Elephants can’t fly (and there’s no happy ending in the circus)
September 17th, 2009 by admin
In the classic Disney film Dumbo, there is a heartbreaking scene in which the young elephant visits his mother who has been unjustly locked up in a circus trailer. The mother elephant sings a sweet song as she strains against the chains to touch her son (a clip of the scene is available on YouTube here).
At this point Dumbo is a powerful anti-circus film. But Dumbo soon discovers that the big ears that he was teased about can be used as wings. The flying Dumbo becomes a sensation and at the end of the film the viewer is supposed to believe that Dumbo and his mother will live happily ever after in the circus.
At Walt Disney World in Orlando, there is a popular ride for children that captures the joyful moment Dumbo discovers his ability to fly.
Last Saturday, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo announced a major expansion of Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland. The Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride will be moved inside a three-ring circus tent. During the queue, according to a Disney press release, guests will be “invited to step into the big top and join the circus before their magical flight.” Click here to view a design of the new circus grounds.
A theme park may not be the right place for a serious lesson about the sad and miserable lives of elephants and other animals in traveling circuses. But theme parks should not deceive children that animals in real life circuses have any hope of a happy ending.
Please contact Mr. Rasulo and urge him not to allow the “re-imagined” Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride to sugarcoat the very real suffering of animals in the circus.
Contact:
Jay Rasulo, Chairman
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
P.O. Box 10000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
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