Rialto Chatter: Is DUMBO the Next Disney Musical Headed to Broadway?

There may soon be a new Disney neighbor on the Great White Way, Michael Riedel reports in the New York Post this morning.  According to his report, Disney Theatricals has begun making plans to bring "Dumbo" to the stage, the classic children's story about a baby elephant born with oversized ears that allow him to fly, making him the target of ridicule amongst his peers.

Writes Riedel: "Disney is quietly laying the groundwork for a Broadway musical based on the animated classic 'Dumbo.' Word around Shubert Alley last week was that Disney was in talks with Stephen Daldry to direct."

While it is rumored that in the past Daldry, the Tony winning director of Billy Elliot, could not reach a deal with Disney, he is still in talks. 

The fourth film out of the Disney Animated Classics series, "Dumbo" was released in 1941 by RKO Radio Pictures, and is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy ("Roll-a-Book"). Running 64 minutes, it is the shortest of the Disney animated features and was the most financially successful film for Disney in the 1940s. 

Dumbo won the 1941 Academy Award for Original Music Score, awarded to musical directors Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace. Churchill and lyricist Ned Washington were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for "Baby Mine" (the song that plays during Dumbo's visit to his mother's cell), but did not win for this category. The film also won Best Animation Design at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.

No details regarding a creative team, casting, or a timeline have been released. Disney Theatricals is currently represented on Broadway by Mary Poppins and The Lion King.