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Dumbo Retro Review

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5 years ago

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Since the turn of the decade, Disney has made it their mission to re-imagine their classic animated films into live-action spectacles. Using the original works as launching pads they’ve managed to stretch and re-purpose old ideas for new audiences. Although the end products have varied in quality, their source material is still heralded as animated classics, but do they still earn that distinction? In honor of the recent release of Dumbo, we’ve revisited the original circus to see if it’s still worth the price of admission.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Mrs. Jumbo, a circus elephant, receives her first child from a stork. The baby is quickly nicknamed Dumbo by the other elephants due to his enormous ears. Relying on his mother and his only other companion, a field mouse named Timothy, Dumbo struggles against the cruelty of the circus to discover what truly makes him special.

Dumbo was made at a time when Disney was attempting to recoup from the financial hit they took with the release of Fantasia, so the company intentionally targeted simplicity in the film’s creation. Coming in at a tight 64 minutes, Dumbo relies on just a handful of sequences to deliver its message and the emotional punch. There is very little fat on the film, and each set-piece feels essential in the breaking down or building up of Dumbo.

This feels silly to repeat in 2019, but the animation team provides the backbone of the film. With Dumbo being one of the few non-sidekick silent characters to lead a Disney feature, there is a sizeable amount of pressure on his design elements to create an emotional attachment for the audience, and it’s almost instantaneous. Watching the little elephant stumble and trip over his own ears is equally amusing and soul-crushing. Dumbo is goofy looking, but he still deserves the best, that precious angel.

There is just as much care and attention put into sequences not starring the darling, big-eared mammal. Watching a frantic group of circus clowns smash in and out of frame to put out a fire is only surpassed by a trippy hallucinatory sequence that feels as though it has to have been inspiration for what Disney would pull off when they famously introduced Genie in 1992’s Aladdin. The animators cut loose, and weren’t afraid to flex for the audience.

Again, it feels almost redundant to say, but the original Dumbo is time well spent. This was my first time watching the animated feature (at least as far I can remember), and aside from the infamous crow segment that definitely wouldn’t make the final edit today, it stands the test of time. It’s a case study in creating a simple and strong emotional connection without getting lost in your own noise or overstaying your welcome. When you see Dumbo zipping across the sky you’ll be soaring too.

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Paramount+ Reveals Official Main Title Sequence for the Upcoming Series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

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13 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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During the TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES panel earlier today at San Diego Comic Con, Paramount+ revealed the official main title sequence for the series. The sequence is composed by EMMY® nominee, Matt Mahaffey, known for his work on Sanjay and Craig, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie and much more. 

From the studios of the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers onto the streets of NYC. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey are faced with new threats and team up with old allies to survive both teenage life and villains lurking in the shadows of the Big Apple. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures.

TALES OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES is executive produced by Chris Yost (The Mandalorian, Thor: Ragnarok) and Alan Wan (Blue Eye Samurai, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles [2012 Series]). Production is overseen for Nickelodeon by Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, TV Series Animation, Nickelodeon, and Nikki Price, Director of Development and Executive in Charge of Production.

In addition to the upcoming new series, stream all things Turtles on Paramount+.

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Comic-Con 2024: Those About to Die Activation

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15 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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DISNEY+ CASTS DANIEL DIEMER AS FAN-FAVORITE ‘TYSON’IN SEASON TWO OF “PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS”

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16 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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 in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, Rick Riordan and Disney+ revealed that Daniel Diemer (“Under the Bridge”) will star as fan-favorite cyclops “Tyson” in the epic adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” Diemer joins Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Leah Sava Jeffries (Annabeth Chase) and Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood) as a series regular. The Disney+ Original series from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television will start filming its second season next week in Vancouver.

Season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is based on the second installment of Disney Hyperion’s best-selling book series titled “The Sea of Monsters” by award-winning author Rick Riordan. In the new season, Percy Jackson returns to Camp Half-Blood one year later to find his world turned upside down. His friendship with Annabeth is changing, he learns he has a cyclops for a brother, Grover has gone missing, and camp is under siege from the forces of Kronos. Percy’s journey to set things right will take him off the map and into the deadly Sea of Monsters, where a secret fate awaits the son of Poseidon.

Diemer stars as Tyson – a young Cyclops who grew up all alone on the streets, and finds it difficult to survive in the human world.  Shy and awkward, with a heart almost as big as he is, Tyson soon discovers that Poseidon is his father, which means Percy Jackson is his half-brother… and that Tyson may have finally found a home. 

Diemer recently starred in the Hulu limited series “Under the Bridge” based off the critically acclaimed book of the same name and a tragic true story of a missing teen girl in Vancouver in 1997. He will next star in the indie “Thug” opposite Liam Neeson and Ron Perlman for director Hans Petter Moland. Daniel was recently seen as the lead in the indie “Supercell” opposite Alec Baldwin and Skeet Ulrich and the lead in the film “Little Brother” opposite Phil Ettinger and JK Simmons. Daniel can also be seen in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club” and recently starred as the male lead in the breakout hit Netflix feature “The Half Of It” from producer Anthony Bregman and director Alice Wu. He is a graduate of Victoria Academy of Dramatic Arts in Vancouver.

Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Albert Kim, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.

The first season of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is available on Disney+

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