- “Dumbo! You see what I see?!”
- ―Timothy Q. Mouse[src]
"Pink Elephants on Parade" is a large, nearly instrumental musical number featured in the film Dumbo. It centers the imaginary, yet nightmarish Pink Elephants hallucinations seen by Dumbo and Timothy when they mistakenly drink the clowns' alcohol.
Plot[]
After an emotional visit with Mrs. Jumbo, Timothy leads Dumbo to a water bucket to treat his hiccups which unbeknownst to them, had been spiked with leftover champagne from the clowns' celebration. As a result, both the baby elephant and his mouse friend become inebriated from drinking the tainted water. After some time amusing themselves with some bubble blowing, Dumbo then blows a large bubble from his trunk which morphs into a living pink elephant which then blows a second one out of its trunk. They then multiply into four in front of Dumbo and Timothy who only watch the bizarre scene in shock. They begin blowing their trunks like trumpets, and the trunks merge together into a yellow giant trumpet, which then explodes, and dozens of elephants march out of its remains.
As part of their marching band, a fat elephant marches behind a small one. The fat one is using his trunk as an instrument, while the small one is shaking two cowbells. The fat one accidentally steps on the small one over and over, until he gets annoyed. He goes behind the fat one and kicks him in the butt, causing him to split into three elephants, who mock the small one by blowing their trunk-horns in his face. He gets angry and grows into a giant elephant, who smashes the three elephants with a pair of cymbals. They explode into dozens of tiny elephants, who march away and surround Dumbo. As they march, they swell up and squish into each other tightly until there's no more room and they explode.
An elephant opens a window, and many others march in through it, marching around the bed of a terrified elephant calf, who hides under the covers as his bed and the elephants spiral off into the distance.
Two elephant heads appear, one from the bottom of the screen and one from the top. They notice each other and flee, startled.
Two worms, a male and a female, pass each other, and the male tips his hat to the female. They are revealed to be the trunks of two elephants, who walk right through each other. However, their butts get stuck together and they snap back into each other, exploding into a blast of colors which then turns into a small elephant.
The elephant dances as five more elephants of differing colors come out of him, then the screen shuffles them together into an elephant made entirely of 6 heads. The scene zooms in on his eyes, which turn into pyramids.
A camel-elephant comes out from behind one of the pyramids and starts walking, looking at the viewer with a friendly smile. However, one of the pyramids she walks past turns out to be an elephant in disguise, who blows a flute at her, causing her to transform into a snake (it is clear that the transformation is involuntary, as she appears terrified when that happens). The snake sways to the music and turns into a belly dancer, who then fades away except her belly, and turns into an eye.
Trumpets play, sounding the start of a performance, as the trumpeting elephants are revealed to be made of curtains with elephant versions of the traditional theatrical comedy and tragedy masks. They are now ripped into pieces, and a male and female elephant dance in one spotlight.
The male grabs the female's trunk, but she pulls back and he turns into a staircase. She climbs up the stairs and jumps into the ground, which turns into a lake. The male turns his legs into a canoe and paddles around the lake, using his trunk as a telescope, but until the female comes out of the lake, pretending to be a fountain. He looks at her with his telescope and she squirts him with water, then runs away and begins ice skating.
The male skates behind her and nearly falls, but she catches him and they skate off. They return on skis and go down a mountain, covering themselves with snow. They shake the snow off and dance, until their trunks touch and create a lighting bolt. The male grabs it as the female continues dancing. He rubs it on his butt (turning his back to us as he does so) then turns it back into a lightning bolt and hurls it at the female. It hits her in the head and she explodes into many couples of dancing elephants.
The elephants transform into vehicles and begin zooming around until they all collide and cause an explosion that launches them into the air. They fall and transform into clouds as the alcohol wears off and Dumbo recovers from his hallucination.
Lyrics[]
(instrumental)
Look out! Look out!
Pink elephants on parade.
Here they come!
Hippity hoppity.
They're here, and there.
Pink elephants everywhere!
Look out! Look out!
They're walking around the bed.
On their head!
Clippity cloppity.
Arrayed in braid.
Pink elephants on parade!
What'll I do? What'll I do?
What an unusual view!
I can stand the sight of worms
And look at microscopic germs
But technicolor pachyderms
Is really too much for me!
I am not the type to faint
When things are odd or things
are quaint
But seeing things you know that ain't
Can certainly give you an awful fright!
What a sight!
Chase 'em away!
Chase 'em away!
I'm afraid need your aid
Pink elephants on parade!
Hey hey hey
Pink elephants!
Pink elephants!
Pink elephants....
(instrumental)
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Part of the song was heard playing on TV in Disney's 2007 hybrid movie, Enchanted.
- The song was also played in the 1948 Donald Duck short, "Tea for Two Hundred".
- Some of the animation of the sequence was recycled for "Heffalumps and Woozles" in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. and in "Der Fuehrer's Face" during the hallucination scene of artillery shells.
- This song was included on the Disney Sing Along Songs VHS I Love to Laugh!
- An instrumental version is used as the soundtrack of a revised version of the scene in the 2019 live-action remake during the scene where the circus arrives at Dreamland before the act between Colette Marchant and Dumbo.
- This sequence, along with Dumbo and Timothy drinking the bucket of champagne, is adapted out of several, if not the most book adaptations of Dumbo. It would usually be replaced with a scene of Dumbo falling asleep and having a dream about flying, before ending up in the tree the next morning.