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Dumbo (2019)
Tim Burton lends his imaginative directorial eye to Disney's lavish, live action remake of Dumbo, that gives the 1941 animated story a darker and more straightforward story, but with Tim Burton in the director's chair,"darker", should come as no surprise.

In this version of the story, Dumbo is a baby elephant who is born with grossly over-sized ears which eventually reveal the ability for the elephant to fly, providing financial success for a struggling circus run by Max Medici (Danny DeVito), even though Dumbo is not happy about being separated from his mother. Just as Medici's circus begins to achieve success, they are bought out by a much bigger circus called Dreamland, run by a megalomaniac named V A Vandevere (Michael Keaton), who, of course, is only really interested in Dumbo and not the rest of the circus performers.

Having never seen the original film, some quick research revealed that Dumbo is encouraged to be everything he can be by a mouse named Timothy, but that part of the story has been altered. In this film, Dumbo is trained and encouraged by a one-armed war veteran and former trick rider named Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) who has returned from the war faced with the prospect of raising his two children alone, but put in charge of training Dumbo not only reinvigorates his own life, but his relationship with his two kids.

Like he did with Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton has again done the impossible and mounted a story that, on the surface, seemed un-filmable. With the aid of a slightly long winded screenplay by Ehren Kruger (Arlington Road), Burton has taken what was a children's story and blown it up to adult size, filled with colorful yet believable characters and providing just enough exposition for those who loved the '41 film to except the adjustment and for those of us who didn't, enjoy meeting the first elephant who was at the center of a Disney animated film.

Burton is commended for the care and intricate detail involved in the presentation of this completely enchanting central character, This Dumbo, who I think is partially CGI enhanced, has the most beautifully expressive eyes I have ever seen on an animal character in a movie I wish I had seen in this movie when I had done my list of favorite non-human movie characters. We understand Dumbo and every emotion he's feeling, especially his disappointment at being separated from his mother. There's a heartbreaking moment where Dumbo is in the middle of his flying routine for a full house and he hears a car pull up. Mistaking the noise for his mother, he abandons the act and flies straight to the noise and the look on his face when he realized it wasn't Mama, was one of a few lump-in-the-throat moments in the movie for me. And the final scene actually had me fighting tears.

It was nice to see Burton reunite with his Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton, who provides a deliciously entertaining comic villain for the piece and Eva Green was an exotic leading lady, the trapeze artist and Vandevere's mistress. Burton's production values are nothing short of spectacular...cinematography, art direction, film editing, costumes, and yes, Danny Elfman provides the heart-pumping music. Disney and Burton land a solid bullseye here.