Baby Mine: The Story of Helen Aberson-Mayer, Dumbo’s Literary Mother
Walt Disney Studios was never shy about adapting familiar works of literature to the screen in the creation of their animated features, in truth many of their most acclaimed titles have bookly origins. From Hans Christen Anderson to Victor Hugo to A. A. Milne, many a famous writer would posthumously see their iconic prose adapted to cartoon form. Those only vaguely familiar with the history of Disney’s influences might be surprised to find that some films they assumed to be original ideas were in fact adaptations. One, unfortunately, doesn’t hear much said about Dodie Smith’s The Hundred and One Dalmatians or Felix Salten’s Bambi, a Life in the Woods , despite the familiarity most have with these narratives in the cinematic form. But likely the most obscure book to germinate into a Disney classic would be Dumbo. As one can see while watching its bombastic circus sideshow of title cards, the 1941 film states that it is “based on the book by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl”. Dumbo was an