Dumbo (Big Top Edition) (DVD)
The running time is 1 hr. 4 mins..
On a whole Dumbo is no more than an extended cartoon. Yeah, that is animated blasphemy I just spouted there, but after watching the special features on this disc I have such a hard time believing all the love that is spread for this movie. Okay, it is good. It teaches us a lesson not to make fun of people and that we are all special in our own unique ways, even if we have ears that we trip over. I get it; that's great. But as far as the film goes it is just alright.
The guys in the special featurettes telling me that they cry when Dumbo cries and all this and that I just can't get aboard that sentiment. This is not to say that an animated film has never made me feel any kind of emotion. I have felt plenty of emotion while watching animated films, this one just didn't really do it for me.
As for the special features on this "Big Top Edition" they are a bit lacking for the older generation as the feature commentary is a love fest for the film from some film historian who's name I can't even remember. The retrospective featurette is equally laughable as a love fest for the film and the rest of the disc is devoted to primarily kiddie features such as sing-a-longs and a couple of bonus short films that were said to have inspired the creation of Dumbo.
Overall I can understand why Disney isn't giving this film the Platinum Edition treatment it gives most of its animated classics, because I don't think audiences care so much about Dumbo. Yeah, it is a piece of animated history, but on a whole it just remains history and not much more. I would recommend this disc to parents with very little kids and those of you out there that thrive on animation. Unfortunately I don't fall into either category.