It received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture, and nominations on several AFI lists. The film is among the most acclaimed animated movies of all time, receiving praise for its emotion, message, and music. Upon release, Dumbo was a major success and became iconic for WWII as it was hailed by critics and audiences as a joyous film, appropriate for such vulgar times.
Its story and animation were deliberately simple, and at 64 minutes, it is one of Disney's shortest full length features. Mouse, Dumbo comes to learn that his ears grant him the ability to fly.įollowing the financial losses of Pinocchio and Fantasia, Dumbo was produced with a relatively lower budget. The story centers Dumbo, a baby elephant who is ridiculed for his abnormally large ears. As the fourth animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon, the film is based upon the book written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy ('Roll-a-Book'). Source Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures.