September 18, 1983 [Reflections after seeing Dumbo] I guess the secret is to have big, powerful, resonant themes underlying small, everyday, believable actions. If the themes are missing, you get a trivial, boring story. But if the actions are as grandiose as the themes, you get a myth, which is harder for contemporary audiences to identify with. What you need to do is translate the myth into modern, small-scale terms.
