Dumbo

        The next movie, Fantasia, saw everyone coming back. However, due to a combination of caffeine wearing off, my lack of enjoyment of operatic music, and the film not having a narrative or characters, which broke my arbitrary systems we made the decision to skip it, and watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit later in its place, at the request of M, who is a massive fan of both movies. All this being said, the visuals of Fantasia are fantastic, and according to people who enjoy the style of music the movie employs, that too is amazing.

        Moving onto the bulk of this review, and the film we ended up watching; Dumbo. As far as I can tell, the only thing most people remember about Dumbo is the flying elephant, and the bad trip scene, which is fair, because the rest of the film is passable at best. I have a soft spot for the small, somewhat annoying companion character, and Timothy Q. Mouse is an excellent example of this, and I adore him for it. Dumbo is a child, and as such, kind of nothing as a character, which is a slight issue, given he is the protagonist of the movie. The other members of the circus are generally fun, especially the clowns, whom I love.

        The visuals are striking, with this being the first movie I felt Disney was really starting to get into their groove. The music was fun, but nothing specifically stands out to me to mention about it. The drug trip scene is insane and horrifying, and I can see why it is traumatic enough to still be in so many people's minds from their childhoods. 

        Overall, I think that Dumbo is a very solid first two acts of a movie, up until the drinking scene, and everything after that is pure shit. Immediately after that, the current holders of most racist caricature so far award show up, in the form of the crows Jim Crow, Fats, Preacher, Straw Hat, and Glasses. After their appearance, there's a very long, very racist, musical number where Dumbo learns to fly, and then the movie has it's climax, resolving the issues set up in the first act, in around 5 minutes. This destroys the pacing, and left the film feeling unfinished and unsatisfying.

        I think Dumbo is fine. It's missing a third act, and doesn't have much going for it with it's protagonist, but most of its other characters are good, and the acts it does have, are fine. A 3.5 on visuals, a 2 on plot, and a 2.5 on characters for a 3 in total.