Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 13, 2019

The Disney of the 2010s certainly seems comfortable living in the past while taking advantage of the luxuries in the present. These days, the company’s innovations are largely in the digital rather than the storytelling arenas, crafting movies of ever expanding scope and scale and dazzle across its acquired, longstanding brands -- notably Star Wars and Marvel -- while working overtime to transition many of its most iconic animated films from yesteryear into stout, living, breathing live action/CGI hybrid spectacles. To this reviewer’s eyes, anyway, there’s not much real, honest narrative innovation coming from the House of Mouse, but there’s obviously not a correlation between creativity and currency, what with a certain (at least perceived) dearth of the former and a wealth of the latter driving the company forward to box office dominance. But even so, the movies coming from Disney have been by-and-large good to very good, though perhaps only few of them seem destined to live on alongside the studio’s early animated classics, even if they're sure to always please the masses. With Dumbo, Disney has once again returned to the sweet water from the back catalogue well, tasking visionary filmmaker Tim Burton (Batman, Alice in Wonderland) with bringing the story of the big-eared baby elephant circus performer to life. Dumbo's screen origins are, of course, in 1941's film of the same name. Burton has livened the material with his trademark tones and textures and Disney's all-too-familiar want for spectacle, but does the extraordinary overwhelm the story's heart?

It is the year 1919. The world is still in the recovery following the War to End All Wars. Returning home from the war is Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), widower and father of two of who lost his left arm on the European battlefields and his wife back home to influenza. In fact, the entire circus at which he performed prior to the war was devastated by the disease. Business is down, his show horses were sold, and the future looks bleak. When one of the circus’ remaining elephants gives birth to a baby with massive floppy ears, the creature shows a propensity to fly. Holt's children, Milly (Nico Parker) and Joe (Finley Hobbins), are the first to make the discovery. Through the elephant that will come to be known as "Dumbo," the circus' Ringmaster, Max Medici (Danny DeVito), smells rebounding profits for the show, and Dumbo is indeed a big hit. But when the baby elephant's mother is taken away from him and the act is sold to businessman V. A. Vandevere (Michael Keaton), the troupe's future, and Dumbo's freedom, are placed in jeopardy.

Dumbo is at its best when offering its interesting perspective on the circus road life, the struggles and realities behind the spectacle, and exploring the human hearts that beat life into the movie. The story as it is told and seen through the one-armed widower and his children is where the film soars, but it loses its footing as the rather trite and predictable beats take over, as Burton shifts focus from his human characters to the expectedly CGI-heavy scenes of Dumbo in flight and in peril and bringing an ever-expanding and increasingly complex series of locations and designs into the movie. The later scenes and sequences simply move the picture from one set piece to the next, building on linearly designed dramatic notes with little feel for honest depth and breadth. Burton finds just enough character in Dumbo and the elephant’s plight -- its search for its captive mother -- to keep audiences invested in that arena, but the film’s high flying spectaculars just seem to stand in the way of the more substantial character beats.

Dumbo does look good. Burton tones down the weirdness in favor of a more audience-friendly construction, still emphasizing scale and spectacle but doing so in a manner that compliments the story and the time period rather than play to his proclivity for the bizarre. But the look also tends to compete with the story, if not at times entirely overwhelm it. There's not enough dramatic strength to carry the story as high as the visual effects, particularly, again, as the story progresses to and through increasingly large and involved locations where transparent plot points unfold. Burton seems content to find and develop the core story muscles but spends most of his time heavy-lifting the optics that are supposed to support, not dominate, the story. It's something that seems all-too-true of so many recent Disney productions (The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, to a lesser extent A Wrinkle in Time) that just become too digitally dependent and dominant. Where the original animation played for its heart, Burton plays this version for its externalities first and foremost whether he means to or not, never abandoning the center but favoring the exterior instead.

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc..

Dumbo was reportedly photographed at a resolution of 3.4K and finished at 2K. Disney's upscaled UHD presentation offers the expected color and clarity improvements over the 1080p Blu-ray, though neither are astronomical. Better said, the improvements amount more to tweaks than substantial alterations, with finer finesse and adds to sharpness, clarity, and contrast driving the presentation rather than wholesale changes. That still makes this the superior presentation, particularly adding in the superior noise management and encode stability.

Viewers will find the UHD to reveal characters and environments with greater clarity and efficiency. The picture finds modest, but agreeable, adds to object sharpness, most readily evident on clothing and facial close-ups that on the UHD present with sharper definition and superior clarity. The picture's numerous locations additionally find more appealing detail, whether more rugged textures around Medici's carnival or the much cleaner and sleeker but colder Vandevere attractions and offices. The subtle boosts to definition and clarity are welcome even if they are not considerable. Much the same can be said of the HDR color enhancements. The picture finds a more agreeably robust palette, fine-tuning contrast and offering more tonal stability and accuracy from the brightest hues to the darkest shadowy corners. Color depth is improved, rendering the image a slight bit darker in appearance but healthier and more firm and stable. Black levels and lower light interiors are improved, and flesh tones appear more accurate and naturally saturated. This is the usual stable of visual enhancements for an upscaled UHD release. It's nothing special in the big picture and against competing UHD releases but it is a nice little boost over the Blu-ray that makes this Dumbo's definitive home video version.

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dumbo's Dolby Atmos soundtrack suffers from the same lack of low end extension as its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Blu-ray counterpart, and it is also volume-challenged as well. With the track adjusted to a higher volume setting, it handles basics well enough, minus bass. That hugely disappointing scene in chapter six (outlined in the Blu-ray review) is problematic here as well, and any differences are negligible, at least in terms of low end output. The scene still offers ample surround extension and front-side stretch, with a little -- though not significant -- extra top layer detailing rounding it out. Bass might be slightly more aggressive at a couple of points where it actually registers later in the film -- timestamps again outlined in the Blu-ray review -- but the need for mightier, beefier bass is evident here as well. It's a shame, because the movie certainly offers the opportunity for some significant subwoofer push. Otherwise, the track is fairly routine with little add in terms of overhead usage compared to the 7.1 offering. There's a slight feel for top end engagement via a few public address announcements in chapters 14, 15, and 19. Orchestral music is very immersive around the listener chapter 14 during a bubble wand performance leading up to Dumbo's debut at Vandevere's circus (and there's a slight feel for low end support). Musical and effects detail are fine, and dialogue reproduction satisfies. This track might be degrees better than the 7.1, but both of them are handicapped by the subdued bass.

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Dumbo's UHD disc contains no supplemental content. The bundled Blu-ray contains the following extras. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Circus Spectaculars (1080p, 8:20): In discussion of the characters and in praise of the cast and performances. It also looks at some horse riding training, visual effects wizardry, circus act training and performances, and the film's story and themes.
• The Elephant in the Room (1080p, 5:50): A look at designing the title character with roots in the animated film but finding a more realistic shape for his live action performance. It also explores digital details and Edd Osmond's on-set, pre-CGI work as Dumbo.
• Built to Amaze (1080p, 7:40): A closer look at wardrobe, set design, and other production details.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 7:47 total runtime): Included are Roustabout Rufus, Pachyderm Plans, The Other Medici Brother, Monkey Business, A Star Is Born, Where's Dumbo?, Elephant Heist, Backstage, and A Seat at the Show.
• Easter Eggs on Parade (1080p, 3:52): A quick-fire look at some of the touches, secrets, and references that hearken back to the animated film.
• Clowning Around (1080p, 1:57): A gag reel by another name.
• Music Video (1080p, 2:59): "Baby Mine" Performed By Arcade Fire.

Dumbo 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dumbo is not a dumbed-down version of the original animated classic, but it is a movie that emphasizes its scope and scale more so than its heart and soul. Burton has made a movie that doesn't dismiss its narrative center but that does see it play second fiddle to spectacle. Disney's UHD delivers solid 2160p/HDR video, subdued Atmos audio, and a decent smattering of extras. Worth a look.