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| Scene from Dumbo |
Welcome to the sporadic column Trailing Off in which I take a look at a trailer from the past week and analyze its potential. This will be done using an obnoxious amount of analyzing and personal thoughts on the cast and crew as well as expectations. I will attempt to highlight films ranging from new blockbusters to lesser known indies and give them their due. Partially to spread awareness, I do believe that there is an art to the sell and will do my best to highlight why these trailers matter or don't with approval (trove) or disapproval (trash). So please stop by, recommend some trailers, and I will see you next time.
Trailer in Discussion
Directed By: Tim Burton
Written By: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton
- Preamble -
It's not easy to really talk about Tim Burton in an enthusiastic light these days. Most people have given up on him, or just don't think he's as good as he used to be. The irony is then that he keeps getting big movies, like the somewhat underrated Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which I personally thought was a nice return to form (I even wrote an essay about it that you can check out here). Still, there was nothing that was going to be more exciting or curious than what his next film would be: his return to Disney lore with an adaptation of the early classic Dumbo.
There's a lot that, before today, seemed suspicious about Burton doing a Dumbo movie. If you've so much as seen a still shot of a Burton movie, you'll know that he has a knack for warping things into a macabre, F.W. Murnau-style nightmare. For a good example, one only needs to go back eight years to when he adapted Alice in Wonderland and produced a film that took the original movie (though probably more the book in some places) and made it into his excessive fantasy of CG animation and bizarre set pieces worthy of Hot Topic glorification. That is what his last major Disney adaptation looked like, and I'll give my two cents in saying that it was ugly and not fun, arguably serving as the nadir of his recent career as a top tier producer.
So Dumbo has an interesting hurdle to overcome then. What could he possibly bring to the story that would warrant the weird animation technique? My guess would be that the elephant would look crazy, or that the circus scenery would produce something surreal and weird. He just has to do it, if just because that's his autopilot mode right now, and even his "realistic" films like Big Eyes can't help but go in that direction. How is he going to tamper with a Disney classic? After all, he made the studio a billion dollars last time off of that inferior film. There has to be something there that is bound to be just as strange, disturbing, and even innovative. One could hope.
- Dissection -
To start with one thing, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the elephant design. I don't know what it is that I was expecting, but I was expecting it to be the weirdest piece of the puzzle, having a design that was in some ways demonic. However, he looks adorable and may be the only piece of the puzzle that doesn't feel like a Burton character. He looks real and has a charm to him, given that he doesn't talk and actually just stares off in the distance for most of the movie. In that regards, I am relieved that they didn't tamper with that too much, especially given what Alice in Wonderland did to various characters, notably the animal ones. I guess since Dumbo is more grounded in reality, it has to look the part, right?
I guess that we should also be excited that it looks like circuses is something that Burton has an affection for. Along for the ride is Big Fish actor Danny DeVito, who makes the circus look just as marvelous as one would expect. Visually, this is an interesting look into the film. It starts off with some of the shiniest sheen that the director has produced in awhile. Every character has that sense of Americana about them, and it looks like it could be good. As a whole, the film isn't lacking for looks. In fact, it may be one of the more promising teaser trailers for a live action Disney remake possibly since Pete's Dragon, and rarely since or after.
It's when you get into the Burton tropes that things get a bit dicey. The night scenes in particular look like a regression into the heightened animation style that he gets flack for. It begins to feel more like an art project as the color schemes rely more on greys and macabre designs. I'm sure they could work into context, but adding in that the slow cover song of "Baby Mine" is an annoying trope before you realize that the last Burton movie did something similar, and you begin to see the seams of what this movie's issues might be. Is the film going to be more of a highlight about how Dumbo the character can fly, or will it be more faithful? I can't see the film matching the original's barely over an hour running time. It'll probably add something, and maybe remove the bright and sunny animation in the process. Still, Dumbo looks cute.
I guess that we should also be excited that it looks like circuses is something that Burton has an affection for. Along for the ride is Big Fish actor Danny DeVito, who makes the circus look just as marvelous as one would expect. Visually, this is an interesting look into the film. It starts off with some of the shiniest sheen that the director has produced in awhile. Every character has that sense of Americana about them, and it looks like it could be good. As a whole, the film isn't lacking for looks. In fact, it may be one of the more promising teaser trailers for a live action Disney remake possibly since Pete's Dragon, and rarely since or after.
It's when you get into the Burton tropes that things get a bit dicey. The night scenes in particular look like a regression into the heightened animation style that he gets flack for. It begins to feel more like an art project as the color schemes rely more on greys and macabre designs. I'm sure they could work into context, but adding in that the slow cover song of "Baby Mine" is an annoying trope before you realize that the last Burton movie did something similar, and you begin to see the seams of what this movie's issues might be. Is the film going to be more of a highlight about how Dumbo the character can fly, or will it be more faithful? I can't see the film matching the original's barely over an hour running time. It'll probably add something, and maybe remove the bright and sunny animation in the process. Still, Dumbo looks cute.
- One Sentence Sell -
Tim Burton is back, and this time he's going to make you have weird feelings about a flying elephant at a Gothic circus.
- Trove or Trash -
TROVE
The film doesn't look nearly as bad as I had imagined it would be when I first heard about it two years ago. Also, I'm not entirely against the recent run of Burton movies, so I can only hope that this is a more restrained and focused version of the director, having learned from his errors that is Alice in Wonderland.
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