Love the Crows. Jim (or Dandy, as he was later renamed) wasn’t played by just any white guy, he was played by Cliff Edwards, the voice of Jiminy Cricket, there’s a photo of him in the recording studio wearing a bowler hat with a stogie in his mouth, like his character. And you’re correct, the others are voiced by black men, including future _Song of the South_ alumni James Baskett (Uncle Remus/voice of Br’er Fox and Br’er Rabbit (and the first ever black man to win an Oscar, for that movie)) and Nick Stewart (voice of Br’er Bear). An avid defender of the Crows is Disney’s first black animator, Floyd Norman. He was great friends with Ward Kimball, who animated them. He said that their speech patterns were accurate of the period (apparently inspired by the backstage talk of the popular Jazz musicians of the era). Whenever anyone says “Walt Disney, racist. Period”, Floyd always shoots them down, saying “You didn’t know him. I did. And he wasn’t”.
Dumbo was actually supposed to be on the cover of Time Magazine for 1941 as Mammal of the Year, but Pearl Harbor attack happened and so that was scrapped.
Timothy is a legend! And really, it's amazing how much charm they can fit into such a short feature. Edited to add - I had to have a C-section with my daughter, and the nurses didn't *sing* Happy Birthday, but they did say it to her!
Timothy mouse is my favourite Disney Sidekick. Here's why: I am a Disney girl. Jungle Book, Dumbo, Hercules and Aladdin r my personal favourites. Anyway, people used to make fun of me because all I talked about was Disney, Disney, Disney! I always used to cry to myself and be mean to myself but then I watched Dumbo again and when I saw Timothy mouse, I felt instantly happy. Idk why I'm saying all this. I know that nobody is going to care about this comment but.. I just wanted to talk about it.. sorry. I'll just stop typing now 😅😅
Fun fact: What's interesting is that the creative team working on Lilo & Stitch wanted to make a film that wasn't so expensive. They were inspired by the production of Dumbo, so they borrowed a lot from Dumbo, such as using watercolor backgrounds. :)
Glad to finally hear that I’m not the only kid who was weirdly not scared of the pink elephants scene! It looked more like some peculiar silly “Halloween Party” to me… also, I was a baby myself when I watched this. I was too young and naive to understand the context of that scene along with other “elephant in the room” contents like the controversial crows
You know what’s real dark? If I’m not mistaken, Dumbo was made during a very hard time in Walt Disney’s life, and not just financially. Walt Disney’s mother had died, it tore him to pieces. He had hired his own employees to build a nice house for his parents. However, because they were not professional house builders, mistakes were inevitable. There was a faulty construction of the fireplace, causing a gas leak. I think it caused a horrible house fire, killing his mother, and almost killing his dad. Dumbo wasn’t just Disney’s salvation from financial ruin, it was also Walt Disney’s love for his mother and what his mother meant to him. That’s why Dumbo hits so hard when it comes to Ms. Jumbo.
I loved watching Dumbo as a kid, but many parts of the film also made me sad. I do like how Timothy Mouse stands up for him though. I'm not the biggest fan of Dumbo as an adult, but he is still so kawaii! The cutest animated baby elephant ever!
Ugh I freaking love you guys. I'm a tad older than you guys, grew up in the 80s watching these classics in the theater and I LOVE that you're such historians and appreciate these gems. You're so adorable and funny but very very thoughtful, too. And how nice that you talked about the race/racism topic in advance. It's important, regardless of the differing opinions people have on all that stuff. LOVE you guys.
18:52 Bless you for that speech mate. I lost my nan 4 years ago, but I still keep her with me when I watch Disney. R.I.P to your nan and know they're always with you.
I love Dumbo! Baby Mine is my favourite song of the movie and i cry each time! I was slightly freaked out by Pink Elephants On Parade. I also loved When I See An Elephant Fly! agree, clever lyrics! I didn't know about the crow controversy as we never learnt about that stuff in school (I'm not from The States) I agree that the first song is more controversial than the crows one...
Yes I had no idea what the Jim Crow laws were so was really confused when I started hearing that they were controversial! We definitely need to learn a bit more about them! And so pleased you love Dumbo!! There is so much to love about this movie!!!
The voice of Mrs. Jumbo and the haughty purple draped elephant are both voiced by Verna Felton. Also in regards to the crows they actually brought in the Hal Jolson choir for the song “When I See an Elephant Fly”. I like the song and the characters of the crows.
So, ok, the crows. For reference, I'm a Kenyan Somali, so while I am black, I'm very far removed from the African Americans these characters are a reference to. But I've always thought the crows were very cool and fun. The thing is if they did want the crows to be a malicious attack on Africans, then they would have been worse. Really look at how grotesque and icky black characters were in old cartoons and then compare them to the crows. The crows are very appealing bird characters with distinctive and charming designs. and the fact that Disney referenced actual black performers and their dance moves instead of horrible black-face shows is notable. Not to mention the crows are presented as slick, and ultimately friendly figures, even being the ones to help Dumbo fly. Really if Disney wanted to just make fun of an ethnicity, then they would have gone hardcore. Look at Sunflower in Fantasia, or the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, or the one Chinese cat in Aristocats. The crows just don't strike like that, they feel more like the work people trying to reference a culture they don't entirely get. And yes, it is icky that even though they got a bunch of black guys for the other crows, but the leader still had to be played by a white person. And to clarify, Jim's name was changed to Dandy Crow as far back as the 50's, so even early on Disney realized they screwed up.
Nice 👍🏻 work. Though in my honest opinion and no disrespect but I don’t see anything wrong or how you word it.”iky”. That the main guy was played by a white dude. But you’re right Disney did change that by changing the name which was good. I think what we need to remember is he’s human. We all make mistakes. And do bad things. Even if there “little” as people say but this comes from my Christian faith I don’t know what your beliefs are. But I respect nonetheless. Love your comment. Made a good point God bless.
fun fact dumbo is actually a small Asian elephant which is different species then the other which is why his ears are larger. Which also mean he really was put in the wrong family 😭
I always thought Dumbo's ears were big because the sneeze triggered them to be like that. Disney magic and all that. I also like to pretend the crows aren't racist stereotypes since at this point of the movie, the circus is somewhere in the southern states, and these crows live in that area. They could just be crows with southern accents. I know that the movie didn't have this in mind but I just think it's interesting.
12:07 "Justice for Timothy Q. Mouse!" Yes! I'm so glad someone else feels the same about him. He is the best and needs more love. One of my favorites ❤
To answer your question, Disney was so wholesome that to work around the "sensitive" topic of going into labor, they chose to use the euphemism of "The stork is coming"
This is my favorite Disney movie! About the crows: I didn't realize until I was an adult that the crows had names (even though one of them literally says something like "what you think about that Jim" but it's quiet), but learning the names made it worse. Overall, I don't think they're a terrible depiction. They're some of the few characters that show any compassion to Dumbo and the story presents them as good "people." Tbh I think if we change Jim's name it'd go a long way towards being better representation. But why does everyone attack the crows when the roustabouts' song is *right there.* If that scene was removed the movie wouldn't really be impacted but the plot hinges on Dumbo meeting the crows. I'm honestly surprised I've never seen a petition to remove the roustabouts scene entirely.
Interesting fact: Jim's name was changed to Dandy Crow as far back as the 50's, so I think they recognised it was a bad move too. Also, the original name has been argued to be making fun of Jim Crow laws, though it's a hard joke to get.
To be honest I never once had any issues about the crows even though I found out they were black 10 years ago. What really got to me about the crows is when they woke up after Timothy Mouse was telling them off of how rude they were to Dumbo, they felt bad for Dumbo after hearing the sad story, and then they were willing to help Dumbo succeed.
For some reason the lines "So ya like to pick on little guys huh? So why don't you pick on me?" always stuck with me, not sure why. Another one of my favourite lines is "They're walking around the bed on their heads"
Hey guys. I just found your channel today. I'm gonna subscribe after making this comment. I just wanted to say, Roustabout isn't a derogatory term. A roustabout is a unskilled laborer. Or a jack of all trades handy man. Someone who could do any basic labor work. My great grandfather called himself a roustabout. That doesn't excuse the problematic depiction of the workers. Or some of the lyrics.
The only racist thing in this movie is the slaves building the circus. The crows are not racist at all. They got real black actors and real black dancers to use to bring them to life. The way they talk is how a lot of southern black people talk. Even today, I knew a guy that talked just like them. Honestly, they are some of the best characters in the movie.
Fun fact: the elephant on parade song on the Latin American version it's completely different, the rhythm and music are the same but the lyrics are different, the Latin American version is called "las ánimas del terror" that means "the ghouls of terror", the song is dark because it says like "when you abuse of the alcohol you start to had visions of elephants of colors that appear and bring you terror" and even it says that those elephants or ghouls are relatives of Satan
I think maybe the reason that Rastabouts didn’t get as much attention as the crows is because you don’t see really see them and probably a lot of people never paid attention to the lyrics of the song.
Apparently it was supposed to be a satirical caricature of the Jim Crow segregation, as in they were making fun of the segregation laws. But I think it's also important to note that the characters themselves are crows and not actual black humans (even if inspired by). And when it comes to voice acting the race/ethnicity of the actor doesn't matter as much (I'm saying that cuz today there are people of color who will voice white characters, e.g. America Ferrera as Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon and Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker). But for the time the fact that they cast ANY black actors for ANY role that showed them as intelligent, positive, and free-spirited in a time when roles for black actors were scarce, says a lot. And the crows are the ones who help Dumbo out. That said, the tent-building scene should really get more flack than the crows scene. Has anyone even listened to the lyrics?
I have a personal story related to this movie; Baby Mine always made me cry out for my mom when I was little so they'd have to time when that scene would pop up and fast forward it to afterwards. when I did see the scene I'd immediately be looking for my mom for a hug. to this day, Baby Mine always makes me cry, and just seeing Dumbo always makes my mom cry
When I was younger I didn't realize how racist Dumbo was, but they literally called a crow jim crow, all voiced by black actors, and the scene where the tents are being put up, I love Dumbo, but I was shocked when I rewatched it again 😬
26:00 Disney used to do that a lot, get actors in to act out what they planned and get animators to draw drawing based on their actions - the clip from Alice in Wonderland is my favourite: ua-cam.com/video/ROqlhMEWA70/v-deo.html
Ever since I learned about the unfortunate existence of racism, and why people hate the crows, I’ve decided to just call the crows “The Controversial Crows” Sounds like an… interesting band name tbh 🤔
I just stumbled onto these videos, so I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm a big ol' Disney nerd so I want to catch up on all the ones I missed. Vladimir Tytla (animator of Dumbo/ Tchernobog/ Stromboli) is one of pop culture's underacknowledged geniuses; it's good to hear him get a shout-out. I'm also glad to see Timothy Mouse (voice of Ed Brophy) get the love he deserves. Interestingly enough, in his career as a live-action character actor, Brophy often played very unsympathetic characters. His small role in "Freaks" (1932) could be seen as the mirror opposite of Timothy, as he expresses contempt for the sideshow performers. Regarding the crows, it has always struck me that Cliff Edwards was trying to channel Cab Calloway in his performance. What would the reaction be, or have been, if Disney had cast Calloway himself in the role? After all, he'd done some voicework before, for the Fleischers over at Paramount. "When I See an Elephant Fly" is an awesome song, and the crows are among the movie's more sympathetic characters, but Edwards' voicing the role, whether he intended it or not, is a bit like animation's version of "blackface." It's the core of the controversy for me.
To add to the emotion, it's believed and I'd say it must be so. . .that Dumbo's father was in fact THE Jumbo himself. all the more tragic given his story, which would explain why poor Mrs. Jumbo was feeling so lonely when her child didn't arrive at first.
6:40 There is some talk about the roustabouts song, including debates over whether or not the lyrics were intended to be sarcastic or could be sung as sarcastic, or how they could be read as drawing attention to the horrible work conditions for such a low pay and how all they get in return for their labour are more insults, but I think that talk was mostly saved for UA-cam comments (and not so many now as before since they started blocking comments on half of the Disney related videos).
honestly Dumbo is a good allegory for what it feels like to be disabled, if you're using it in a modern perspective. And I mean any kind of disability. People treat you as less than
I like Jimeny a lot but I do agree Timothy dose´t get enough love. What a wingman out of nowhere, no background or anything he is just a swell guy. I could never hear what the circus workers were singing but reading it now, yeah very intentional lyrics. But now the crows, I like them. If somebody do feel offended by them then ofcourse I respect that and don´t quote them infront of them. But I love thier style, thier humor I think thier song is among Disneys top swingiest ones and as said they were good guys, did´t know about The Jaxton Brothers dance, intresting information. See I know black people and hispanic and ofcourse people from other countries could be ridiculed and treated badly during that time but it feels wierd they still managed to hit it in the industry, like this getting voice work. Now I know the Uncle Remus role by James Baskett was rewared an Academy Award BUT was´t allowed into the ceremony becuse he was black. That is horrible but to me that paints Walt Disney as a progressive man who gave black actors way diffrent and bigger roles than most studios during that time. So pros and cons. I have´t meet anyone in real life talk about it, mostly seen reactions from people who have´t seen Dumbo in 10 years come with thier opinions when reading an article online.
Did they not get the little jokes? I'm older and I can't tell what's fallen out of the collective frame of reference. Just in case: the storks were bringing babies because, when kids asked their parents where babies came from, people used to say "the stork" brought them, to avoid telling them anything too mature. Also, the train says "I think I can" as a reference to a famous children's story, "The Little Engine That Could." Dumbo saw pink elephants when he was drunk was a reference to see hallucinations of "pink elephants" being synonymous with being drunk.
It wasn't so much the pink elephants that mademe thinking that getting drunk might not be the best idea, it was more the getting a bad taste in your mouth like the mouse did the morning after. Waking up with bad breath is bad enough, it doesn't hit you till a few minutes after you've woken up and before you've had your morning coffee, getting a weird taste in your mouth just ruins the whole waking up process and gets in the way of enjoying your coffee.
When I was a child my parents surprised me by going to Disneyland Paris, I saw a show that was on at the time called " animagic" The pink elephants from Dumbo were present on stage and in giant balloons on the walls (I was just traumatized) that's probably why I don't really like Dumbo 😅😂
Woah, I had no idea the roustabouts were black. I thought it was just a moonless night out or something. I didn’t even notice the lyrics. Legit though, I like the “HIKE, uhn, HIKE, uhn.” It’s catchy.
“Hairy Ape” sounds like derogatory term for blackfolk, but actually it was a typical term used by a manager to refer to any worker who was stronger than they were intelligent black or white. Even the term “Black crow” in this context was completely unintended as animators have explained they were animating to the characters voices not a specifically racial character. However, you could argue that the actors overacted (typical for black actors at the time) and so the characterisations ended up being racial in the end.
It honestly irks me to no end how much people belittle Casey Jr. I love that locomotive so much! There's more to him than what little screen time he has in this movie. And honestly I truly cannot understand why people mistake him for fucking THOMAS. People have their favorite Disney characters, but Casey Jr is mine and to me he's number one.
Baby oh Mine is my fav song of the movie, such an emotional scene. also I always liked the pink elephant song because it was so creative and different. To be honest the racist bits didn't land that way with me but It may be because of cultural diferences (I'm from south america). The crows were good characters and after a reprimand they tried to be supportive of Dumbo, although I do agree calling the leader "Jim Crow" was not a good choice. The roustabouts song implied they were poor overworked people (so more of a commentary on capitalism and poverty) and they were dark and faceless because it was night; maybe lightening some of the worker's faces would give the impression of a more mixed crew? Not sure what the right answer is, the song is really poignant tho. Seeing the elephants working hard to set up the tent with the workers showed parallelisms between both, how they're both slaving over a system that exploits them (circus) because they don't have any other way to survive outside that same system. It's sad I'm not in favour of using animals for entretainment (circus, water parks, etc) Anyway, sorry for the rant. Thank you for the reaction
Heres a theory i always had for dumbos ears The elephants in the movie are likely asian elephants So what if dumbos father was a African elephant which have much larger ears and dumbo inherited them
Have you guys never heard of the stalk delivering babies. It was literally invented as an answer for children to where babies come from so parents didn't have to tell how it really happened
I don’t really understand the whole “stork delivering babies” thing. I mean, I understand that parents don’t want to tell their children the actual thing. But if the stork story was actually true, then how come the baby look like their parents? I’m overthinking this too much.
Wow as much younger when I learned that Cliff Edwards who did the voice for chimney cricket the voice over for a character in Dumbo, I always assumed it was Timothy the mouse. Timothy is definitely a character that has a similarity to Jiminy cricket. But I would have never guessed Cliff did the voice for Jim Crow. Because when you think about Jiminy cricket, Jiminy has a very virtuous person holiday. Jim Crow has a more edge and low life personality
The faces of some of the roustabouts could be lighten to make them a mix of races - might make it more palatable. A bit more fixing required for the crows - have them point out to each other as to how they know what it is to be discouraged by other people which is why they help Dumbo. And at the end, give them their own car between the rest of the train and Mrs. Dumbo's, suggesting they have been signed on by the circus as a great song and dance act. Or even have Disney do a whole new animated movie just about them.
12:47 You ever heard of the 90s puppet (sort of) show called Dinosaurs? Well you might be interested in the episode 'Charlene and her Amazing Humans', brings up that same question "how is it not enough for you?" in a way.
Some justify the crows pointing out that they at least helped Dumbo in the end unlike the posh sounding elephants who look down on Dumbo every chance they get. I'm still on the fence about the whole thing, but have felt more uncomfortable about it as time goes on. And I can definitely see why they followed their character design for the crows in the 70s movie 'The Wiz' in the scene where they force Scarecrow (Michael Jackson) to sing 'You Can't Win' because he's been talking too much about getting down off the pole and has been reading quotes from his stuffings.
I rather they keep all the controversial stuff in a movie especially if that's representative of the time. I rather hear, listen and watch historical accuracy. As a kid seeing this; however, it wasn't controversial.
13:16 Which do you prefer? The Singing in the Rain song 'Make 'Em Laugh' or Cole Porter (who for some reason never sued for how similar the two songs were) original 'Be A Clown'? Lyrics wise I mean, can't think of any difference in the melody.
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Love the Crows. Jim (or Dandy, as he was later renamed) wasn’t played by just any white guy, he was played by Cliff Edwards, the voice of Jiminy Cricket, there’s a photo of him in the recording studio wearing a bowler hat with a stogie in his mouth, like his character. And you’re correct, the others are voiced by black men, including future _Song of the South_ alumni James Baskett (Uncle Remus/voice of Br’er Fox and Br’er Rabbit (and the first ever black man to win an Oscar, for that movie)) and Nick Stewart (voice of Br’er Bear).
An avid defender of the Crows is Disney’s first black animator, Floyd Norman. He was great friends with Ward Kimball, who animated them. He said that their speech patterns were accurate of the period (apparently inspired by the backstage talk of the popular Jazz musicians of the era). Whenever anyone says “Walt Disney, racist. Period”, Floyd always shoots them down, saying “You didn’t know him. I did. And he wasn’t”.
P.S.
Also love _Song of the Roustabouts_
Dumbo was actually supposed to be on the cover of Time Magazine for 1941 as Mammal of the Year, but Pearl Harbor attack happened and so that was scrapped.
Another great fact James! Really puts into context the time in which Dumbo came out!
Timothy is a legend! And really, it's amazing how much charm they can fit into such a short feature.
Edited to add - I had to have a C-section with my daughter, and the nurses didn't *sing* Happy Birthday, but they did say it to her!
Timothy mouse is my favourite Disney Sidekick. Here's why: I am a Disney girl. Jungle Book, Dumbo, Hercules and Aladdin r my personal favourites. Anyway, people used to make fun of me because all I talked about was Disney, Disney, Disney! I always used to cry to myself and be mean to myself but then I watched Dumbo again and when I saw Timothy mouse, I felt instantly happy. Idk why I'm saying all this. I know that nobody is going to care about this comment but.. I just wanted to talk about it.. sorry. I'll just stop typing now 😅😅
Fun fact: What's interesting is that the creative team working on Lilo & Stitch wanted to make a film that wasn't so expensive. They were inspired by the production of Dumbo, so they borrowed a lot from Dumbo, such as using watercolor backgrounds. :)
The hallucination scene though... traumatised me as a kid 😂 had nightmares for days..
Same! Yet I weirdly couldn’t take my eyes off of it! 😂
I just jammed out to the music after sobbing because of the baby of mine scene- child me is built different
WELL I FELL BAD FOR YOU THAT NEVER HAPPEND TO ME!!
I thought it was really weird and kinda creepy.
Not for me I loved the song
I was scared of so many things as a kid but I loved the pink elephants scene and still do!
Not even the massive megazord made of elephant heads scared you? That’s impressive!! 😂
Glad to finally hear that I’m not the only kid who was weirdly not scared of the pink elephants scene! It looked more like some peculiar silly “Halloween Party” to me… also, I was a baby myself when I watched this. I was too young and naive to understand the context of that scene along with other “elephant in the room” contents like the controversial crows
Different times, different attitudes. Just enjoy the movie.
You know what’s real dark? If I’m not mistaken, Dumbo was made during a very hard time in Walt Disney’s life, and not just financially.
Walt Disney’s mother had died, it tore him to pieces. He had hired his own employees to build a nice house for his parents. However, because they were not professional house builders, mistakes were inevitable. There was a faulty construction of the fireplace, causing a gas leak. I think it caused a horrible house fire, killing his mother, and almost killing his dad.
Dumbo wasn’t just Disney’s salvation from financial ruin, it was also Walt Disney’s love for his mother and what his mother meant to him. That’s why Dumbo hits so hard when it comes to Ms. Jumbo.
Yikes! As if the Disney Strike wasn’t enough! 😰
I loved watching Dumbo as a kid, but many parts of the film also made me sad. I do like how Timothy Mouse stands up for him though. I'm not the biggest fan of Dumbo as an adult, but he is still so kawaii! The cutest animated baby elephant ever!
Definitely kawaii! Potentially the cutest Disney character ever! 🤩
Ugh I freaking love you guys. I'm a tad older than you guys, grew up in the 80s watching these classics in the theater and I LOVE that you're such historians and appreciate these gems. You're so adorable and funny but very very thoughtful, too. And how nice that you talked about the race/racism topic in advance. It's important, regardless of the differing opinions people have on all that stuff. LOVE you guys.
Ben is literally me explaining all these cultural references and appreciating the movie for what it is
18:52 Bless you for that speech mate. I lost my nan 4 years ago, but I still keep her with me when I watch Disney. R.I.P to your nan and know they're always with you.
♥️♥️♥️♥️
I love Dumbo!
Baby Mine is my favourite song of the movie and i cry each time!
I was slightly freaked out by Pink Elephants On Parade.
I also loved When I See An Elephant Fly! agree, clever lyrics!
I didn't know about the crow controversy as we never learnt about that stuff in school (I'm not from The States)
I agree that the first song is more controversial than the crows one...
Yes I had no idea what the Jim Crow laws were so was really confused when I started hearing that they were controversial! We definitely need to learn a bit more about them!
And so pleased you love Dumbo!! There is so much to love about this movie!!!
The voice of Mrs. Jumbo and the haughty purple draped elephant are both voiced by Verna Felton.
Also in regards to the crows they actually brought in the Hal Jolson choir for the song “When I See an Elephant Fly”. I like the song and the characters of the crows.
First of all, “haughty” is a great word! 😂 and yes great knowledge! She voiced many characters including the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella!
So, ok, the crows.
For reference, I'm a Kenyan Somali, so while I am black, I'm very far removed from the African Americans these characters are a reference to. But I've always thought the crows were very cool and fun.
The thing is if they did want the crows to be a malicious attack on Africans, then they would have been worse. Really look at how grotesque and icky black characters were in old cartoons and then compare them to the crows. The crows are very appealing bird characters with distinctive and charming designs. and the fact that Disney referenced actual black performers and their dance moves instead of horrible black-face shows is notable. Not to mention the crows are presented as slick, and ultimately friendly figures, even being the ones to help Dumbo fly.
Really if Disney wanted to just make fun of an ethnicity, then they would have gone hardcore. Look at Sunflower in Fantasia, or the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, or the one Chinese cat in Aristocats. The crows just don't strike like that, they feel more like the work people trying to reference a culture they don't entirely get.
And yes, it is icky that even though they got a bunch of black guys for the other crows, but the leader still had to be played by a white person. And to clarify, Jim's name was changed to Dandy Crow as far back as the 50's, so even early on Disney realized they screwed up.
Nice 👍🏻 work. Though in my honest opinion and no disrespect but I don’t see anything wrong or how you word it.”iky”. That the main guy was played by a white dude. But you’re right Disney did change that by changing the name which was good. I think what we need to remember is he’s human. We all make mistakes. And do bad things. Even if there “little” as people say but this comes from my Christian faith I don’t know what your beliefs are. But I respect nonetheless. Love your comment. Made a good point God bless.
You are watching my favourite Disney movie of all time. It taught me to love myself and my big forehead. Cause I'm still cute.
Honestly, the life lessons in this movie are *chefs kiss* 👌
Big foreheads are beautiful 🙌
fun fact dumbo is actually a small Asian elephant which is different species then the other which is why his ears are larger. Which also mean he really was put in the wrong family 😭
Other way around, he's an african elephant, the others are asian.
i think you mean african elephant, those are the ones with the big ears, and the elephant ladies seem to be the indian ones
I really like you guys, you're so endearing and offer great humor as well as thoughtful commentary. Loving these reactions! And happy to subscribe 😁
Happy to have you on board! And thanks for the comments, pleased we are getting the balance right ✌️😅
This was my very first favorite Disney movie. When I was two years old, I watched it so much I wore out two VHS copies.
3:41 I can't stop laughing🤣
People forget that the original meaning of the word "dumb" was "non-speaking" not "stupid". The baby elephant doesn't speak, hence "Dumbo".
I always thought Dumbo's ears were big because the sneeze triggered them to be like that. Disney magic and all that.
I also like to pretend the crows aren't racist stereotypes since at this point of the movie, the circus is somewhere in the southern states, and these crows live in that area. They could just be crows with southern accents. I know that the movie didn't have this in mind but I just think it's interesting.
Yeah, Dumbo is probably my favorite of the Golden era films. It helps that it’s short!
Also, the crows are the best part.
12:07 "Justice for Timothy Q. Mouse!" Yes! I'm so glad someone else feels the same about him. He is the best and needs more love. One of my favorites ❤
To answer your question, Disney was so wholesome that to work around the "sensitive" topic of going into labor, they chose to use the euphemism of "The stork is coming"
This is my favorite Disney movie! About the crows: I didn't realize until I was an adult that the crows had names (even though one of them literally says something like "what you think about that Jim" but it's quiet), but learning the names made it worse. Overall, I don't think they're a terrible depiction. They're some of the few characters that show any compassion to Dumbo and the story presents them as good "people." Tbh I think if we change Jim's name it'd go a long way towards being better representation. But why does everyone attack the crows when the roustabouts' song is *right there.* If that scene was removed the movie wouldn't really be impacted but the plot hinges on Dumbo meeting the crows. I'm honestly surprised I've never seen a petition to remove the roustabouts scene entirely.
Interesting fact: Jim's name was changed to Dandy Crow as far back as the 50's, so I think they recognised it was a bad move too. Also, the original name has been argued to be making fun of Jim Crow laws, though it's a hard joke to get.
To be honest I never once had any issues about the crows even though I found out they were black 10 years ago. What really got to me about the crows is when they woke up after Timothy Mouse was telling them off of how rude they were to Dumbo, they felt bad for Dumbo after hearing the sad story, and then they were willing to help Dumbo succeed.
For some reason the lines "So ya like to pick on little guys huh? So why don't you pick on me?" always stuck with me, not sure why.
Another one of my favourite lines is "They're walking around the bed on their heads"
Timothy Q Mouse is the best and no one can tell me otherwise
Hey guys. I just found your channel today. I'm gonna subscribe after making this comment.
I just wanted to say, Roustabout isn't a derogatory term. A roustabout is a unskilled laborer. Or a jack of all trades handy man. Someone who could do any basic labor work. My great grandfather called himself a roustabout.
That doesn't excuse the problematic depiction of the workers. Or some of the lyrics.
The only racist thing in this movie is the slaves building the circus. The crows are not racist at all. They got real black actors and real black dancers to use to bring them to life. The way they talk is how a lot of southern black people talk. Even today, I knew a guy that talked just like them. Honestly, they are some of the best characters in the movie.
Fun fact: the elephant on parade song on the Latin American version it's completely different, the rhythm and music are the same but the lyrics are different, the Latin American version is called "las ánimas del terror" that means "the ghouls of terror", the song is dark because it says like "when you abuse of the alcohol you start to had visions of elephants of colors that appear and bring you terror" and even it says that those elephants or ghouls are relatives of Satan
I think maybe the reason that Rastabouts didn’t get as much attention as the crows is because you don’t see really see them and probably a lot of people never paid attention to the lyrics of the song.
The fact that the main crow is literally named Jim crow is f*cking me up. I never knew that, that's actually messed up. 😳
Apparently it was supposed to be a satirical caricature of the Jim Crow segregation, as in they were making fun of the segregation laws.
But I think it's also important to note that the characters themselves are crows and not actual black humans (even if inspired by). And when it comes to voice acting the race/ethnicity of the actor doesn't matter as much (I'm saying that cuz today there are people of color who will voice white characters, e.g. America Ferrera as Astrid in How to Train Your Dragon and Kevin Michael Richardson as the Joker).
But for the time the fact that they cast ANY black actors for ANY role that showed them as intelligent, positive, and free-spirited in a time when roles for black actors were scarce, says a lot. And the crows are the ones who help Dumbo out.
That said, the tent-building scene should really get more flack than the crows scene. Has anyone even listened to the lyrics?
Calm down will you. There's plenty of black fans who don't mind the crows.
Thankfully they never said that name in the movie.
I loved this, dumbo is my all time favorite Disney movie
I have a personal story related to this movie; Baby Mine always made me cry out for my mom when I was little so they'd have to time when that scene would pop up and fast forward it to afterwards. when I did see the scene I'd immediately be looking for my mom for a hug. to this day, Baby Mine always makes me cry, and just seeing Dumbo always makes my mom cry
i love pink elephants on parade .... also i was dancing the same as you Ben LMAO we was both shimming lol......
Yes to the shimmy!! I can’t hear that song without moving 😅👍
@@EdizAndBen me either lmao
When I was younger I didn't realize how racist Dumbo was, but they literally called a crow jim crow, all voiced by black actors, and the scene where the tents are being put up, I love Dumbo, but I was shocked when I rewatched it again 😬
26:00 Disney used to do that a lot, get actors in to act out what they planned and get animators to draw drawing based on their actions - the clip from Alice in Wonderland is my favourite: ua-cam.com/video/ROqlhMEWA70/v-deo.html
Ever since I learned about the unfortunate existence of racism, and why people hate the crows, I’ve decided to just call the crows “The Controversial Crows”
Sounds like an… interesting band name tbh 🤔
The same animation crew worked on "Pink Elephants" as worked on the "Dance of the Hours" section of "Fantasia" (the one with the hippos and so on).
Well ACTUALLY i think the earliest instance of a Disney parade was in that one Alice short
I just stumbled onto these videos, so I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm a big ol' Disney nerd so I want to catch up on all the ones I missed. Vladimir Tytla (animator of Dumbo/ Tchernobog/ Stromboli) is one of pop culture's underacknowledged geniuses; it's good to hear him get a shout-out.
I'm also glad to see Timothy Mouse (voice of Ed Brophy) get the love he deserves. Interestingly enough, in his career as a live-action character actor, Brophy often played very unsympathetic characters. His small role in "Freaks" (1932) could be seen as the mirror opposite of Timothy, as he expresses contempt for the sideshow performers.
Regarding the crows, it has always struck me that Cliff Edwards was trying to channel Cab Calloway in his performance. What would the reaction be, or have been, if Disney had cast Calloway himself in the role? After all, he'd done some voicework before, for the Fleischers over at Paramount. "When I See an Elephant Fly" is an awesome song, and the crows are among the movie's more sympathetic characters, but Edwards' voicing the role, whether he intended it or not, is a bit like animation's version of "blackface." It's the core of the controversy for me.
To add to the emotion, it's believed and I'd say it must be so. . .that Dumbo's father was in fact THE Jumbo himself. all the more tragic given his story, which would explain why poor Mrs. Jumbo was feeling so lonely when her child didn't arrive at first.
I have to say, that Dumbo was the very first Disney movie i ever watched.
6:40 There is some talk about the roustabouts song, including debates over whether or not the lyrics were intended to be sarcastic or could be sung as sarcastic, or how they could be read as drawing attention to the horrible work conditions for such a low pay and how all they get in return for their labour are more insults, but I think that talk was mostly saved for UA-cam comments (and not so many now as before since they started blocking comments on half of the Disney related videos).
1:49 dude I did the same thing the 1ts time I saw it😂
honestly Dumbo is a good allegory for what it feels like to be disabled, if you're using it in a modern perspective. And I mean any kind of disability. People treat you as less than
I just learned that there was a cancelled sequel to dumbo, I feel robbed.
This was nearly 80 years old 1941 movie bro now what do you need for an animation change though? Its absolutely beautiful for its time..
I like Jimeny a lot but I do agree Timothy dose´t get enough love. What a wingman out of nowhere, no background or anything he is just a swell guy.
I could never hear what the circus workers were singing but reading it now, yeah very intentional lyrics. But now the crows, I like them. If somebody do feel offended by them then ofcourse I respect that and don´t quote them infront of them. But I love thier style, thier humor I think thier song is among Disneys top swingiest ones and as said they were good guys, did´t know about The Jaxton Brothers dance, intresting information. See I know black people and hispanic and ofcourse people from other countries could be ridiculed and treated badly during that time but it feels wierd they still managed to hit it in the industry, like this getting voice work. Now I know the Uncle Remus role by James Baskett was rewared an Academy Award BUT was´t allowed into the ceremony becuse he was black. That is horrible but to me that paints Walt Disney as a progressive man who gave black actors way diffrent and bigger roles than most studios during that time.
So pros and cons. I have´t meet anyone in real life talk about it, mostly seen reactions from people who have´t seen Dumbo in 10 years come with thier opinions when reading an article online.
Did they not get the little jokes? I'm older and I can't tell what's fallen out of the collective frame of reference. Just in case: the storks were bringing babies because, when kids asked their parents where babies came from, people used to say "the stork" brought them, to avoid telling them anything too mature. Also, the train says "I think I can" as a reference to a famous children's story, "The Little Engine That Could." Dumbo saw pink elephants when he was drunk was a reference to see hallucinations of "pink elephants" being synonymous with being drunk.
22:57 This tune was heard in the Disney movie enchanted.
It wasn't so much the pink elephants that mademe thinking that getting drunk might not be the best idea, it was more the getting a bad taste in your mouth like the mouse did the morning after. Waking up with bad breath is bad enough, it doesn't hit you till a few minutes after you've woken up and before you've had your morning coffee, getting a weird taste in your mouth just ruins the whole waking up process and gets in the way of enjoying your coffee.
When I was a child my parents surprised me by going to Disneyland Paris, I saw a show that was on at the time called " animagic" The pink elephants from Dumbo were present on stage and in giant balloons on the walls (I was just traumatized) that's probably why I don't really like Dumbo 😅😂
Woah, I had no idea the roustabouts were black. I thought it was just a moonless night out or something. I didn’t even notice the lyrics.
Legit though, I like the “HIKE, uhn, HIKE, uhn.” It’s catchy.
“Hairy Ape” sounds like derogatory term for blackfolk, but actually it was a typical term used by a manager to refer to any worker who was stronger than they were intelligent black or white. Even the term “Black crow” in this context was completely unintended as animators have explained they were animating to the characters voices not a specifically racial character. However, you could argue that the actors overacted (typical for black actors at the time) and so the characterisations ended up being racial in the end.
It honestly irks me to no end how much people belittle Casey Jr. I love that locomotive so much! There's more to him than what little screen time he has in this movie. And honestly I truly cannot understand why people mistake him for fucking THOMAS. People have their favorite Disney characters, but Casey Jr is mine and to me he's number one.
Ediz reminds me of Loki, both in his appearance and in his confusion regarding the human element. 😄
ediz your a treasure but how u gonna put your hand on bens shoulder look him in the eye and say "why we not conceiving the babies"
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
This really made me laugh 😂
The crows are awesome.
Baby oh Mine is my fav song of the movie, such an emotional scene. also I always liked the pink elephant song because it was so creative and different.
To be honest the racist bits didn't land that way with me but It may be because of cultural diferences (I'm from south america).
The crows were good characters and after a reprimand they tried to be supportive of Dumbo, although I do agree calling the leader "Jim Crow" was not a good choice.
The roustabouts song implied they were poor overworked people (so more of a commentary on capitalism and poverty) and they were dark and faceless because it was night; maybe lightening some of the worker's faces would give the impression of a more mixed crew? Not sure what the right answer is, the song is really poignant tho.
Seeing the elephants working hard to set up the tent with the workers showed parallelisms between both, how they're both slaving over a system that exploits them (circus) because they don't have any other way to survive outside that same system. It's sad
I'm not in favour of using animals for entretainment (circus, water parks, etc)
Anyway, sorry for the rant. Thank you for the reaction
Heres a theory i always had for dumbos ears
The elephants in the movie are likely asian elephants
So what if dumbos father was a African elephant which have much larger ears and dumbo inherited them
Have you guys never heard of the stalk delivering babies. It was literally invented as an answer for children to where babies come from so parents didn't have to tell how it really happened
I don’t really understand the whole “stork delivering babies” thing. I mean, I understand that parents don’t want to tell their children the actual thing. But if the stork story was actually true, then how come the baby look like their parents?
I’m overthinking this too much.
Don’t, I’m sat here crying😫🐘
Ahhh, it’s defo one of the top 10 saddest Disney movies 😢
@@EdizAndBen new series? Top 10 saddest Disney films?😂😂
😅😅😅 we're being slower with this series then we had planned.... but I like where your head is at Niamh :)
@@EdizAndBen yeah im not loving how long I have to wait for each one 😉 or maybe just a ranking video haha
Dumbo when i see an elephant flys
Wow as much younger when I learned that Cliff Edwards who did the voice for chimney cricket the voice over for a character in Dumbo, I always assumed it was Timothy the mouse. Timothy is definitely a character that has a similarity to Jiminy cricket. But I would have never guessed Cliff did the voice for Jim Crow. Because when you think about Jiminy cricket, Jiminy has a very virtuous person holiday. Jim Crow has a more edge and low life personality
0:14 YES😂
I think you are missing the point that it all would be extremely fantastic if you watch these as you grow up during your childhood..😊
im so excited to see this! i'll let you know my thoughts here!
0:14 😂😂🎶
i always loved the classic opening titles!
03:10 😑😑
im very impressed Ediz saw the comparisons in Sterling Holloway's character voices!
05:54 ediz' s facial expression 😂😂
The faces of some of the roustabouts could be lighten to make them a mix of races - might make it more palatable.
A bit more fixing required for the crows - have them point out to each other as to how they know what it is to be discouraged by other people which is why they help Dumbo. And at the end, give them their own car between the rest of the train and Mrs. Dumbo's, suggesting they have been signed on by the circus as a great song and dance act. Or even have Disney do a whole new animated movie just about them.
2:19 what was that face😂
TIMMOPHY is a great agant
What do you think the animators were taking when they drew 'Pink Elephants on Parade'?
12:47 You ever heard of the 90s puppet (sort of) show called Dinosaurs? Well you might be interested in the episode 'Charlene and her Amazing Humans', brings up that same question "how is it not enough for you?" in a way.
4:00 WOW
Some justify the crows pointing out that they at least helped Dumbo in the end unlike the posh sounding elephants who look down on Dumbo every chance they get. I'm still on the fence about the whole thing, but have felt more uncomfortable about it as time goes on. And I can definitely see why they followed their character design for the crows in the 70s movie 'The Wiz' in the scene where they force Scarecrow (Michael Jackson) to sing 'You Can't Win' because he's been talking too much about getting down off the pole and has been reading quotes from his stuffings.
I rather they keep all the controversial stuff in a movie especially if that's representative of the time. I rather hear, listen and watch historical accuracy. As a kid seeing this; however, it wasn't controversial.
13:16 Which do you prefer? The Singing in the Rain song 'Make 'Em Laugh' or Cole Porter (who for some reason never sued for how similar the two songs were) original 'Be A Clown'? Lyrics wise I mean, can't think of any difference in the melody.
3:02 YEES😂
The rostabunts song
1:24 oh no
the train speaking really does freak me out,it makes me so uncomfortable with that voice
Yo it's my dude's😃
Trippy
I'd have to disagree, I like Jiminy Cricket better than Timothy Mouse.
😢
Stitch doesn't have a attection anymore ;[
I resent that america obesity comment...
**keeps my eye on these two suspiciously** XD