Abstract
Disney’s Dumbo Films or: Work in the Entertainment Industry: The chapter analyses Disney’s animated film Dumbo (directed by Ben Sharpsteen, 1941) and Disney’s remake of Dumbo (directed by Tim Burton, 2019). Both films address controversial aspects of work in the entertainment sector. Taking aspects from the cultural and social history of popular entertainment into account, it becomes apparent that Sharpsteen’s film paints an ambivalent picture adapted to contemporary circus, thereby referring to circumstances in the past that were pivotal moments in the development of entertainment culture. Burton, on the other hand, situates Dumbo in the period shortly after World War I, which can be regarded and is shown as a period of radical transformation for work in the section of popular entertainment. At the same time, the film also responds to aspects of the political agenda in the early 21st century.
Tomkowiak, Ingrid