When I see an elephant fly...
Dumbo rewatch is up! The characters in this movie suck. As I've complained about time and time again, this film is only about an hour long, so there's no development for any of these characters. It just bogs the film down even more. There are a few decent characters in here, but I'm not a fan of most of them. Anyways, here's my ranking of those characters.
7. The Elephants
The elephants were horrible. Right off the bat, they are judgmental of Mrs. Jumbo for having a child. Then, when Dumbo gets delivered, they warm up to him...until his ears come out. Then, these four adult women start to bully a baby because his ears are too big. Bruh. That's awful. They shut him out after his mother is captured. They are just the worst.
6. The Ringmaster
The Ringmaster is considered the main antagonist of Dumbo, but he doesn't really do anything in this movie. He's just kind of there. He puts Dumbo with the clowns. And that's kind of it. Oh, he also captures Mrs. Jumbo. I forgot about that. And that's why this character is so low. He's so forgettable. And so lame.
5. The Crows
If they weren't crudely racist, the crows would be atop this list. But they are. The main crow's name in the original film was Jim Crow. He's a black bird that speaks in "jive" and his name is Jim Crow. Oh, and did I mention that he's voiced by a white man? They are fun characters. At least they are protagonists and help Dumbo fly. But I just can't put these characters higher when they are so, so racist.
4. Mr. Stork
The quality of the characters in Dumbo is telling by the fact that my number four is a character who is literally in one scene. Mr. Stork is fine. He's fun, I guess. He's voiced by Sterling Holloway, who would go on to voice Winnie the Pooh thirty years later. I don't understand why he's separate from the rest of the storks. He delivers Dumbo, like, a day after all the other animal babies get delivered. Whatever. This character is fine. I don't really care about him.
3. Mrs. Jumbo
Mrs. Jumbo is one of the saddest Disney characters ever. All she wants to do is protect her baby. And, because of this, she's bullied and eventually put in captivity. She is barely in this movie, but every time that she's in it, you're sad. She's a very emotional character despite not being the best. I don't mind her. I think she serves the story and themes well. But I don't think of her as a top tier character in any shape or form.
2. Dumbo
Our titular flying elephant himself is good. I like Dumbo. I feel horrible for him. He's this poor little baby that is constantly bullied and ridiculed by everyone around him. It's so sad. And he's so cute, which makes it even sadder. To be honest, though, he isn't much of a character. He himself doesn't have any character arc. He just learns how to fly, but that doesn't really feel like an arc. So I don't think he's a great character. Good. But not great.
1. Timothy Q. Mouse
Timothy Q. Mouse is basically Jiminy Cricket but slightly worse. Now, I love Jiminy Cricket. I think he's one of the best Disney characters ever. So saying that Timothy Q. Mouse is a worse Jiminy Cricket isn't a bad thing. He's a good character. He's the only character that is nice to Dumbo throughout this whole movie. And, since Dumbo doesn't talk, Timothy does most of the talking and gets much more of a character. He's a solid sidekick for Dumbo and one of the better parts of this movie.