Dumbo (2019)
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito.
In this live action film Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019), Dumbo is put into the same circus stunt as in the original film: the building is on fire, and he has to make the choice to jump. Nic Parker, who plays Milly Farrier, Dumbo’s friend, climbs up a ladder, hands him the magic feather, then falls off the ladder into the tank he is supposed to jump into. There’s a tilt-up shot that makes you feel you are part of the audience watching this action or stunt happen. It makes your stomach turn a little. The next series of shots are of Dumbo and his perspective high up on the ledge, looking down at the tank below, with the fire blazing. You, as a spectator, feel Dumbo’s uneasiness and fear. Then, the ledge breaks; he falls and accidentally sucks the feather up his trunk, which could be seen as him coming to embody the flight of birds. The magic of flight becomes one with him.