Original Production Animation Cel of Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo from "Dumbo," 1941

 

Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Dumbo and his Mother (Mrs. Jumbo) over a Courvoisier air brush background from "Dumbo," 1941, Walt Disney Studios; WDP stamp lower left; Walt Disney Productions stamp verso; With original Courvoisier Galleries label; Size - Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo: 6 1/4 x 5", Image 8 3/4 x 10"; Unframed.

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"Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part
Baby of mine" 

The Walt Disney full length feature film "Dumbo," released in 1940, introduced to the world one of the greatest characters in the Disney pantheon, Dumbo the flying elephant! Dumbo was the only character in the film who never uttered a single word, and yet he is one of the most remembered Disney stars. All of his feelings were conveyed through body movements and facial expressions. The extraordinary animation skill needed in order to do this with a human, but in this case a baby elephant, can not be underestimated.

The Disney Studio animation artists were still fairly new to feature animation, having only started in 1937 with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The film prior to "Dumbo" was "Fantasia," with one of the most successful sequences being "Night on Bald Mountain." Here again, the main character Chernabog, a huge winged devil, sitting on top of a mountain, commanding the undead below, and never uttering a single word; made a huge impression on the viewing public.

The Disney animator Vladimir "Bill" Tytla created the devil-giant for "Fantasia's" "Night on Bald Mountain," and for the next film he was given the task of animated the film's star, Dumbo. He said: 

"I gave him everything I thought he should have," said Tytla. "It just happened. I don't know a damn thing about elephants. It wasn't that. I was thinking in terms of humans, and I saw a chance to do a chracter without using any cheap theatrics. Most of the expressions and mannerisms I got from my own kid. There's nothing theatrical about a two-year-old kid. They're real and sincere- like when they damn near wet their pants from excitement when you come home at night. I've bawled my kid out for pestering me when I'm reading or something, and he doesn't know what to make of it. He'll just stand there and maybe grab my hand and cry... I tried to put all those things in Dumbo."

Mrs. Jumbo, Dumbo's mother, was voiced by Verna Felton; but she only utters a single line in the film "Jumbo. Junior." Felton was also the voice for the Elephant Matriarch in "Dumbo" and also voiced Flora and The Queen in "Sleeping Beauty," Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," Queen of Hearts in "Alice In Wonderland," Aunt Sarah in "Lady and the Tramp," and Winifred the elephant in "The Jungle Book." There is no credit for Mrs. Jumbo's singing voice, but is thought to be that of Betty Noyes. Joe Grant and Dick Huemer changed Dumbo's mother's name from "Mother Ella" in the book to Mrs. Jumbo, as a reference to the famed Barnum & Bailey Circus elephant.

This is a fantastic original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo from the full length feature animation film "Dumbo," 1941. Mrs. Jumbo is full figure and looking down at her son Dumbo peeking out from behind her left back foot. A wonderful addition and a highlight to any animation art collection. 

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