Pink Elephants on Parade

During ENG101 we watched the clip from Dumbo known as "Pink Elephants on Parade". Whether you remember the whole movie or not, you likely remember this part of the movie. After our instructor showed us the clip, he gave us five minutes to write as much as we could about, not only what we saw, but what the scene meant. Basically it was a short review. Here's what I came up with.

Disney’s Dumbo is an animated film that takes the audience on an elephant’s quest to come to terms with his large ears. The lovable elephant befriends a mouse named Timothy Q Mouse and, in one scene, the two get into more trouble than they bargained for. This particular segment of the famous Disney movie stands out as one of the most memorable because of its dark tones and eerie music. After becoming accidentally intoxicated, Dumbo and Timothy Mouse begin to have a hallucination of pink elephants that sing, dance and perform before their eyes. Startled, Timothy Mouse asks in terror, “are you seeing what I’m seeing,” before seeking cover under Dumbo’s hat as he peers out questioning what he is viewing. The two friends watch in disbelieve and fear as a pink elephant produces another elephant from his trunk. This is continued until four elephants are formed, each made from the truck of the one before him. The elephants begin to play trumpets and symbols, growing and shrinking with the noise they are creating. A brief moment later and you are now watching these, and other elephants crawl through windows as they begin to sing a cautionary song about their own presence. These elephants continue to transform into various shapes and colors including pyramids and snakes, theater masks and dancers, figure skaters and snowmen. This continues on, until two dancing elephants, outlined in blue and pink, created a spark of electricity that turns into lighting. The obviously male figure throws the lightning bolt at the elephant with female features, and from this a group of smaller pink dancing elephants is created. The elephants then become various vehicles with eventually crash into each other, bringing the hallucination to an end. On the surface, the scene is a caution to young children of the dangers of becoming intoxicated, a theme that is found in many early Disney movies. Pink Elephants on Parade also includes undertones of sexuality, and caution of releasing one’s inhibitions; it brings to the surface a fear of what may be hidden in the darkness of your own mind.