50 free Dumbo trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Dumbo was Disney's cheapest feature, made in a hurry to pay for Pinocchio and Fantasia, and it turned into one of the studio's most enduring films. This quiz covers the 1941 original front to back: Jumbo Jr. and his ears, Timothy Q. Mouse, Casey Jr., the stork, the mad-elephant train car, the clowns' fire act, the champagne, the pink elephants, the crows and the magic feather. It also takes in the making of the film (the strike, the budget, the Oscar, the Time cover that Pearl Harbor bumped), the Disneyland ride, Dumbo's Circus on The Disney Channel, and Tim Burton's 2019 remake with Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton. About a third of the questions are easy enough for kids who know the film, a third are medium and the rest are for Disney historians. Every answer is checked against the films' reference pages.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In what year was Disney's animated Dumbo released?
1941
It came out on October 23, weeks before Pearl Harbor pushed the elephant off the cover of Time.
Q 02What is Dumbo's real name?
Jumbo Jr.
The other elephants coin "Dumbo" as a mocking nickname after he sneezes and reveals his enormous ears.
Q 03Who is Dumbo's only true friend besides his mother?
A mouse named Timothy
The pairing parodies the stereotype that elephants are terrified of mice.
Q 04How long is Dumbo, making it one of Disney's shortest animated features?
64 minutes
It was deliberately simple and cheap, made to recoup the losses of two expensive predecessors.
Q 05Dumbo was based on a story written for the prototype of what novelty toy?
A Roll-a-Book
Merchandise chief Kay Kamen showed Walt Disney the prototype in late 1939.
Q 06Which two earlier Disney features lost money, prompting Dumbo to be made cheaply?
Pinocchio and Fantasia
World War II had closed off European markets, and both films flopped.
Q 07Roughly how much did Dumbo cost to make?
$950,000
That was half the cost of Snow White and less than a third of Pinocchio; it returned a profit of $850,000.
Q 08Which Academy Award did Dumbo win?
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture
Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace won for the score; "Baby Mine" was also nominated for Best Original Song.
Q 09What is the name of the circus train in Dumbo?
Casey Jr.
The anthropomorphic 2-4-0 locomotive is now the second float in the Main Street Electrical Parade.
Q 10Who delivers the baby elephants and other circus babies at the start of the film?
Storks
A tardy stork drops Dumbo onto the moving train.
Q 11In which US state does the circus spend its winter off-season in the film?
Florida
The 2019 remake likewise opens in a Gulf Coast circus town in the same state.
Q 12After she spanks the bullies, Dumbo's mother is locked in a train car under what one-word label?
Mad
She speaks only once in the whole film, to name her baby, and sings him the lullaby "Baby Mine".
Q 13Dumbo is demoted to the clowns' act, in which he must do what?
Jump from a burning platform into pie filling
The clowns keep raising the platform to make the stunt more dangerous.
Q 21What was the name of Dumbo's mom in the original story before Disney renamed her Mrs. Jumbo?
Mother Ella
The 2019 remake restored the original name.
Q 22What historic event interrupted Dumbo's production in May 1941?
The Disney animators' strike
Ward Kimball, chief animator of the bird characters, kept working despite sympathizing with the strikers.
Q 23Why was Time's planned December 1941 'Mammal of the Year' cover on Dumbo delayed?
The attack on Pearl Harbor
The story finally ran on December 29.
Q 14What do Dumbo and his mouse friend accidentally drink, triggering the famous hallucination sequence?
Water spiked with champagne
They wake up the next morning high in a tree with no idea how they got there.
Q 15What do Dumbo and his mouse friend hallucinate after getting drunk?
Pink elephants
The sequence was animated with black-painted cels and transparent elephants over colored backgrounds.
Q 16Who gives the mouse the "magic feather" to convince Dumbo he can fly?
The crows
Dumbo drops it mid-fall and his friend admits it was only a psychological aid.
Q 17Which actor, also the voice of Jiminy Cricket, voiced the lead crow?
Cliff Edwards
The character was called Jim Crow on the model sheets and renamed Dandy Crow in the 1950s.
Q 18Which Disney regular, later the voice of Winnie the Pooh, voiced Mr. Stork?
Sterling Holloway
The film's voice actors were all uncredited.
Q 19Who voiced Dumbo's mouse friend?
Edward Brophy
The mouse replaced a wise robin named Red from the original story.
Q 20Which actress voiced the pompous leader of the elephants, and later the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella?
Verna Felton
The other gossiping elephants are named Catty, Giddy and Prissy.
Q 24Who was Dumbo's supervising director, told to keep the film simple and cheap?
Ben Sharpsteen
The film needed none of the costly effects that ballooned the budgets of the studio's other features of the era.
Q 25Which studio distributed Dumbo on its original release?
RKO Radio Pictures
Disney delivered the finished film to RKO on September 11, 1941.
Q 26Which lyricist wrote the words to Dumbo's songs, including "Baby Mine"?
Ned Washington
He had also written the lyrics to Pinocchio's "When You Wish Upon a Star".
Q 27How does Dumbo become famous at the end of the film?
His mouse friend becomes his manager and signs a Hollywood contract
He and his mother get a private coach on the circus train.
Q 28What restriction did Disney+ place on Dumbo in 2021?
Limited it to viewers 7 and older
The service cited the resemblance of some characters to racist minstrel shows and added an advisory about outdated depictions.
Q 29On which TV program did Dumbo have its heavily edited television premiere in 1955?
Disneyland
It was re-released in theaters in 1949, 1959, 1972 and 1976.
Q 30What was Dumbo's Circus, which aired on The Disney Channel in the 1980s?
A live-action puppet series
Dumbo's friends included twin bears Claude and Lolly and a hippo named Godfry.