December
1941: Dumbo Soars At The Box Office
By Dave Smith |
Dave
Smith has been the chief archivist for The Walt Disney
Company for 30 years, and has authored a number of books,
including "Disney A to Z" and "Disney:
The First 100 Years." |
After
suffering a setback because of poor initial grosses from
Pinocchio and Fantasia, Walt Disney decided
to make a low-budget feature to recoup some of the earlier
losses. Dumbo, made for a minimal $800,000, did just
that, grossing more than $2.5 million on its first release
in 1941.
Dumbo spent only six months in story development
and one year in animation. In a 1980 interview, animator
Ward Kimball commented, "The reason we brought it in
for a low price was that it was done quickly and with a
minimum amount of mistakes. The story was clear and airtight
to everyone involved in the project. We didnt do a
lot of stuff over due to story-point goofs. There were no
sequences started and then shelved, like in Pinocchio.
Walt was sure of what he wanted, and this confidence was
shared by the entire crew. Dumbo, from the opening
drawing, went straight through to the finish with very few
things changed or altered.
"Sure, we've done things that have had a lot more finish,
frosting, and tricky footwork," Kimball noted, "but
basically, I think the Disney cartoon reached its zenith
with Dumbo. To me, it is the one feature cartoon
that has a foolproof plot. Every story element meshes into
place, held together with the great fantasy of a flying
elephant. The first time I heard Walt outline the plot I
knew that the picture had great simplicity and cartoon heart
" Audiences and critics shared the animator's
enthusiasm for the film. Walt Disney biographer Christopher
Finch called it "probably the most spontaneous animated
feature that the Studio has ever produced
a delightfully
unpretentious picture, relying almost entirely upon charm
and humor rather than upon spectacular effects." Film
critic Richard Schickel wrote that it "recaptured some
of the freshness, exuberance, and innocence of the short
cartoons as well as their pure and simple form." Film
historian Leonard Maltin remarked on the visual aspects
of the film, noting that Dumbo himself doesnt speak,
and that "as delightful as the soundtrack is, especially
with Timothy's dialogue, one could turn it off and still
follow every scene."
Humorous characters also lend much to the success of the
film, and the carefully chosen voices include Disney's first
use of the versatile Sterling Holloway (best known as Winnie
The Pooh), beginning a happy collaboration that continued
for more than 40 years.
RKO complained that at 64 minutes, Dumbo was too
short for a feature, and wanted Walt to add another 10 minutes.
Walt, who had originally planned Dumbo as a 30-minute
film, refused. "No, that's as far as I can stretch
it. You can stretch a thing so far and then it won't hold.
This picture is right as it is."
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