DUMBO
Release date: September 20, 2011
INDICATE: Blu-ray version

One of the most beloved Disney classics, “Dumbo,” is flying onto Blu-ray and DVD! Without a single word of dialogue, young Dumbo manages to tear at our heartstrings and capture our hearts.

Although the term “timeless” sometimes seems to be overused, this tale of the elephant that can fly is indeed “timeless.” Through the magic of Blu-ray, the quality of this 70 year old film looks as though it could have been produced today! And my young children are a testament to the fact that the story has as great appeal to today’s generation as it did in 1941.

BONUS FEATURES:

The Blu-ray offers the option of watching the movie with Cine-Explore. Rather than typical AUDIO COMMENTARY, which is featured on the DVD version, this features actual video of Pete Docter of Pixar, Disney historian Paula Sigman and Disney animator Andreas Deja. You see them while you watch the entire movie along with related visuals throughout. It also features vintage audio and video clips, including interviews with those that originally worked on “Dumbo.” Features like these make me love Blu-ray!

ART GALLERY has a ton of images in all sorts of galleries from concept art to photos of animals the animators used for research. One of the menus in Art Gallery is a book of “Dumbo The Flying Elephant,” from when the story was republished in 1941. This is a unique feature and fun to see and read. I hope we get to see more like these in future Blu-rays.

TAKING FLIGHT: THE MAGIC OF DUMBO (Also on DVD) (28:16) is a very nicely produced piece. With music and nice effects, this is no typical documentary-style bonus feature. There’s no shortage of wonderful visuals, mixed in with insight from various animators and historians.

DELETED SCENES:

(Also on DVD) DELETED SEQUENCE: THE MOUSE’S TALE (5:36) This is the nicest produced deleted sequence I’ve ever seen on a DVD or Blu-ray, from the intro by Don Hahn, complete with musical score to the clever way it segues into the scene. This sequence uses original story art, and when combining the artwork with music and newly recorded Timothy Mouse dialogue, it allows us to get a great idea of just how this scene might have been presented had it been kept in the original film.

(Also on DVD) DELETED SONG: “ARE YOU A MAN OR A MOUSE?” (3:53)

It’s always exciting for me to discover unheard songs which were written for Disney movies, but never made the final cut, and this song was written to occur right after Dumbo is humiliated at the circus. With original story art, this song (which I assume is newly recorded), would have turned the spotlight to Timothy, but alas in the final film, the mouse never got to show off his vocal skills.

THE MAGIC OF DUMBO: A RIDE OF PASSAGE (Also on DVD) (3:08) focuses on the Dumbo attraction at Disneyland, with some insight by Imagineer Tony Baxter and thoughts by park guests.

There are a couple of GAMES on here, one of watch images and try to guess which character it is as it comes into view. The other is a question and answer game, in which you try to answer various trivia questions on the movie, on elephants and circus and other generally related topics. Because this is Blu-ray, and with BD Live connected, you can compare your scores to other players, and submit your initials if you get a high score.

Several of the bonus features that were part of the previous DVD release of “Dumbo” brought to this Blu-ray:

CELEBRATING DUMBO (14:53) is the previous “making of” featurette with animators and historians that was created for a previous video release.

WALT DISNEY TV INTRODUCTION (Also on DVD) (1:03) features Walt talking about “Dumbo” from when the film aired on the “Disneyland” television series.

The TRAILERS (Also on DVD) include the original theatrical trailer from 1941 as well as the 1949 re-release trailer.

There are two BONUS SHORTS, the adorable “Elmer Elephant” and “The Flying Mouse.”

SOUND DESIGN EXCERPT FROM “THE RELUCTANT DRAGON” (Also on DVD) (5:55) – A memorable moment in the 1941 film “The Reluctant Dragon” is when Robert Benchley visits the Disney sound effects department during a recording session of a cartoon featuring Dumbo’s famous train, Casey Jr.! In addition to an enjoyable cartoon, it’s fun to see how the elaborate sound effects were created back then!

Hope this was a jumbo help to let you know about “Dumbo!”