Shot 1.1. is very touching and Bill Tytla does one of the best Dumbo stuff ever!!
Shot 1.2. is pretty clever with the elephants' trunk as a cradle rocking, and I love the animals animation by Bob Youngquist, Harvey Toombs, (I'm guessing it might be John Sewell), and effects on hippos by Ed Aardal.
I originally thought about Eric Larson animating the sequence, and now already that he isn't credited for any scenes of the draft, maybe be supervised the animal animation, since Bob Youngquist did uncredited work on Bambi, I believe, as well as John Sewell and Harvey Toombs, so maybe Larson had a bit to do with it!
This sequence and the previous sequence, have my favourite Tytla animation in the film, SO touching!!
This is a bravura piece of animation. The way in which Tytla animates Dumbo losing control contains great emotional truth and, for me, is what elevates this shot to a level few other shots (or animators) can match.
You're absolutely right, and while probably every animation writer, viewer or critic worth their salt cites this scene, I don't believe I've ever seen it described better than you have here. Just the frame grabs move me to tears.
But it has been published, Michael, on the web. Putting it between covers might add legitimacy or garner more attention, but my words would still be the same.
True it's been published on the web but forgotten the day the next post is placed. A year from now, we'll have to remember and search for it. I guess this is why I try to repost some older pieces I like evey once in a while.
A book form (even without the pictures) is always there to remind you on the shelf.
We need a "Mayerson on Animation" book. Even if it's just a collections of your blog posts.
August 10, 2010 2:04 PM
Anonymous said...
This sequence made audiences cry and Dumbo and his mom are together for a short while, cradling! Awesome! You have clever stuff, man!
August 12, 2010 8:53 AM
Raúl Marco said...
Timothy, why have we to leave so early? Just some minutes more...
June 26, 2012 6:16 AM
[Image] [Image]This sequence, the song "Baby Mine," is the emotional center of the film. Looking at it by itself, it's surprising how little screen time there is of Dumbo and his mother. Obviously, what's there is very powerful, but this is a case where the film makers felt that less is more. The entire story has built to this moment. The bond between mothers and children is so primal and the injustices suffered by Dumbo and his mother are so appalling, that the audience's emotions are waiting for the release that this sequence provides.
The music has a melancholy quality that tempers the joy of the reunion with an underlying sadness.
A great deal of the power of this sequence comes from touch. All the animals except the ostriches are sleeping while physically touching each other. There is much physical contact between Dumbo and his mother. The rocking, in shots 1.2 and 12, though done with an elephant's trunk instead of human arms, is familiar to everyone in the audience, parent or child. The caressing in shot 1.1 is also familiar. As a species, we need physical contact with our loved ones in order to feel secure.
Here are a series of frames from scene 1.1, animated by Bill Tytla. [Image] [Image]In the first five panels above, Tytla shows the pleasure Dumbo feels from the caress. This is a happy reunion. In panel 6, the tears start to flow and after a slight anticipation in panel 7, the grief that Dumbo feels overcomes him. In panels 8-12, he clutches his mother's trunk close to him and buries his head in it, rubbing against it as the accumulated sadness pours out of him. Then, emotionally spent, in panel 14 there is nothing left but the gratitude Dumbo feels for being with her.
This is a bravura piece of animation. The way in which Tytla animates Dumbo losing control contains great emotional truth and, for me, is what elevates this shot to a level few other shots (or animators) can match.
When it is time to leave, their trunks maintain contact for as long as possible. That touch is central to their relationship and once their contact is broken, Dumbo is once again vulnerable in a cruel world.
posted by Mark Mayerson at 10:18 PM on Aug 8, 2010
"Dumbo Part 17"
9 Comments -
Shot 1.1. is very touching and Bill Tytla does one of the best Dumbo stuff ever!!
Shot 1.2. is pretty clever with the elephants' trunk as a cradle rocking, and I love the animals animation by Bob Youngquist, Harvey Toombs, (I'm guessing it might be John Sewell), and effects on hippos by Ed Aardal.
I originally thought about Eric Larson animating the sequence, and now already that he isn't credited for any scenes of the draft, maybe be supervised the animal animation, since Bob Youngquist did uncredited work on Bambi, I believe, as well as John Sewell and Harvey Toombs, so maybe Larson had a bit to do with it!
This sequence and the previous sequence, have my favourite Tytla animation in the film, SO touching!!
August 08, 2010 10:26 PM
This is a bravura piece of animation. The way in which Tytla animates Dumbo losing control contains great emotional truth and, for me, is what elevates this shot to a level few other shots (or animators) can match.
You're absolutely right, and while probably every animation writer, viewer or critic worth their salt cites this scene, I don't believe I've ever seen it described better than you have here. Just the frame grabs move me to tears.
August 09, 2010 2:03 AM
You're a great analyst, Mark. It's a treasure reading some of our writing. I wish it were published.
August 09, 2010 6:48 AM
But it has been published, Michael, on the web. Putting it between covers might add legitimacy or garner more attention, but my words would still be the same.
August 09, 2010 9:18 AM
Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!!!!! That is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I love your brilliant analysis.
August 09, 2010 1:42 PM
True it's been published on the web but forgotten the day the next post is placed. A year from now, we'll have to remember and search for it. I guess this is why I try to repost some older pieces I like evey once in a while.
A book form (even without the pictures) is always there to remind you on the shelf.
August 10, 2010 8:23 AM
We need a "Mayerson on Animation" book. Even if it's just a collections of your blog posts.
August 10, 2010 2:04 PM
This sequence made audiences cry and Dumbo and his mom are together for a short while, cradling! Awesome! You have clever stuff, man!
August 12, 2010 8:53 AM
Timothy, why have we to leave so early? Just some minutes more...
June 26, 2012 6:16 AM