Ya know, I always loved Dumbo, too, but I was reading an article about how at the time it was made, it was kinda an after thought. Walt Disney was focused on a different movie and didn't expect Dumbo to practically save his company. It seems Disney has a history of putting all their hopes on one movie (like they did with Pocohontas) while not expecting much from the other concurrent project (Lion King), and then being surprised by the smash successes of the smaller movies.