Quotes
 Mr. Stork: Here is a baby with eyes of blue, straight from heaven, right to you. Or - straight from heaven up above, here is a baby for you to love. Crow #1: Did you ever see an elephant fly?
Crow #2: Well, I`ve seen a horse fly.
Crow #3: Ah, I`ve seen a dragon fly.
Crow #4: Hee-hee. I`ve seen a house fly.
[after the pyramid accident]
Elephant Matriarch: Oh, I never thought I`d live to see the big top fall.
Giddy: Because of that Dumbo, I never *can* show my face there again.
Fidgity Elephant: Oh, look at my beautiful tail!
Elephant Matriarch: I just like to spank the daylights out of him, I...
[she raises her trunk from her cast, but the pain stops her, and she groans as she lowers her trunk back into the cast]
Prissy: Oh, that won`t be necessary, dearie. They fixed him good.
Elephant Matriarch: What do you mean?
Giddy: What did they do?
Fidgity Elephant: Did they beat him?
Giddy: What is it, Darling?
Fidgity Elephant: Tell us!
Elephant Matriarch: Come, come, I demand to know!
Prissy: Oh, well... they`ve gone and made him... oh, dear, I just can`t say it.
Elephant Matriarch: Out with it!
Prissy: Made him a clown.
Fidgity Elephant: A clown?
Giddy: No!
Prissy: Yes!
Elephant Matriarch: Oh, the shame of it. Let us take the solemn vow.
[all the elephants raise their trunks]
Elephant Matriarch: From now on, he is no longer an elephant.
[they touch trunks together]
Timothy Q. Mouse: You all oughta be ashamed of yourselves. A bunch of big guys like you, pickin` on a poor little orphan like him. Suppose you was torn away from your mother when you was just a baby. Nobody to tuck you in at nights. No warm, soft, caressin` trunk to snuggle inta. How would you like being left out alone, in a cold, cruel, heartless woild? And why? I ask ya, why? Just because he`s got those big ears, they call him a freak. The laughing stock of the coicus. And when his mother tried to protect him, they threw her into the clink. And on top of that, they made him a clown! Socially he`s washed up! Aw, but what`s the use of talkin` to you cold-hearted boids? Go ahead! Have your fun! Laugh at him! Kick him now that he`s down! Go on! We don`t care.
[turns away and blows nose]
Timothy Q. Mouse: All we gotta do is build an act. Make ya a star. A headliner! Dumbo the Gr-eat!
[Fanfare plays as Dumbo hoists Timothy with his trunk]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Uh-oh. The Great what?
[faltering fanfare as Dumbo lowers Timothy]
Timothy Q. Mouse: What`s the matter with his ears? I don`t see nothin` wrong with `em. I think they`re cute.
Ringmaster: Have I got an idea! What an idea!
Timothy Q. Mouse: Huh. He never had an idea in his life.
Ringmaster: Just visualize: One elephant climbs up on top of another elephant, until finally, all seventeen elephants have constructed an enormous pyramid of pachyderms! I step out. I blow the whistle. The trumpets are trumpeting...
Timothy Q. Mouse: [smiling earnestly] Yeah!
Ringmaster: And now, comes the climax!
Joe: Yeah, what is the climax?
Ringmaster: [chuckles] I don`t know.
Timothy Q. Mouse: I knew he never had nuttin`.
Casey Jr.: [climbing a hill] I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I... Think... I... Can... I
Casey Jr.: [goes down the other side] Thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could. Woo-hoo!
Clown: Hey, be careful. Don`t hurt the little guy.
Skinny: Aw, c`mon. Elephants ain`t got no feelings.
Clown #2: No, they`re made of rubber.
[last lines]
Jim Crow: [as Dumbo rides off on the train] Boy, I wish I`d have got his autograph.
Crow: Here, man, I`ve got his autograph.
Jim Crow: Well, so long, glamour boy!
Prissy: Girls, girls! Listen! Have I got a trunk full of dirt.
Giddy: Gaining a little weight, aren`t you, honey?
Prissy: You`re no cream puff yourself, dearie.
Elephant Matriarch: Quiet up there! Tend to your work, girls.
Elephant Matriarch: Out of my way, assassin!
Crow #1: Why, he flies just like an eagle.
Crow #2: Better than an airplane.
Jim Crow: Brother, now I`ve seen everything!
Jim Crow: Quiet, gentlemen. The Reverend Rodent is gonna ad-dress you.
Prissy: Well, frankly, I wouldn`t eat at the same bale of hay with him.
Ringmaster: Ladies and gentlemen! We will now present for your entertainment the most stupendous, magnificent, super-colossal spectacle! On this tiny, little, insignificant ball, we will construct for you a pyramid! Not of wood, not of stone...
Prissy: To hear him talk, you`d think he was going to do it.
Elephant Matriarch: The stuffed shirt!
Ringmaster: ...pyramid, of ponderous, pulsating, pulchritudinous pachyderms! I give you the elephants.
[first lines]
Narrator: Through the snow, and sleet, and hail / Through the blizzard, through the gale / Through the wind and through the rain / Over mountain, over plain / Through the blinding lightning flash / And the mighty thunder crash / Ever faithful, ever true / Nothing stops him, he`ll get through.
Jim Crow: [singing] I seen a peanut stand /And heard a rubber band /I`ve seen a needle that winked its eye / But I been done seen about everything / When I see an elephant fly.
Timothy Q. Mouse: Look at that house. Dumbo, you`re standing on the threshold of success. Don`t look down, it`ll make you dizzy. Boy! Are they in for a surprise!
[chuckles]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Got the magic feather?
[Dumbo winks in answer, and Timothy gives him an OK sign]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Good!
Crow #1: Well, looky here, looky here.
Crow #2: My, my. Why, this is most irreg-lar.
Crow #3: [rubbing his eyes] Well, I just can`t believe my eyes.
Crow #1: They ain`t dead, is they?
Crow #4: No. Dead people don`t snore... or do they?
Singer: I can stand the sight of worms / And look at microscopic germs / But Technicolor pachyderms / Is really too much for me.
Singer: I am not the type to faint / When things are odd or things are quaint / But seeing things you know that ain`t / Can definitely give you an awful fright / What a sight!
Chorus: Chase `em away! Chase `em away! / I`m afraid / Need your aid / Pink elephants on parade.
Fidgity Elephant: Can you bear it? When she doused the ringmaster, I just thought I`d die!
Giddy: Well personally, *I* think she went a bit too far.
Elephant Matriarch: After all, one musn`t forget one is a lady.
Fidgity Elephant: Oh, you`re right, dear.
Giddy: Oh, well, I suppose that`s mother love.
Ringmaster: Ladies and gentlemen, you have now seen the impossible accomplished in front of your faces. Seven jungle giants, each weighing not one ounce less that 4,500 pounds.
Elephant Matriarch: [over the ringmaster`s announcement] That windbag! Why doesn`t he come to the point?
Ringmaster: And now, I present to you the world`s smallest little elephant, who will spring from this springboard in one spring to the top of the pyramid, waving his little flag for the grand climax! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Dumbo!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [leads Dumbo to the cage where Mrs. Jumbo is kept] Oh, right over there. Cozy little place, ain`t it?
[Timothy jumps on the window]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Mrs. Jumbo! I hope she`s in.
[whistles]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Someone to see ya!
Elephant Matriarch: Take your foot out of my eye... clumsy ox!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [completely drunk while looking at bubbles] Balloonies.
[he notices a bubble with his reflection in it]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Hiya, George!
[he hugs the bubble]
[Casey Jr. is about to leave the circus` winter quarters]
Ringmaster: All aboard! All aboard!
Casey Jr.: All aboard! Let`s go!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [quietly at first, then lighting up excitedly] Climax?... climax! Dumbo, you`re a climax. I`ll be back in a minute, I`m gonna take care of your future.
Timothy Q. Mouse: [after Dumbo blows a zigzag bubble] That`s a pretty strick slick. All right, let`s see you blow a square one, pal.
[Dumbo blows a square bubble]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Say, that`s very, very clever. Now blow a greaaaaaat big one!
[Dumbo blows a big bubble; it turns into a pink elephant]
Timothy Q. Mouse: That`s a pretty stri... Hey!
[the pink elephant blows more pink elephants]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Dumbo!
[rushes under Dumbo`s hat]
Timothy Q. Mouse: You see what I see?
[Dumbo`s ears are revealed, and the other elephants gasp]
Elephant Matriarch: Is it possible?
Giddy: Isn`t there some mistake?
Prissy: Just look at those... those... E-A-R-S.
Fidgity Elephant: Those what? Oh, ears!
[Takes one of Dumbo`s ears]
Fidgity Elephant: Oh, these! Aren`t they funny?
[laughs]
Fidgity Elephant: [Mrs. Jumbo slaps her on the trunk, while the others gasp in terror]
Prissy: What a temper!
Fidgity Elephant: What did I do? Tell me, did I say anything?
Elephant Matriarch: A perfectly harmless remark.
Fidgity Elephant: I said they`re funny looking, they *are* funny!
Prissy: They certainly are.
Giddy: After all, who cares about her precious little Jumbo?
Prissy: Jumbo? You mean Dumbo.
Elephant Matriarch: Dumbo!
[All laugh]
Timothy Q. Mouse: [as Dumbo falls from his platform after the "magic" feather falls away] Dumbo! C`mon, fly! Open them ears! The magic feather was just a gag! You can fly! Honest, you can! Hey, open `em up! Hurry!
[at the last moment, Dumbo opens his ears and soars over the crowd]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Whee! We did it! We did it! Let`s show `em, Dumbo! Power dive!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [a trumpet and drumroll play as Dumbo hesitantly holds back from running out toward the elephant pyramid] Go on! Get goin`! Whatsa matter wit`cha? Dumbo, that`s your cue! You`re on, Dumbo!
[trumpet and drumroll play again as he pulls out a needle to force Dumbo onto the runway]
Mr. Stork: Oh, one moment, please. This is still part of the service.
[blows tuning whistle]
Mr. Stork: Happy birthday to you / Happy birthday to you / Happy birthday, dear... uh-dear... Dear me, what`s his name?
Mrs. Jumbo: Jumbo... Junior.
Mr. Stork: Oh, Jumbo Jr. Right, Jumbo Jr.
[blows whistle again]
Mr. Stork: Happy birthday, dear Jumbo Jr. / Happy birthday... to-hooo-oooo...
[he is suddenly snagged on the mail hook at the train station and yanked off the train]
Mr. Stork: ...yooooooooooooooou!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [shift-shapes into a ghostly figure next to the ringmaster`s ear with just his eyes showing, utters mysteriously] I... am the voice of your subconscious mind. Your inspiration. Now... concentrate!
Ringmaster: [loud snore, as Timothy scurries under the sheets]
Timothy Q. Mouse: [sticking his hand out at first, then revealing his face entirely] Remember? Your pyramid of elephants are standing in the ring, waitin` for a climax!
Ringmaster: Climax...
Timothy Q. Mouse: [mysteriously] You are now getting that climax.
Ringmaster: Climax...
Timothy Q. Mouse: [rushes to the ringmaster`s ear, almost whispering, suddenly concerned] How`s the reception? Comin` through okay?
Ringmaster: [snores mutteringly]
Timothy Q. Mouse: [smiles] Good.
[uncovers himself]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Suddenly, from the sidelines, comes your climax.
Ringmaster: Climax...
Timothy Q. Mouse: Gallopin` across the arena.
Ringmaster: Arena...
Timothy Q. Mouse: [hops on the ringmaster`s hat brim, then dangles from it, yelling into the ringmaster`s ear] He jumps from a springboard, to a platform, at the very pinnacle of your pyramid, and he waves a flag, for a glorious finish!
Ringmaster: Finish?
Timothy Q. Mouse: [whispering again at first, then yelling once more] And who is your climax? The little elephant with the big ears! The woild`s mightiest midget mastodon! Dumbo!
Ringmaster: [snores as Timothy scurries away] What?
Timothy Q. Mouse: Dumbo.
Ringmaster: Dumbo.
Timothy Q. Mouse: [softer] Dumbo.
Ringmaster: Dumbo!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [almost inaudibly] Dumbo.
Ringmaster: [awake] Dumbo! I got it! I got it!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [the elephants` chatting catches his attention] Huh! A guy can`t eat in peace.
[he breaks a peanut open, then eats it]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Gab, gab, gab. They`re always gossipin`.
Timothy Q. Mouse: [he`s just revealed a peanut under his hat] Dumbo, look what I`ve got for ya!
[Dumbo sticks his trunk out from the straw and sniffs the peanut, but Timothy backs away]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Ah-ah-ah-ah, you have to come out foist!
[Timothy finds Dumbo hiding under a haystack, his trunk sticking out]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Where is he? Oh.
[tapping Dumbo`s trunk]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Hey Dumbo, you can come out now.
[Dumbo sticks his trunk inside the haystack]
Timothy Q. Mouse: [startled] Golly. Must have scared him too. But look, Dumbo, I`m your friend. Come on out, won`t ya?
[Dumbo shakes his head under the hay]
Timothy Q. Mouse: You`re not really afraid of little me, are ya?
[Dumbo nods yes]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Ya are?
[to himself]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Must have overdid it in there, don`t know my own strength sometimes.
Timothy Q. Mouse: You know? Your ma ain`t crazy. She`s just broken-hearted. And it ain`t nobody`s fault you got them big ears.
[Dumbo covers himself up with his ears]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Oh boy, I stepped in it that time.
[rushes under Dumbo`s ears]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Aw gee, Dumbo, I think your ears are beautiful!
[Dumbo slowly uncovers his face]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Sure! As a matter of fact, I think they`re very decorative.
[Dumbo wiggles his ears]
Timothy Q. Mouse: You know, lots of people with big ears are famous!
[Timothy wakes up to find Jim Crow staring him in the face]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Ohhhhhhhh! Those pink elephants.
Jim Crow: Ah! Pink elephants? Mm-mmm!
[Crows laugh]
Timothy Q. Mouse: What`s so funny? What are you boys doin` down here, anyway?
Jim Crow: What are we doing *down* here? Well, hear him talk!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [grudgingly] Ah, fly up a tree where you belong.
[More laughter as Jim Crow puffs a circle of smoke around Timothy]
Jim Crow: Now look here, Brother Rat...
Timothy Q. Mouse: [suddenly standing up, then staring Jim straight in the face] Brother Rat? Now listen! I ain`t your brother, and I ain`t no rat, see?
Jim Crow: Uh-uh. And I suppose you and no elephant ain`t up in no tree, either.
Timothy Q. Mouse: No! No, me an no tree ain`t up no... What? Tree?
[he and Jim look up, then down to see that they really are up a tree]
Timothy Q. Mouse: [gasps, then squeals as he hides in Dumbo`s trunk] Dumbo.
[rushes to Dumbo`s eyes]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Dumbo. Wake up. Wake up, Dumbo!
[gulps]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Don`t look now, but I think we`re up in a tree!
Crows: [Pushing on Dumbo at the top of a cliff] Leeet`s go! Leeet`s go! Heaaave ho! Heaaave ho!
Timothy Q. Mouse: Let`s go, Dumbo!
Crows: Leeet`s go! Leeet`s go!
Timothy Q. Mouse: Come on now. Up, down! Up, down! One, two! One, two! One, two! Faster, faster! Build up flying speed! Detract your landing gear! Raise your fuselage! Take off!
[Dumbo`s flapping kicks up a lot of dust, obscuring everything]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Aw, it`s no use, Dumbo. I guess that was just another one of their - Look!
[he sees Dumbo`s shadow on the ground far below]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Hot diggety! You`re flyin`! You`re flyin`!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [after the reprise of "When I See an Elephant Fly", when Dumbo, Timothy, and all the crows land on a telephone wire] Dumbo, I knew you could do it! Wait`ll we get to the big town!
Jim Crow: Boy, them city folks is sure in for a surprise!
[all laugh]
Timothy Q. Mouse: I know how you feel, Dumbo, but you`ll hafta pull yourself together. What would your mother think of ya, if she saw you cryin` like this? Remember, you come from a proud race. Why, you`re a... a pachydoim, and pachydoims don`t cry. What`ll cryin` get ya anyhow? Nuttin` but the hiccups.
[Dumbo hiccups]
Timothy Q. Mouse: There, ya see?
[Dumbo hiccups again and Timothy glances toward a bucket of water]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Well - ain`t nuttin` a little water won`t cure.
[he scoops up Dumbo`s trunk]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Ups-a-daisy. We`ll get ya fixed up in a jiffy.
[Dumbo hiccups one last time]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Come on.
Timothy Q. Mouse: [watches as Dumbo looks at the elephants with their backs on him, then walks away sadly] How do ya like that? They`re givin` him the cold shoulder. Poor little guy. There he goes, without a friend in the world. With nobody to turn to.
[he gets up and marches toward the other elephants]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Ah, I`ll do somethin` about this!
[as soon as one elephant sees him, the others shriek like crazy]
Timothy Q. Mouse: So you like pickin` on little guys, huh? Well, why don`t you pick on me?
Elephant Matriarch: [backs away in fear] Don`t!
Timothy Q. Mouse: [he whistles through his finger, which scares one elephant, then wiggles his nose, which scares another] A proud race. Overstuffed *hay* bags!
[one elephant breaks a ladder rung, and Timothy walks away, chuckling. The other elephants watch him apprehensively, but he soon turns around and scares them one last time by turning himself into a pirate]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Boo!
[the elephants shriek one last time, and he chuckles again]
Timothy Q. Mouse: They`re still afraid of a mouse! Oh-ho, boy! Wait`ll I tell the little guy!
Timothy Q. Mouse: Now I wonder how we ever got up in that tree, anyway?
[looks back toward the tree, the branches now snapped]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Now, let`s see - elephants can`t climb trees, can they? Nah, nah, that`s ridiculous. Would they jump up? Mm-mmm. Too high.
Jim Crow: Hey there, son. Maybe y`all flew up.
Timothy Q. Mouse: Maybe we flew up. Yeah, maybe we...
[suddenly shouts ecstatically]
Timothy Q. Mouse: That`s it! Dumbo! You flew! Boy, am I stupid. Why didn`t I think of this before? Your ears! Just look at `em, Dumbo! Why, they`re poifect wings! The very things that held ya down are gonna carry ya up, and up, and up!
[excitedly, but softly to himself]
Timothy Q. Mouse: I can see it all now...
[shouts ecstatically once again]
Timothy Q. Mouse: "Dumbo! The ninth wonder of the univoise! The woild`s only flyin` elephant!"
Jim Crow: [as Timothy and Dumbo walk away sadly] Hey brother, now wa-wa-wait a minute. You don`t hafta leave feelin` like that. We done seen the light. You boys is okay.
Timothy Q. Mouse: Please. You`ve done enough.
Jim Crow: But we`s all fixin` to hep ya. Ain`t that the truth, boys?
[the other crows fly down, all agreeing happily]
Jim Crow: You wanna make the elephant fly, don`t ya? Well, you gotta use a lot of `chology. You know, *psy*-chology. Now here`s what you do. First, you`ll uh...
Jim Crow: [all the crows whisper]
Jim Crow: And then right after that, you`ll uh...
[whispers continue]
Jim Crow: [plucks a feather from the youngest crow`s tail; he yelps] Use the magic feather. Catch on?
Timothy Q. Mouse: [accepting the feather] The magic feather?
[smiles, now getting the secret, then winks as he gives Jim an elbow in the wing]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Yeah! I gotcha.
[rushes joyfully to Dumbo, then places the feather at the end of his trunk]
Timothy Q. Mouse: Dumbo! Look! Have I got it! The magic feather! Now you can fly!
Trivia
The only Disney animated feature film that has a title character who doesn`t speak.
A very tightly budgeted, scripted, and produced film, because Walt Disney needed the film to bring in much-needed revenue after the expensive failures of Pinocchio (1940) and Fantasia (1940). Final negative cost of Dumbo was $813,000 (making it the least expensive of all Disney`s animated features), and it grossed over $2.5 million in its original release (more than Pinocchio (1940)`s and Fantasia (1940)`s original grosses combined).
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# This film and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) are the only classic Disney films to use watercolored backgrounds (they were used in this film because they were cheaper than the gouache and oils used for Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942)) and the last time they were used until Fantasia/2000 (1999).
In December 1941, Time magazine planned to have Dumbo on its cover to commemorate its success, but it was dropped due to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Initially Walt Disney was uninterested in making this movie. To get him interested, story men Joe Grant and Dick Huemer wrote up the film as installments which they left on Walt`s desk every morning. Finally, he ran into the story department saying, "This is great! What happens next?"
The first Disney movie for Sterling Holloway (the Stork) and Verna Felton (the Elephant Matriarch). Both would become regulars in Disney animated films for the next thirty-five years.
According to some sources this was Walt Disney`s favorite film made by his studios.
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# During production there was a long and bitter animators strike, in which half of the studio`s staff walked out. Some of the strikers are caricatured as the clowns who go to "hit the big boss for a raise".
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# While trying to comfort Dumbo, Timothy says: "Lots of people with big ears are famous!". That`s a joke with Walt Disney himself, who did have big ears. The line also refers to Clark Gable, renowned for his charming looks and large ears.
Mrs Jumbo (Dumbo`s mother) only speaks once when she says Dumbo`s original name.
The name of the circus (seen on a sign as the train leaves the winter headquarters) is WDP Circus (Walt Disney Productions).
Cels for Dumbo (1941) are the rarest in the industry. The animators, after the scene was safely "in the can", would strew the used cels in the corridors and go sliding on them. In addition the gray paint (used for so many of the elephant skins) would "pop" when the cel was flexed. Many irreplaceable cels were destroyed this way.
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# Walt Disney`s distributor, RKO Radio Pictures, had qualms about releasing this 64-minute feature as a major motion picture. They tried to persuade Disney to either cut it to short-subject length, extend it to at least 70 minutes, or have it released as a B picture. Disney stood his ground, and the film was released as an A picture as Disney intended.
When the drunken Timothy is sliding down the staircase-shaped bubble Dumbo has blown, his laugh is actually that of Mickey Mouse. Also, when Timothy coughs on Jim Crow`s cigar smoke, that cough is also that of Mickey (it was specifically heard in Two-Gun Mickey (1934)).
When Jim Crow plucks the "magic" feather off of the little crow`s tail, the crow`s yell is actually a snippet of dialogue from The Reluctant Dragon (1941). The full line is the dragon saying "Well, that`s splendid!"
This was the first Walt Disney Animated Classic released on videocassette. Its first video release was in 1981 for rental only, and put on sale in the summer of 1982. And it was repackaged in 1985 and 1989 and then 1994 and 2001, and the new release in 2006. Dumbo has never went out of print. The longest Disney animated feature on video to be in print since it came out.
The film was originally planned as a 30-minute featurette before Walt Disney assigned one of his producers, Ben Sharpsteen, to expand the idea into a feature.
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# According to animation historian John Canemaker on the 2001 DVD release commentary, Timothy`s line, "Lots of people with big ears are famous," was recognized by audiences of 1941 as a reference to Clark Gable. The line was also featured in the original theatrical trailer.
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# There`s a reference to "The Little Engine That Could". While Casey Jr. is trying to get up a hill, the train sounds like it`s talking. It says "I think I can, I think I can." Then when the train gets up the hill and starts going faster, it changes to, "I thought I could, I thought I could."
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