Editing Dumbo (section)

===Critical reception===
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that ''Dumbo'' was "a pleasant little story, plenty of pathos mixed with the large doses of humor, a number of appealing new animal characters, lots of good music, and the usual Disney skillfulness in technique in drawing and use of color."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety144-1941-10#page/n7/mode/2up|title=Film Reviews: Dumbo|work=Variety|page=9|date=October 1, 1941|access-date=September 25, 2019|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> [[Cecelia Ager]], writing in ''[[PM (newspaper)|PM]]'', called ''Dumbo'' "the nicest, kindest Disney yet. It has the most taste, beauty, compassion, skill, restraint. It marks a return to Disney first principles, the animal kingdom—that happy land where Disney workers turn into artists; where their imagination, playfulness, ingenuity, daring flourish freest; where, in short, they're home."<ref>{{cite news|last=Ager|first=Cecelia|url=https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20%20Daily/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20Daily%201941/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20Daily%201941%20-%202290.pdf|title=Disney's 'Dumbo' Is a Darling|work=PM|date=October 24, 1941|page=23|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728035742/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20%20Daily/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20Daily%201941/New%20York%20NY%20PM%20Daily%201941%20-%202290.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Bosley Crowther]], reviewing for ''[[The New York Times]]'', wrote that the film was "the most genial, the most endearing, the most completely precious cartoon feature film ever to emerge from the magical brushes of Walt Disney's wonder-working artists".<ref>{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/10/24/archives/walt-disneys-cartoon-dumbo-a-fanciful-delight-opens-at-the-broadway.html |title=The Screen in Review |work=The New York Times |page=27 |date=October 24, 1941 |access-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-date=April 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407201530/https://www.nytimes.com/1941/10/24/archives/walt-disneys-cartoon-dumbo-a-fanciful-delight-opens-at-the-broadway.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' wrote: "Like story and characters, ''Dumbo''{{'}}s coloring is soft and subdued, free from picture-postcard colors and confusing detail—a significant technical advance. But the charm of ''Dumbo'' is that it again brings to life that almost human animal kingdom where Walter Elias Disney is king of them all."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,849603-2,00.html |title=Cinema: The New Pictures |magazine=Time |pages=97–98, 100 |date=October 27, 1941 |access-date=September 25, 2019 |archive-date=September 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926020805/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,849603-2,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Harrison's Reports]]'' praised the film as "one of Walt Disney's most delightful offerings. Technically, it is excellent; the color is exceptionally good. The story itself is pleasing; it combines comedy with human appeal. The only fault is that occasionally the action slows down."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/harrisonsreports23harr/page/n181/mode/2up |title=Dumbo |work=Harrison's Reports |page=162 |date=October 11, 1941 |access-date=November 19, 2020 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

''Time'' had originally scheduled to run a story with an appearance cover for "Mammal of the Year" (a play on its annual [[Time Person of the Year|"Man/Person of the Year"]] honor) on December 8, 1941. The [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on December 7 of that year had postponed it, and the story was later published on December 29.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Chow|first=Andrew|url=https://time.com/5557249/dumbo-time-cover-1941/|title=How Dumbo Almost Ended Up on the Cover of TIME|magazine=Time|date=March 29, 2019|access-date=September 25, 2019|archive-date=May 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521192630/http://time.com/5557249/dumbo-time-cover-1941/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Gabler|2006|p=381}}

Among retrospective reviews, [[film critic]] [[Leonard Maltin]] stated that ''Dumbo'' is his favorite of Disney's films and he described it as "one of Walt Disney's most charming animated films".<ref>{{cite book|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|title=Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789/page/90 90]|year=2008|publisher=Plume|isbn=978-0-452-28978-9}}</ref> In 2011, [[Richard Corliss]] of ''Time'' named the film as one of the 25 all-time best animated films.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Corliss|first=Richard|url=https://time.com/4609386/best-animated-films/|title=The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films|magazine=Time|date=June 21, 2011|access-date=December 4, 2019|archive-date=September 26, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210926104304/https://time.com/4609386/best-animated-films/|url-status=dead}}</ref> On the review aggregator website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, with an average score of {{RT data|average}}. The website's consensus reads "''Dumbo'' packs plenty of story into its brief runtime, along with all the warm animation and wonderful music you'd expect from a Disney classic."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dumbo|title=Dumbo (1941)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date={{RT data|access date}}|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307053439/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dumbo|url-status=live}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref> [[Metacritic]] has assigned a weighted score of 96 out of 100 for ''Dumbo'' based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dumbo-1941|title=Dumbo (1941) Reviews|website=Metacritic|access-date=June 17, 2019|archive-date=May 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522120222/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/dumbo-1941|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Depiction of black people====
The film has been criticized for its [[Stereotypes of African Americans|stereotypical depiction of black people]]. ''The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films'' (2018) notes that "All of the circus laborers are African American, the only time that blacks are seen in any great number in the entire movie."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Murguia|first=Salvador|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch7eswEACAAJ|title=The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-6905-7|pages=164|language=en|access-date=May 28, 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408155818/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ch7eswEACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Film scholar [[Richard Schickel]], in his 1968 book ''[[The Disney Version]]'', argued that the group of crows in the film were [[African American]] stereotypes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schickel|first=Richard|title=The Disney Version|url=https://archive.org/details/disneyversionlif00schi|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1968|isbn=978-1-566-63158-7}}</ref> The lead crow, voiced by white actor [[Cliff Edwards]] in an imitation of Southern African American dialect,<ref>{{Cite web|title=MichaelBarrier.com -- "What's New" Archives: January 2010|url=http://www.michaelbarrier.com/WhatsNewArchives/2010/WhatsNewArchivesJan10.html#cliffedwards|website=www.michaelbarrier.com|access-date=May 27, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920060033/http://www.michaelbarrier.com/WhatsNewArchives/2010/WhatsNewArchivesJan10.html#cliffedwards|url-status=live}}</ref> was named "Jim Crow", after the [[Jim Crow (character)|pre-Civil-War minstrel character]]. The term had become a pejorative term for African Americans, and commonly referred to [[Jim Crow laws|racial segregation laws]], and the character's name was changed in the 1950s to "Dandy Crow" in attempt to avoid controversy.<ref name="AFI" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1RTP8thtR0C&q=dandy+crow+disney&pg=PA238|title=Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|page=238|year=2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-786-48694-6|via=Google Books|access-date=October 24, 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408155813/https://books.google.com/books?id=e1RTP8thtR0C&q=dandy+crow+disney&pg=PA238|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRY0QiacQccC&q=dandy+crow+disney&pg=PA663|title=The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States. F4,1. Feature films, 1941 - 1950, film entries, A - L|last=Institute|first=American Film|date=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-52-021521-4|language=en}}</ref> The other crows were voiced by African American actors and singers of the popular all-black "[[Hall Johnson|Hall Johnson Choir]]", including actors [[James Baskett]] (''[[Song of the South]]'') and [[Nick Stewart]] (''[[Amos and Andy#television|The Amos 'n' Andy Show]]''). [[Ward Kimball]], the chief animator of the crows, used famous African-American dancers Freddie and Eugene Jackson as live-action reference for the characters. The personalities and mannerisms of the crows—specifically their fast-paced, back and forth dialogue—were inspired by the backchat found on the band records of [[Cab Calloway]] and [[Louis Armstrong]].<ref name="TakingFlight" /> [[Karina Longworth]], exploring the history of ''[[Song of the South]]'' in her podcast ''You Must Remember This'', discussed the basis of the crows in [[minstrel show]] culture, as part of a wider use of minstrel culture by [[Walt Disney]].<ref>{{cite podcast |last=Longworth |first=Karina |url=http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2019/10/29/minstrels-in-hollywood-and-zip-a-dee-doo-dah-six-degrees-of-song-of-the-south-episode-3 |title='Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,' Minstrels in Hollywood And The Oscars (Six Degrees of South of the South), Episode 3 |website=You Must Remember This |date=November 4, 2019 |access-date=April 21, 2020 |archive-date=April 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415070057/http://www.youmustrememberthispodcast.com/episodes/2019/10/29/minstrels-in-hollywood-and-zip-a-dee-doo-dah-six-degrees-of-song-of-the-south-episode-3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The crow characters have been praised by a number of critical sources. The animation historian [[John Canemaker]] felt that the crows were amongst the very few characters in the film that sympathize and are empathetic with Dumbo's plight. Being a marginalized ethnic group themselves, they can relate to Dumbo as a fellow [[Outcast (person)|outcast]]. Canemaker further added that the crows "are the most intelligent, the happiest, the freest spirited characters in the whole film."<ref name="TakingFlight" /> In 1980, film critic Michael Wilmington referred to the crows as "father figures", self-assured individuals who are "obvious parodies of proletarian blacks", but comments, "The crows are the snappiest, liveliest, most together characters in the film. They are tough and generous. They bow down to no one. And, of course, it is they who teach Dumbo to fly."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilmington|first=Michael|chapter=Dumbo|title=The American Animated Cartoon: A Critical Anthology|editor1-last=Peary|editor1-first=Danny|editor2-last=Peary|editor2-first=Gerald|year=1980|pages=80–81|location=New York|publisher=[[E.P. Dutton]]|isbn=978-0-525-47639-9}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Whoopi Goldberg]] expressed the desire for the crow characters to be more merchandised by Disney, "because those crows sing the song in ''Dumbo'' that everybody remembers."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/first-act-disney-legend-whoopi-goldberg-tells-disney-stop-hiding-history-152327.html|title=In Her First Act As A Disney Legend, Whoopi Goldberg Tells Disney To Stop Hiding Its History|last=Amidi|first=Amid |author-link=Amid Amidi|work=[[Cartoon Brew]]|date=July 15, 2017|access-date=August 7, 2017|archive-date=June 10, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200610233745/https://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/first-act-disney-legend-whoopi-goldberg-tells-disney-stop-hiding-history-152327.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, [[Floyd Norman]], the first African-American animator hired at [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Productions]] during the 1950s, defended the crows in an article entitled ''Black Crows and Other PC Nonsense''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Norman|first=Floyd|url=https://floydnormancom.squarespace.com/blog/2019/4/27/black-crows-and-other-pc-nonsense|title=Black Crows and Other PC Nonsense|website=MrFun's Journal|date=April 27, 2019|access-date=November 25, 2019|archive-date=June 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629121250/https://floydnormancom.squarespace.com/blog/2019/4/27/black-crows-and-other-pc-nonsense|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Disney Legend Floyd Norman Defends "Dumbo" Crow Scene Amid Rumors of Potential Censorship|url=https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2019/04/30/floyd-norman-defends-dumbo-crow-scene-amid-rumors-potential-censorship/|date=April 30, 2019|website=The Laughing Place|access-date=May 27, 2020|archive-date=March 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305040549/https://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2019/04/30/floyd-norman-defends-dumbo-crow-scene-amid-rumors-potential-censorship/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The crows and Timothy Q. Mouse were not included in the 2019 live-action/CGI [[Dumbo (2019 film)|remake of ''Dumbo'']].<ref>{{Cite news|title='Dumbo': Everything to Know About Disney's Live-Action Remake Directed by Tim Burton|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dumbo-everything-know-disneys-live-action-remake-1123533|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=May 28, 2020|archive-date=June 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627202745/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dumbo-everything-know-disneys-live-action-remake-1123533|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, it was reported that an edited version of the animated film without the crows would be featured on the forthcoming [[Disney+]] service.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/song-south-dumbos-jim-crow-scene-will-not-be-disney-1203624|title='Song of the South,' 'Dumbo's' Jim Crow Scene Will Not Be on Disney+|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 22, 2019|access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422194158/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/song-south-dumbos-jim-crow-scene-will-not-be-disney-1203624|url-status=live}}</ref> The movie streams on Disney+ uncensored, with an advisory in the synopsis warning "it may contain outdated cultural depictions."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/11/13/here-are-5-movies-disney-plus-put-cultural-warnings-on/|title=Here Are 5 Movies Disney Plus Put 'Cultural' Warnings On|last=Voytko|first=Lisette|date=November 13, 2019|website=Forbes|access-date=November 14, 2019|archive-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114003623/https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2019/11/13/here-are-5-movies-disney-plus-put-cultural-warnings-on/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/13/disney-plus-offers-warnings-over-outdated-cultural-depictions-in-classic-films|title=Disney Plus Offers Warnings Over 'Outdated Cultural Depictions' in Classic Films|last=Knoop|first=Joseph|date=November 13, 2019|website=IGN|language=en|access-date=November 14, 2019|archive-date=November 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114045812/https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/11/13/disney-plus-offers-warnings-over-outdated-cultural-depictions-in-classic-films|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, the film was one of several that Disney limited to viewers 7 years and older on their service Disney+, citing similarity of the crows' depictions to "racist minstrel shows".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Michaelsen|first1=Shannen|date=2021-01-25|title=Disney+ Removes "The Aristocats", "Peter Pan", "Dumbo", and "Swiss Family Robinson" Movies From Children's Profiles Due to Negative Cultural Depictions|url=https://wdwnt.com/2021/01/disney-removes-the-aristocats-peter-pan-dumbo-and-swiss-family-robinson-from-childrens-profiles-due-to-negative-cultural-dep/|access-date=2021-01-26|website=WDW News Today|language=en-US|archive-date=January 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130062540/https://wdwnt.com/2021/01/disney-removes-the-aristocats-peter-pan-dumbo-and-swiss-family-robinson-from-childrens-profiles-due-to-negative-cultural-dep/|url-status=live}}</ref>