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REVISITING DISNEY'S "DUMBO" Part Two of Two

© Emily Woodward

In standing for both the victims of Fascism and American Conservative ideals, Dumbo functions as Disney's own alter-ego. Disney saw himself as a victim, like Dumbo, in the three-ring circus that was Hollywood. While not inherently Fascist, the Hollywood studio system of the Thirties and Forties was a force that Disney felt threatened his creative control. The studio heads he opposed were not Nazis, however; in fact, they were practically all Jewish. Included in this group were Louis B. Mayer at MGM, Jack Warner at Warner Brothers, and Harry Cohn at Columbia. Each had a vested interest in Disney's animation empire and was eager to buy him out. Though often pressed for money, Disney was contemptuous of their offers. In particular, he resented Harry Cohn's so-called ruthless tactics.

In his book, Disney's World, critic Leonard Mosely recalls an incident in which Disney, referring to Cohn, vowed never to "let that fat Jew rescue me from bankruptcy."

Disney felt himself to be singled out in Hollywood for being a "true American." In this respect, he further identified with Dumbo, who embodied his own conservative heartland values. Disney was determined to promote these values in the face of what he held to be the subversive forces in American society: Jews, blacks, and union workers.

There were virtually no Jews employed at the Disney studio. When Disney began making live-action features, Jewish actors were likewise snubbed. Not until 1969, two years after Disney's death, did a Jewish actor, Buddy Hackett, feature prominently in a Disney film (The Love Bug).

Blacks, too, were denied even the minimal opportunities they found at other studios as technicians and low-level personnel. Disney's racist attitude toward blacks is apparent in the crow sequence in Dumbo. Appearing well outside the circus limits, the black caricatures are shown to be anonymous members of a marginal group. Only one is given a name; appropriately enough, it is "Jim Crow." Even as outsiders, however, the black crows still manage to torment poor Dumbo, thereby acting as a subversive force.

Disney saw union workers as a particularly subversive element of society. Many of his own workers had gone on strike in the spring of 1941. Their rebellion had cost the studio some two million dollars and had paralyzed operations for almost three months. The release date for Dumbo had to be pushed back several months, awaiting final changes that could only be made after production resumed. These changes included the insertion of a new scene featuring some drunken clowns. Thinly veiled caricatures of the strikers at Disney, they scheme to "hit the big boss for a raise." Interestingly enough, it is the boss and not Dumbo who is shown to be the victim here. This is one instance in the film where Dumbo does not function as Disney's alter-ego.