You’ve got to hand it to Disney – they know when they’re onto a good thing. Following the massive box office success of Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book the studio are reworking another one of their classic animated tales into a CG-boosted live-action adventure.
Now it’s the turn of Dumbo, the fourth feature-length animation produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios way back in 1941. With Favreau hard at work on live-action versions of The Lion King and a second Jungle Book film, Disney have entrusted Tim Burton with updating the heartwarming story of a newborn circus elephant with oversized ears who learns to rise above adversity.
The director has pulled together an impressive cast, with Colin Farrell and Eva Green earning top billing alongside a troupe of talented supporting players. However, Dumbo’s trusty sidekick and moral guide, Timothy Q Mouse, doesn’t appear to feature this time around. And nor, thankfully, do the controversial jive-talkin’ crows from the original (one of whom is literally called ‘Jim Crow’).
But look out for Michael Keaton wearing a silly baddie wig, Danny DeVito as benign ringmaster Max Medici, and the trippy pink elephants, which we’re excited to see what a filmmaker with as vivid an imagination as Burton makes of.
Dumbo is released March, 2019. Watch the trailer below and let us know your thoughts @LWLies
Published 13 Jun 2018
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