Tim Burton is giving “Dumbo” the “Big Fish” treatment, as Disney unveiled never-before-seen footage of the upcoming live-action remake of the 1966 classic animated film.
And it looks like Burton’s take has some marked differences from the original.
“The [original] movie ends with Dumbo flying,” co-star Danny DeVito in a sizzle reel presented at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday. “This movie begins with the elephant flying, and takes the story even further.”
With the film still in production, the studio’s featurette didn’t include images of the title elephant himself, but it did include concept art of the character that revealed the blend of cartoon and realistic aesthetics in keeping with Burton’s signature surrealist approach to the material.
“Dumbo” will feature a cast led by DeVito, who plays the circus’ loudmouth manager Max Medici. The new footage shows Medici chewing out the circus’ strongman, who is also in charge of accounting.
Other denizens of the circus were shown, including the beautiful trapeze artist Collette Marchant (Eva Green) and WWII vet Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell), a former circus star in charge of taking care of Dumbo.
“Dumbo” returns to theaters March 29, 2019.