About the only enduring thing about this film is a question, or several: Why? Why have they remade it? Why have they got Tim Burton to do it? And can I have my money back?
Dumbo opens on a run-down Medici Brothers circus, and circus performer Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) returning home from The Great War one-arm shorter and his wife has passed away, so he is left to take care of his two young children. Max Medici (Danny DeVito) has sold Holt’s stallions and invested in a pregnant elephant. Mrs. Jumbo gives birth to a baby elephant with giant ears and Medici is convinced he’s been sold a dud. Little does he know that Dumbo is his ticket to success.
Colin Farrell, Nico Parker, and Finley Hobbins in Dumbo (2019). Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
The film is very dark and sombre. Except, it’s not really. The enduring scene from the 1941 version is the truly heart-breaking scene where Dumbo’s mother is whipped and shackled for protecting him. Here that scene is spectacularly mishandled, evoking little to no emotion, rushing their separation and moving quickly along to Dumbo’s new life as a flying sensation. The original Dumbo went to very dark places and trusted that children could and should watch challenging films. This version has been mercilessly stripped of any of that depth or emotion.
The overriding feeling is that Disney has brought in Tim Burton and then told him to, well, not be Tim Burton. His films are at their best when they are weird and subversive, darkly funny, and full of wonder. Dumbo is none of those things. Even the visuals, a Burton calling-card, are overwhelmed by a distracting and frankly unnecessary amount of CGI.
Danny DeVito in Dumbo (2019). Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
The elements for a great Tim Burton movie are all at hand. Danny DeVito, Michael Keaton and a flying elephant, for crying out loud! What emerges is a total mess, neither particularly dark nor uplifting, operating an unpleasant middle ground which only leaves you wishing you were watching the original. This is best exhibited by a strangely subdued performance from Danny DeVito, whose only direction seems to be “don’t be too weird or interesting”. Not exactly an inspirational ringleader.
Colin Farrell phones it in, although the script does him no favours. He’s just come home from war, lost his wife to Spanish flu, his horses have been sold and he’s forced to take care of elephants and his two young kids. And the only emotional scene he is given is a 5-second cut to him crying over a picture of his wife. Subtle.
Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton in Dumbo (2019). Photo: Walt Disney Pictures
Michael Keaton is the baddie, although in actuality he’s just the personification of the real baddie – the circus and humans. Neither he nor the delivery of the message is compelling, and the final scene is just a sledgehammer to the head to make sure you got it. Circus – bad. Freedom – good.
This is the first of a trio of Disney live-action remakes coming out this year. If this was meant to be a marquee introduction, it has failed spectacularly, making me genuinely fearful of the two more to come. However, Disney has achieved one thing with Dumbo. It has set the bar so low that The Lion King and Aladdin can hardly fail to be better.
Dumbo (2019) rating: 3/10
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Joe is the film and TV critic for The Lincolnite. He is a Master’s student at the University of Lincoln, having abandoned the sunny beaches of the Cayman Islands for the slightly colder climes of Lincolnshire to see whether he could make it as a writer. Joe graduated from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland in 2016, where he studied the Liberal Arts and drank far too much bad American beer.
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City of Lincoln Council has approved a 1.9% tax hike despite a series of cuts for 2021-22 due to the financial uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1.9% rise will take city council’s share of council tax for a Band D property in Lincoln to £285.39 – an increase of £5.31.
The executive committee agreed on increasing allotment charges, council house and garage rents.
Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million and said it must close the hole for financial stability.
Allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51 pence per week.
Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1.5%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.
Attendees at City of Lincoln Council’s executive on Monday.
The authority said it faces a number of ongoing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and requires a substantial reduction in all of its budgets.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Leader of City of Lincoln Council said: “It’sareasonablymodestincreaseformostpeople,andwewill support lowincomegroups stillwiththeconcessions.”
The council has saved more than £9 million annually over the past decade, however will have to increase savings by £850,000 next year, rising to £1.75 million by 2023/24.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.
The draft budget will go to consultation and return before the council later this year for a final decision.
There have been 372 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 325 new cases in Lincolnshire, 30 in North Lincolnshire and 17 in North East Lincolnshire.
Some nine deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in North and North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported nine new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on Monday. Hospital deaths have now surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic started in Greater Lincolnshire.
National cases increased by 37,535 to 3,433,494, while deaths rose by 599 to 89,860.
Leader of South Holland District Council, Cllr Lord Gary Porter, put the spike down to outbreaks in two care facilities, one being a children’s care home.
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules. Two groups of revellers in the woods near Woodhall Spa have also been fined.
In national news, Public Health England have confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week.
Ten hospital trusts across England consistently reported having no spare adult critical care beds in the most recent figures available.
It comes as hospital waiting times, coronavirus admissions and patients requiring intensive care are rising.
All UK travel corridors, which allow arrivals from some countries to avoid having to quarantine, have now closed until at least February 15.
Travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test to be allowed entry.
Supermarkets face increased inspections from local councils to ensure they are COVID-secure amid a push from the government to clamp down further on coronavirus transmission.
Local governments have been asked by ministers to target the largest supermarkets for inspection to ensure companies are enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and limits on shopper numbers.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to January 17 according to the government dashboard:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 11 to Jan 17. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, January 18
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,374 cases (up 372)
30,784 in Lincolnshire (up 325)
6,927 in North Lincolnshire (up 30)
6,663 in North East Lincolnshire (up 17)
1,686 deaths (up nine)
1,196 from Lincolnshire (up nine)
268 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,006 hospital deaths (up 10)
612 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
363 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
3,433,494 UK cases, 89,860 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Eight people were fined for two separate COVID-19 rule breaches over the weekend, after being found partying and camping near Woodhall Spa.
Officers were called to two different incidents at Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland area near Woodhall Spa on Saturday, January 16 and on Sunday, January 17.
Five people were issued with £200 fines after a report of partying at around 11.08pm on Saturday.
The next morning, police were again called to the area at 8.21am after people were seen camping at the location.
Three people were fined as a result of this, again valued at £200 due to being first time offenders.
If these fines are paid within 14 days of the offence, the cost will be cut in half to £100.
On the same weekend, but this time in a different location, six urban explorers were fined after travelling from three different counties to try and gain access to an abandoned hospital in Grantham.
The behaviour of COVID-19 rule breakers has been described as “dangerous” by Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable Kerrin Wilson, who referred to them as “Covidiots”.
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