A baby elephant in a circus is ridiculed for having oversized ears. The source of his afflictions proves to be just the ticket to overcoming his problems, though.
The plot is just a weird variation on a recurrent fairy tale motif, most explicitly present in Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling". The film is composed of very elaborate set-pieces, which are stylistically quite diverse from one another, although consistent with the progression of the plot. This is one of the most modernistic works produced by Disney (following on the at least equally so "Fantasia"). The film is, at its essence, very plausible, albeit in an obviously metaphorical manner, in its depiction of personal adaptation and success. The only minor quibble I have with it is its yielding to the temptation of narcissism in the finale (Dumbo goes to Hollywood). A movie should not suppose that its own symbolical sphere is the ultimate horizon of expectation of mankind (or even elephantkind).
Rating: 75 (up from 64)
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