In the 21st century, the idea of the circus has been under constant scrutiny. To many animal rights activists, the idea of training animals to entertain audiences under a tent is considered inhumane. It’s lead to the rise of Cirque du Soleil and a change in how this culture is seen. It hasn’t gone away, but with each passing year, it feels like more and more elephants and tigers are retired, returned to nature where they can live natural lives, and be happy.
Among those who have been doing a phenomenal job in leading this cause is Disney. Their Disneynature documentaries alone have done wonders to educate the public on the values of nature, presenting animals through an empathetic lens that is cute. Meanwhile, their fictional films have always had an environmental bent to it, but especially feels true in the past few years thanks to two major releases in particular: Dumbo (2019) and The One and Only Ivan (2020).
On the surface, they are the same movies at heart. Both will take the viewer through a journey that seeks to empathize animals and leave the audience with an understanding for why they deserve rights like you or I. Besides the fact that one was released theatrically while the other is the latest from Disney+, they also have a certain difference in the level of trust with the audience, with one representing a dark update of a classic while the other is tender and loving, feeling safe enough for the young kids who don’t want to see their cute animals in peril.
More than anything, The One and Only Ivan is what Dumbo would be if it was actually made for families with young children. The most noteworthy trait is that it’s focused around Ivan: a silverback gorilla who spends his days entertaining audiences at a strip mall. His face is splashed across a billboard overlooking the main road, serving as the main attraction. He can growl, making audiences stare in awe that they can see such exotic sights in the same place as a Spencer’s Gift. In some ways, it’s appealing to see such high-end ideas in an unexpected place. However, it’s clear that Ivan and his band of circus animals would rather be anywhere else (except for Murphy, a bunny who seems pretty happy just shooting a hose atop a miniature firetruck).
Much like Ivan in the strip mall, he’s hiding some talent inside of himself. He loves to draw, picking up crayons and drawing everything from keys to carrots, entertaining a young elephant named Ruby who appreciates his talent. There are other supporting characters of differing value to the narrative, often eccentric and providing comedy. The most notable is Bobby: a stray dog who gets abandoned and befriends Ivan almost out of necessity. Even if the owner Mack doesn’t approve of this tagalong, he keeps coming back. Bobby is inescapable. He will always be there. The only human that appreciates Ivan for who he is is a girl named Julia, eager to observe him as he wanders around in the cages behind the stage.
What this story ultimately is about is a growing empathy between the animals. This is done by hearing each of their stories about how they came to land in Mack’s possession. Ruby talks about landing in a hole and being “rescued” by a human. Ivan talks about his time as a free-range gorilla, realizing slowly that he used to have a family. He begins to dream of freedom again, pushing the group to escape the mall one night and escape into nature. They’re an odd bunch made up of a gorilla, an elephant, a chicken, a rabbit, and a dog. Together they think that they can make it in nature across the street from the mall, but that doesn’t go well.
If there’s anything open and loving about The One and Only Ivan, it’s the presentation. Much like Lady and the Tramp (2019), it’s one of those tender stories about strays and why they deserve as much love as those born into someplace secure. That’s why they’re often cracking jokes, passing the time with an acceptance that may seem out of place, but speaks to the potential for humanity to come together, even in nature. They all dream of freedom in a sanctuary. It’s a simple story that takes predictable turns, but it will make the animal lovers in all of us feel warm and fuzzy inside, giving a conflict-free story where there’s no real villain in sight. Even Mack, who’s perceived as a control freak at first, reveals that he’s struggling to stay financially relevant. This adds another wrinkle that eventually shows him as a complex man worthy of compassion.
Then there’s Dumbo. Going back to the original, it was always one of the darker Disney movies thanks to its depiction of animal abuse and even a haunting use of “Pink Elephants on Parade.” That is why it makes sense to throw it into the hands of Tim Burton, who previously adapted Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Frankenweenie (2012) for Disney with bountiful success. Given that he’s the oddball with a rich design pallet, many wondered what he would give this story to make it authentic to his vision.
Here’s something to know: Burton hates the circus. It’s something that he openly said in interviews and becomes abundantly clear in the third act. Everything about the idea of gawking at animals is treated as this traumatic tool, like putting a kid before a class and openly throwing tomatoes at him. It’s a brutal concept and one that becomes clearer when you realize that this leans more towards realism. With exception to Dumbo’s big ears that help him fly, there’s no talking animals or anything that gives us insight into the animals’ perspectives. They’re all quiet, having to emote from their CGI faces. Burton makes Dumbo super-cute, capable of being loved by anyone.
Like Mack, Holt Farrier is a circus owner in search of a profit. He’s eager to keep things afloat but is constantly coming to terms with financial woes. It’s difficult and if it wasn’t for his daughter Milly, it’s likely that he would be even more of a loose cannon. Milly is a science-minded individual who is eager to study circus animals and learn from them. She believes in their capabilities, making her not unlike Julia. The only difference is that she plays more of a central role in the narrative, doing everything to make the world see Dumbo’s potential.
The most that can be said from here is that the tone is drastically different. It’s especially indicative in the cover of “Baby Mine,” which finds Arcade Fire making it dark and ominous. It’s supposed to be beautiful as if sung on a dark and stormy night, but it reflects how much the film is dedicated to this tone, where macabre insults get thrown at Dumbo while Milly tries to find reasons for him to be loved. It’s the type of action that is designed for some revenge twist in the third act, and it comes in one of the most surreal twists in any Disney adaptation to date.
Dumbo (1941) is only an hour long. It covers a straightforward story that ends with something resembling a happy ending. However, the journey to Burton’s vision is something that revels more in the sympathy he always gives the outcasts. It’s in how the acrobat Colette Marchant forms a bond with him to the point that he trusts her to fly on his back.
From here, it becomes a matter of how the “big top” compares. To put it simply, The One and Only Ivan is less vindictive with its goals. It doesn’t set out to hurt Mack despite his occasional meanness. He may get embarrassed once or twice, but he ends the story as a compassionate person, capable of growing and becoming someone more understanding of Ivan’s wishes. As far as the audience knows, the strip mall is still standing. Everything is quaint and it ends with a happy montage of the animals wandering around the sanctuary, laughing, and having a good time in their safe corners of nature.
Meanwhile, Dumbo feels like a vendetta that has existed inside Burton since his days animating for them in the 1980s. It’s not always clear what his deal is, but it becomes clear that he has some grudge against his former and current employer when Farrier gets a secure circus in a gauche theme park named Dreamland. It’s full of imprisoned animals and the crowds gawking at Dumbo continue to have a grotesque quality to them. Despite being a place of fun, it’s clear that Burton thinks this is all the opposite. Even his choice to have owner V.A. Vandevere be a megalomaniac lacks any subtlety or heard. If anything, it symbolizes the draining of Dumbo’s potential, to forever dive through hoops of fire and get caught up in these disturbing pink bubble shows.
That’s the thing with Dreamland. It’s all so unpleasant that it’s designed to make freedom seem like the best option. While this is fine, the only thing that makes it a fascinating experience is that one has to wonder how much grievance Burton has for Disney. Better yet, do they know that Dreamland may be a knock-off Disneyland? It’s unclear and by the fact that the movie was even released by them, it’s likely that they have some mutual acceptance of this idea.
The one thing that makes The One and Only Ivan more appreciable than Dumbo is that it doesn’t end in a fireball. Yes, Burton hates the circus so much that he burns it to the ground. It’s a giant ball of fire by the end, finding investor J. Griffin Remington yelling “This is a disaster!” as he escapes danger. The animals are freed, on their way back to nature, and capitalism has suffered a major blow. Who cares? They were jerks, anyway. The good guy (the little guy) wins and that is that. We can all go home feeling good about mom and pop shops.
It’s a long way of getting to the happy ending, but it ends on a very similar note. Dumbo ends with humans choosing to become circus performers, juggling and twirling through the air. The animals are freed, and the world seems to like that better. For the first time, the hazy Burton dread has separated and is replaced with a world of wonder, and it makes everyone feel good. From the ashes comes new opportunities, able to know that animals won’t get hurt now that an elephant gets to fly around in nature.
To be fair, Dumbo is a much more ambitious take on the story than anyone ever expected. It takes risks that present a cohesive message that is entertaining, serving as one of the better live-action remakes from Disney. However, it’s unwieldy in nature, becoming dark and scary for the sake of reflecting the ways that Dumbo feels oppressed. He’s even seen in creepy clown make-up, laying the point on (literally) that this is all humiliating. It’s the most cynical, confrontational mainstream movie about the circus that you would expect P.E.T.A. to have signed on as co-producers.
The One and Only Ivan gets the point across without burning anything down or traumatizing the young children in your family. It gets to the point and does so with an unappreciated warmth that reflects how everyone has humanity. Sure the talking animals aspect may seem a bit silly to some, but it works far better than making mustache-twirling bad guys symbolized by capitalism. There are ways to suggest that the world can grow by learning from each other, that nobody is truly evil. That is what makes the new Disney+ movie worth a watch, capable of doing more with a smile than Burton can with a whole theme park.
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