Mother Elephant

MEDIUM: Original Model Sheet Print
PRODUCTION: Dumbo, 1940
IMAGE SIZE: 14" x 11"
SKU: CCV4365

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Dumbo is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, and illustrated by Helen Durney for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). The main character is Jumbo Jr., an elephant who is cruelly nicknamed "Dumbo", as in "dumb". He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.

This piece includes an additional drawing of Mother Elephant on the back. The embedded date on this model sheet reads August 21st, 1940.

ABOUT THE MEDIUM: A model sheet is a group of character drawings illustrating different poses and expressions of a cartoon character. Because a number of artists worked on a single cartoon, these sheets were circulated to the animators to give a uniform look and feel to a character throughout a production.