100 kg220 lb
Dumbo weighs about 100 kg (220 lb) by our estimate. Disney has never given him a weight, but both the 1941 cartoon and the 2019 film make him a newborn Indian (Asian) elephant. Real Asian elephant calves weigh about 100 kg at birth, and recent zoo calves have ranged from 91 to 140 kg.
| As heavy as a big calfThe Asian elephant calf born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in February 2026 | 140 kg309 lb |
|---|---|
| If he were an African elephantSeaWorld’s average for African newborns; males can reach 165 kg | 120 kg265 lb |
| Our estimateTypical birth weight of an Asian elephant calf | 100 kg220 lb |
| As light as a small calfSeaWorld’s average for Asian newborns; the Oregon Zoo’s 2025 calf was about 200 lb | 91 kg201 lb |
There is no official weight. Neither film, nor any Disney material we could find, puts a number on Dumbo. What both films do say is what kind of elephant he is and how old. In the 1941 cartoon a stork delivers him to Mrs. Jumbo, an Indian elephant, as Jumbo Jr., and he is nicknamed Dumbo for his ears. In the 2019 live-action film he is born at the Medici Brothers’ Circus to Mother Ella Jumbo, again an Indian elephant.
So the estimate is simply what a newborn Asian elephant weighs. Wikipedia puts a calf at about 100 kg (220 lb) at birth, and SeaWorld gives an average of 91 kg (200 lb) for Asian newborns. Real zoo births fall around the same numbers: the Oregon Zoo’s calf born in February 2025 weighed about 200 lb (91 kg), and the female born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on 2 February 2026 weighed 308 lb (140 kg).
Dumbo stays a baby for the whole story, so we use his birth weight. He would gain weight fast, though: SeaWorld says calves drink about 10 L of milk a day and weigh 850 to 900 kg by the time they are fully weaned at over two years old.
The 2019 Dumbo is computer animated, mostly by MPC. According to Computer Graphics World, the maquette the crew used on set was about 1 m (3.2 ft) high, which matches a real newborn: SeaWorld says calves stand about 1 m at birth, and the National Zoo’s 2026 calf measured 38.5 in (98 cm).
MPC told fxguide that Dumbo is meant to be an Asian elephant, but because Asian elephants have small ears, the team studied two African elephants for his. His ears ended up almost the size of an adult African bull’s. Tim Burton also asked for a rounder, less wrinkled face, closer to a human baby’s.
The weight was faked on set too. Special effects supervisor Hayley Williams explained that a ramp should bend under an elephant walking down it, so her team put a hydraulic rig under a wooden ramp and timed its dips to the animators’ footsteps. Overall VFX supervisor Richard Stammers said Burton wanted Dumbo’s flying to feel light in contrast to “his heaviness on the ground”.
An adult female Asian elephant averages about 2.7 tonnes (5,950 lb) and stands 2.4 m at the shoulder. If Mrs. Jumbo is typical, she weighs about 27 times as much as her son. Asian elephant pregnancies last 18 to 22 months, so she would have carried him for well over a year and a half before he was born.
About 220 lb, which is 100 kg. That is our estimate based on a newborn Asian elephant, since Disney has never given an official weight.
An Indian, or Asian, elephant in both the 1941 cartoon and the 2019 film. His huge ears are the exception: the 2019 animators modeled them on African elephants, which have much bigger ears.
An Asian elephant calf weighs about 91 to 100 kg (200 to 220 lb) on average, though some are heavier. African calves average about 120 kg (264 lb), and males can reach 165 kg (364 lb).
No. Dumbo and the other elephants were added digitally, mainly by MPC. On set, performer Edd Osmond stood in for Dumbo so the actors had something to look at and touch.
No height is given in either film. The maquette used on the 2019 set was about 1 m (3.2 ft) high, the same as a real newborn calf.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
