Description

Dell Comics Issue #668: Walt Disney’s Dumbo         Comic
2nd Printing
Originally Written/Created by: Helen Aberson
Writer: ???
Artist: Al Hubbard
Cover by: Carl Buettner

Dumbo is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy (“Roll-a-Book”). The main character is Jumbo Jr., an elephant who is cruelly nicknamed “Dumbo”, as in “dumb”. He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants. Made to recoup the financial losses of both Pinocchio and Fantasia, Dumbo was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studios. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney’s shortest animated features. Sound was recorded conventionally using the RCA System. One voice was synthesized using the Sonovox system, but it, too, was recorded using the RCA System. Dumbo was released on October 23, 1941, where it was met with generally favorable reviews. It has since been considered to be among the greatest animated films of all time. In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically and aesthetically significant”.

Spring has come to Florida! At the winter quarters of the “Biggest show on Earth”, the animals are awaiting the most important event of the year… the arrival of the storks! Restless and anxious, everyone gazes at the empty sky, eager to catch the first glimpse of the babies the storks are to bring. Then at last, a small bundled animal is dropped off to Mrs. Jumbo. All the elephants gather around Mrs. Jumbo to watch her unwrap her bundle, and to admire the newcomer. But then the next moment, Dumbo sneezes…

Now it’s time to relive the magic of Walt Disney’s Dumbo in Dell Publishing’s one-shot comic adaptation of the 1941 classic.

Story/Spoilers:
While a large circus spends the off-season in the “Winter Grounds” in Florida, a flock of white storks delivers babies to the animals. One elephant, Mrs. Jumbo, does not receive her baby, and keeps scanning the sky. The circus sets out on a new tour, and a belated stork catches up with the moving train and drops off the expected baby elephant, Jumbo Junior. The other elephants are initially delighted, until they see the baby has far-oversized ears, and promptly nickname him “Dumbo”. However, Mrs. Jumbo shows her baby great care and love, defending him from the teasing of the other elephants. Dumbo, clumsy due to his ears, is made into a sideshow attraction. When some rowdy boys start blowing in and pulling Dumbo’s ears, Mrs. Jumbo spanks their leader and throws hay bales at them. Circus staff remove Dumbo from the pen, and Mrs. Jumbo flies into a rage, eventually dousing the ringmaster in a water tub. She is subsequently deemed mad and locked in a cage. Dumbo is blamed for the incident and shunned by the other elephants. Timothy, a mouse that travels with the circus, befriends Dumbo and decides to make him a star. He whispers in the ringmaster’s ear while the latter sleeps, and convinces him to try a new stunt with Dumbo as the top of a pyramid of elephants. However, Dumbo trips on his ears during the show and knocks over the pyramid, injuring the other elephants and bringing the big top crashing down. After this, the other elephants exile Dumbo completely, and he is put in with the clowns’ firemen act, regularly jumping from a “burning building” prop into a vat of pie filling. Despite his newfound popularity, he hates the job and becomes depressed. Timothy decides to take Dumbo to see Mrs. Jumbo, but they cannot see each other’s faces and can only intertwine trunks. Meanwhile, the clowns decide to increase the popularity of their fireman act by dangerously raising the platform Dumbo jumps from. In celebration of the plan, they drink champagne, and a bottle of it falls into a water vat. Dumbo, crying after visiting his mother, gets the hiccups, so Timothy takes him to the vat for water. Both of them get drunk, and hallucinate pink elephants. Dumbo and Timothy are later discovered asleep high up in a tree by Dandy Crow and his friends. Initially making fun of Timothy’s assertion that Dumbo flew with his ears while drunk, the crows are soon moved by Dumbo’s sad story. They decide to help Timothy, giving him a “magic feather” to help Dumbo fly. Holding the feather, Dumbo does indeed take off a second time, and he and Timothy return to the circus with plans to surprise the audience. During the clowns’ act, Dumbo jumps off the platform and prepares to fly. He drops the feather, but Timothy assures him it was only a psychological aid, and Dumbo successfully flies about the big top, much to the delight of the public. Dumbo gains fame and fortune, Timothy becomes his new manager and signs him to a Hollywood contract, and Mrs. Jumbo is freed. She and Dumbo are given a private coach on the train, and the crows wave goodbye to the elephants as they travel away.

Comic is bagged & triple boarded and will be carefully / securely packaged then shipped via USPS Priority Mail to ensure that it arrives to you perfectly and quickly.

Second Printing
Publisher: Dell Publishing
Publication Date: 1955
Format: FC, 32 pages, Comic, 10.25″ x 7.4″
UPC: None Stated

Collectible Entertainment note: Comic is in Very Fair to Good condition.  (spine stress, top right of front cover has scuff wear marks, tears & chips along front and back cover) Overall… Nice Reading Copy!  Please See Scans!!  A must have for any serious Walt Disney and/or Dumbo collector / enthusiast.  A fun & entertaining read.  Recommended.

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