CineTvCintest. Favourite movie animal character: Dumbo (1941)
Well, let's see, let's get started. It's been a long time since I've entered a Cinetv contest that I think I've forgotten how to write about.
cracking knuckles, moves fingers rhythmically over keyboard to get ready to type
Who is my favorite animal character in a movie? The answer, of course, cannot be easy. I will take a trip (nostalgic) to my childhood memories to remember movies that moved and excited me. Wy do I have to deep in my childhood? Because then we thought that whatever we were seeing on the screen, everything seemed so magical and so real, that anything could happen, even elephants flying.
So, today I'm going to tell you about a movie about a little elephant that all he wanted was to be accepted by others, -not being ostracized- because he was different from them.
Dumbo is born with big ears and receives from a very young age the criticism and disapproval of others because he simply does not look like them (Maybe this reminds us of something in our modern times, eh?). But what everyone considers a disadvantage turns out to be his biggest weapon that helps him achieve everything he wanted.
I saw this movie when I was in elementary school, on the black and white TV we had at home. And since we were one of the few houses that had a television back then, friends from the neighborhood would gather at my house to watch "kids' shows," as the elders used to call them. And with the naivety of our childlike gaze, we were saddened every time Dumbo was driven away...we were impressed when we saw him fly...we laughed at the crows singing in that heavy, bass voice...
And with that childish gaze, that sadness I felt every time Dumbo was mistreated, I think I learned a very big lesson, perhaps one of the most valuable: Not to focus on anyone's difference and not judge anyone negatively based on that. Because these differences are the ones that make us all special.
Even though it has such an impact on me, believe me, I won't claim that Dumbo is a great movie -at least not for me. I wacthed it again after several years, on color television this time, in my early twenties. I found the film chatty, tedious and if given the option I would hit the fast forward button all the time. Somehow from the beginning, it seemed to me quite different from what I rememebered. But even in this second -quite prejudiced from my side- viewing, I found something to move me. this time, in addition to the moral message, I noticed the scene with the pink elephants (since I hadn't notice it earlier in black and white Tv). An amalgam of surrealism, color and movement, perhaps one of the best scenes (along with the wizard's apprentice scene in Fantasia) that Disney has shot.
Third time, I saw her with my niece. She was obsessed with Dumbo Drop, a Ray Liotta movie and I made her watch the classic Dumbo. Our little girl was thrilled with our little elephant that could fly. And at one point, she turned very serious and said to me: "I want to be like Dumbo." I asked teasingly "Elephant?" "No" she told me,"to fly, even though, I am not a bird". And till now, her biggest dream is to become a pilot.
But above all these times, I remember a phrase that my father told us back then, when I was a kid. We had not let him take his nap with our laughter and small talk, so he sat with us for a while to watch with us the "children's plays". It was the circus parade scene and my father, shaking his head, told us: "Humans are greedy. They imprison such beautiful animals, put them in cages for their own amusement". That made an impact on me and since then I haven't watched a circus with animals in my life.
So, this is my favourite animal character. A small elephant that teached me the biggest lessons in life: not to judge others by their characteristics, to imagine the most surrealistic things and last, but not least to believe in myself in order to achieve my goals.
Even though sometimes, we need, a magic feather, too to believe in ourselves.
PS. Have you noticed how "bizarre" it was the friendship of a mouse and an elephant, since elephants assumingly are afraid of mice? I hadn't noticed that, till my miece told me so. Brilliant example of a pair of friends!
Thank you for reading!