By Lola Harker-Quin and Leah Worbey, aged 11 years old and pupils at Seaview Primary School, Belfast
This week we watched the spectacular - and at times emotional - movie, Dumbo, which was directed by the magnificent Tim Burton. Tim also directed Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward ScissorHands, so we knew this new version of the classic 1941 Disney movie would be quite different. We think Tim Burton has made Dumbo a little bit more scary and dark. Personally, we enjoyed this, but we wondered if smaller children might not enjoy this as much, so parents beware!
The story begins with a family trying to come to terms with the effects of war. Holt (the father) is the trainer of Dumbo. The circus is failing until they realise Dumbo can fly. Suddenly, the circus is popular again. But Holt and his children realise there are dark secrets underneath all the fun and laughter. Our favourite part of this heart-warming movie was when Dumbo flew for the first time in front of the two young children, Milly and Joe Farrier. The saddest part of this magical tale was when Jumbo Jr. got his foolish name Dumbo, at the circus where he performed. We also realised that the little mouse character Timothy Q isn’t in this new movie as he was the original trainer of Dumbo. If it weren’t for this brilliant cast, Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green and Alan Arkin, this movie wouldn’t be half as good as it is, but we really highly recommend this overall happy tale!
