Brought by the stork into the care of Mrs. Jumbo while the circus was travelling, Jumbo Jr was born into love, but also ridicule by the other circus animals because of his large ears.



When Mrs Jumbo loses her temper with a group of boys, she is locked up and branded as mad, leaving poor Jumbo Jr alone in the circus.

Cruelly nicknamed Dumbo by the others, Jumbo Jr was put to work in the circus initially in a major stunt involving lots of other animals and performers, and standing in a pyramid. Dumbo causes an accident, and is relegated to an undignified stunt whereby he has to dive into pie filling.

Jumbo Jr befriends a little mouse named Timothy, who takes it upon himself to look out for the poor little elephant. Timothy takes Jumbo Jr to see his mother, but on the way back they accidentally drink some champagne, thinking it was water. The next day they wake up in a tree, with no recollection of how they got there. Timothy deduces that Jumbo Jr must have flown. Giving the elephant a “magic feather” to inspire some confidence in himself, Timothy and Jumbo go back to the circus to show them all what the little elephant can really do. With his feather in his trunk, Jumbo dives from the top platform towards the pie filling below. He loses the feather along the way, but his friend Timothy encourages Jumbo to try his best and show the world what he can really do. Filled with determination, Jumbo Jr sweeps down over the vat of filling, and flies around the circus tent much to the surprise of everybody.

Jumbo becomes an instant sensation and his life from there on in becomes much better. His mother and him get their own personal trailers on the circus train, and live the life of luxury that they deserve for their ridicule and persecution.

Although not his real name, Dumbo retains the name, now as more an affectionate one, as a reminder to himself of how far he has come from ridicule to fame; and also so that others realise that despite what they may call him, he had talent beyond their imaginations. He was able to overcome his own fears, showing the world that elephants really can fly.

Merchandise

Sadly not much has ever come of the Dumbo line. He features in a certain amount of baby wear at the Disney Store and Parks, and the occasional plush, but otherwise has very little in the way of merchandise.

The Movie

Dumbo has never had a sequel, although one was planned. Recently the 70th anniversary edition was released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

At the Parks and Resorts

Dumbo has not featured as a regular character for many, many years, though he did make a brief and rare appearance about 5 years ago in the Magic Kingdom, when his attraction was under major refurbishment. He used to also feature in the Main Street Electrical Parade at the US Parks, but was removed a few years ago, sadly.



The Casey Jr still features in both the US and Tokyo version of this parade.

The only place you can now find Dumbo in character form is at the Magical fireworks in Disneyland California. These fireworks debuted in the summer of 2009, and normally run during peak times - except during Christmas when the fireworks become the Christmas fireworks. It is unknown as to how much longer Magical will play for, as it was only meant for the Summer Nightastic in 2009.

Dumbo has also featured as a character statue in the old Wonderful World of Disney Parade at Disneyland Paris, and more recently in the Jubilation! Parade at Tokyo Disneyland.



In each case, as well as when he was in MSEP, real clowns and other performers are/were present. The Casey Jr train that was in the Wonderful World parade now stars as the ever changing character Express in Disneyland Paris, but alas, no more Dumbo atop it (currently it is Wall-E instead).



Attractions

Dumbo has his own attraction at every Magic Kingdom style park. Dumbo the Flying Elephant is a basic spinning / flying attraction whereby you fly around a central column.



The train from the film, the Casey Jr, also has an attraction at both Disneyland California and Disneyland Paris. Dumbo himself does not feature in these attractions sadly.

More Information

For lots more pictures of Dumbo check out his own dedicated page on this website.

And Finally…

Gentle by nature, and with great affection for his mother and friend, Dumbo showed determination and courage. Now a cherished Disney character, and although we never know much more about Dumbo, we can assume that he now lives happily with his mother, Mrs Jumbo, and his friend, guardian and manager, Timothy Q. Mouse. 

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