Here’s a movie that will give us an earful while making our hearts full. It’s Dumbo, the live-action remake of the 1941 Disney animated classic about an orphaned baby circus pachyderm with floppy oversized ears.
This is the first official trailer for the movie from director Tim Burton, following an initial teaser released this past summer.
Lacking Burton’s dark gothic signature (but keeping fantasy-deco flourishes), this Dumbo carries a more warm, traditional look and color-popping palette. It’s the kind you’d expect (and even want) from a Disney film for all ages.
Nevertheless, what still makes Burton a great director for this material is that it’s a story of an outsider, a freak, of someone — some animal — who must define his identity and worth in the face of public humiliation. That’s a Tim Burton story through-and-through.
Burton’s live action Alice In Wonderland, also for Disney, seemed to capture his imagination, but Dumbo seems to have captured his heart. The imagination is still there, too, and that could make for a magical combination.
Starring Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and newcomers Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins, Dumbo opens next spring on March, 29, 2019.