Tim Burton's live-action Dumbo trailer is here, extremely off-putting

Defying the fates, the gods, and a bunch of people who presumably said “Really? Dumbo?” along the way, Tim Burton’s live-action/CGI recreation of the 1941 Disney classic has now reached the “Well, here’s a full trailer” stage of production. And indeed: Here’s a trailer, showing off Burton’s latest attempt at increasingly manufactured-feeling whimsy.

Admittedly, there are a few touches around the edges to speak to some sort of weird brilliance at work here; we’re never going to say no to Michael Keaton going full huckster on the audience, and some of the images are legitimately disturbing. (They’re mostly of the protagonist’s face, but still.) That extra-treacly version of “Baby Of Mine” doesn’t speak to a lot of respect for the audience, though, and Colin Ferrell seems trapped in some kind of soporific hell, surrounded by adorable children and an overwhelming sense of twee. But hey, we’re still waiting to see what Burton does with the original’s legitimately nightmarish “pink elephants on parade” sequence, which seems tailor-made for his particular talents; we’ll presumably see more from Dumbo as its March 2019 release date gets closer.