Ye olde bigge toppe

Growing up, one of my absolute favorite movies was Dumbo. It was one of the VHS cassettes I probably just about wore out (along with The Land Before Time, and an old recording of episodes of Winnie the Pooh). I was always totally freaked out by the pink elephant scene - which I'm pretty sure is justified because even as an adult my reaction is pretty much "Man, what the hell?"

Also as an adult - it's a great film. It's touching and the music is great and the animation! God, they don't make cartoons like they used to. And brief foray into LSD-induced nightmares aside, it strikes a great balance between silly fun and scary for the kids.

But.

So there's the obvious thing where all the crows sound stereotypically black and the uncomfortable part where the main crow? is named Jim Crow. So...yeah. But further? Early on there's that scene where the circus train pulls up and they're all setting up the tent, which is primarily set up by a bunch of "roustabouts", who are portrayed as decidedly dark figure lacking in any clear features, which is...well, okay it was made in 1941, and maybe it's a stylistic decision? It's during a rainstorm after all. And since it's a Disney movie they sing a fun little song. In which they describe themselves as happy-hearted roustabouts. Who never learned to read or write, who "slave until we're almost dead" (yeah), and don't know when they'll get paid, but it's fine because they'll just toss it away when it comes.

So...yeah. Great movie, but a little bit cringeworthy at points.