Dumbo

We went to see "Dumbo" today, and things got pushed back on our schedule a bit because of work at home, so we went to the 3:10 showing instead of an earlier one.  It turned out to be a great move, because they were having a raffle today during that showing, and all you had to do was buy a ticket to be part of the drawing.  There were a lot of prizes, and believe it or not, Mommy and Daddy both won prizes - our names were called out!  Daddy ushered Madison down the aisle to help him pick a prize, and she selected the puzzle you see above.  Okay, it's not a puzzle you see above, but picture that image there, the movie poster, and picture it as a puzzle.  That's what we won.  We're bringing it with us to Florida.  And Mommy won something too:  she got a "Dumbo" pin, which is actually really cool.  It's a feather that says the word "Dumbo" on it.

As for the movie itself, it was really good.  It was one that Daddy was really looking forward to, just based on the fact that Tim Burton had directed it.  It has a lot the actors from Tim Burton movies in it, or at least three of them.  Plus Danny Elfman did the soundtrack and Colleen Atwood did the costume designs.  So a whole lot of that Tim Burton feel was injected into the movie, plus a huge amount of Easter egg references to the original movie.  It was good, a sweet movie with great imagery all throughout.  Dreamland was an amazing place, and the fact that this was a circus movie also adds a bit to the enjoyment.  They went so far out of their way at times to make things politically correct, and what's with the dead moms and keys?  That seems to be the new theme of the year for Disney, as if some producer somewhere says, "Mr. Director, make this movie, but insert a key necklace in here somewhere as a sweet reminder of mother that has passed away."  That's definitely the connecting theme this year.  Dead mothers alone, we have "Mary Poppins Returns," "The Nutcracker," and now "Dumbo."  You'd think we wouldn't need a dead mom, because you know that Dumbo's mother is going to be okay.  But nope!  There's a dad and his two kids, and sure enough, they're trying to move on just after  mom lost her battle with influenza.  Who knows what it was with the other two moms.  But one thing is certain:  it's tough to be a mom in the Disney universe!

Anyway, we did work today, packing and preparing for the new series, and some piano playing too.  We read from comics - Daddy was reading the start of the "Fatal Attractions" series, with X-Factor and X-Force, and later reading from the latest Starcatcher book with Mommy and Madison.  It was day to pack and a day to do a lot of frantic work for KidPak.  But it will be a great day tomorrow, and a great week after that.  And the movie was nice, very nice.  Dumbo has such a big history with our family, and it was nice to go out and see the movie together on the big screen.