Southern African American dialect. Moreover, he was was named [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_(character) Jim Crow], after the pre-Civil-War minstrel character.
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Another black racism or black stereotype shown in the movie is where the movie introduces the “Song of the Roustabouts”. This scene is showing African-American characters, without facial features, working on the railroad while singing some offensive lyrics. The song openly features racism by using language that fits racial stereotypes. Below is the quoted offensive lyrics that are taken from ''disney.fandom'';
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[[File:Song of roustabouts.jpg|thumb|right|Dumbo “Song of the Roustabouts” (1941)]]
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{{Quote|text="We work all day, we work all night
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We never learned to read or write
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We're happy-hearted roustabouts
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Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!
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When other folks have gone to bed
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We slave until we're almost dead
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We're happy-hearted roustabouts"<ref>https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Roustabouts_(song)</ref>}}
  
== References ==
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==References==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Reflist}}
  
[[Category:Black Racism in Disney Classic Animated Movies]]
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[[Category:Black-Targeted Racism in Disney Classic Animated Movies]]

Latest revision as of 09:12, 15 March 2021

Dumbo, the main character of Dumbo Disney's animated movie in 1941

Dumbo is an American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was one of the Disney Classic animated series that was published by the time. The film was released on October 23, 1941 under RKO Radio Pictures. The movie is based on the storyline by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney. Jumbo Jr. is the main character of the movie, a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is called "Dumbo", resembles "dumb". He is often moved for having big ears, however, he has the ability to fly using them as wings. Throughout the film, Dumbo has only one true friend named Timothy. ThHe mouse who is being his only true friend, aside from his mother.

Plot

Dumbo, a youthful carnival elephant, was brought into the world with cleverly enormous ears has been given the nickname "Dumbo". One day, he was getting insulted by a group of children. In an attempt to protect Dumbo, his mother became extremely angry to the children that caused her being secured. In later times, Dumbo's huge ears created accidents that harm a lot of different elephants. He was then made to dress like a comedian and perform risky tricks. Dumbo then learned that his huge ears gave him the ability to fly. He baffled everybody at the bazaar with his new ability.

Controversy

The group of crows that assist the titular elephant in Dumbo

The film has been criticized by some for having racial prejudice. The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films (2018), mentions that "All of the circus laborers are African American, the only time that blacks are seen in any great number in the entire movie."[1] Near the end of the movie, Dumbo and Timothy, meet a group of crows who were designed to conveniently match racial stereotypes of African-Americans.

The crow group sparks controversy because the crow was sounding a Southern African American dialect while in fact it was voiced by a white actor, Cliff Edwards. He was also named after the pre-Civil-War minstrel character,Jim Crow, where the term “Jim Crow” was taken from "Jump Jim Crow”. It was a parody song performed by a white man in blackface. The parody song refers to African-American people.[2].

Another black racism or black stereotype shown in the movie is where the movie introduces the “Song of the Roustabouts”. This scene is showing African-American characters, without facial features, working on the railroad while singing some offensive lyrics. The song openly features racism by using language that fits racial stereotypes. Below is the quoted offensive lyrics that are taken from disney.fandom;

Dumbo “Song of the Roustabouts” (1941)

"We work all day, we work all night

We never learned to read or write

We're happy-hearted roustabouts

Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike! Ugh! Hike!

When other folks have gone to bed

We slave until we're almost dead

We're happy-hearted roustabouts"[3]

References