Dumbo Live-Action Reboot Revealed

Source: Gizmodo

Oz: The Great and Powerful and Maleficent were just the beginning...Walt, save us!
TheWrap have this week revealed the existence of a live-action remake of the 1941 animated film Dumbo currently in development at Walt Disney Pictures. Written by Otto Englander, Joe Grant and Dick Huemer, the aforementioned Disney classic is, for the most part, regarded as one of the studio's strongest motion picture endeavours to date thanks to its endearing character ensemble and thematically innovative storyline.

Any goodwill which emerges in the build-up to the reboot's release will inevitably be overshadowed by the overriding question as to whether such a remake is justified and/or necessary. To its credit, Maleficent (4*) did manage to break the mould in its interweaving of all-too-relevant human themes (non-consensual intercourse amongst them) with masterfully-directed fantastical action setpieces, but it also marked a very rare exception to the rule that re-envisionings of this ilk tend to end up as shoddy facsimiles of their inspirations, the 2013 blockbuster Oz: The Great and Powerful and 2010's Alice in Wonderland (both 3* efforts without question) serving as appropriately mediocre examples in this regard. That Transformers screenplay artist Ehren Kruger is on board to write Dumbo's screenplay won't exactly alleviate seasoned fans' concerns surrounding the necessity of its existence, but we're at least willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until casting announcements and production details begin to seep through the cracks of the interwebs.

For all the latest news on Dumbo and other upcoming cinematic releases from Walt Disney Pictures, keep it On-Screen in the coming months!