Each year , TIMEmagazine commemorate aPerson of the Year , someone the editorial staff believes had the greatest impact on the culture at prominent . For 2023,Taylor Swiftwas chosen ; preceding years have included everyone from presidents to Vicar of Christ .
But in 1941 , the magazinesatirizedits own theme by namingDumbo“Mammal of the Year . ” And were it not forPearl Harbor , the pachyderm would have been on the cover .
Based on the bookDumbo the Flying Elephantby Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl , Disney’sDumbowas the story of a babe elephant who is exploited in a circus for his oversized ears — auricle that finally enable him to take flight . Though abbreviated ( it runs just 64 minutes ) , the moving-picture show represented a replication for Disney , which suffered fiscal loss withPinocchioandFantasiaand output blow from an animators ’ strike .
Dumbo was , in a common sense , thebaby Yodaof the period , and soTIMEformulated architectural plan to acquaint him as Mammal of the Year on the cover version of its December 29 , 1941 , progeny . The magazine even commission Disney artists to render the grapheme as a black and blank pencil drafting .
But as the issue was being prepared , news show broke of an attack onPearl Harbor . The battle would sling the U.S. firm intoWorld War II , an upshot that made profile a cute cartoon elephant irrelevant at best and offensive at worst . Instead , TIMEscrambled to place General Douglas MacArthur on its cover .
Dumbo was never mean to supplant or replaceTIME ’s Person ( formerly Man ) of the Year . In 1941 , that was PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt . To appointment , the publication has key out only two non - human subjects for the one-year honor : the computer in 1982 and Earth in 1988 .
TIMEdid stillprofileDumbo in the pages of its December 29 issue , cite him as a form of respite from the tragedies unfolding around the world .
“ The most appealing new persona of this yr of warfare , he is almost sure to terminate up in the exclusive realm of children ’s classic , ” the powder magazine wrote . “ He may not become a U.S. folk hero , but he is sure as shooting the mammal - of - the - yr . ”
