Time & Perspective Quote by Leonard Maltin

For a critic, admitting “Dumbo... makes me cry” is a small act of rebellion against the profession’s usual armor. Leonard Maltin isn’t selling us a hot take; he’s puncturing the myth that expertise cancels out vulnerability. The ellipses do work here: they mimic the pause before someone confesses something they can’t quite justify with arguments, only with bodily memory.

“Every single time and in the exact same spot” is the key. It frames the film as a ritual, not a text to be decoded. Maltin’s specificity is a quiet critique of criticism itself: you can map theme and technique all day, but the real power of certain movies is mechanical and inevitable, like a well-placed chord change. He’s also implying that the “spot” matters more than the film’s reputation. Dumbo often gets treated as minor Disney, a short, odd entry with uncomfortable racial baggage and a circus setting that can feel dated. Maltin’s response refuses the hierarchy. The movie’s emotional engineering still lands, even when the viewer is fully aware of the gears.

“I just have a special affection” sounds almost apologetic, as if affection needs a permission slip in a culture that rewards detachment. That’s the subtext: the critic is also the kid in the audience, and the kid keeps winning. In an era when fandom and criticism blur, Maltin’s line reads like an early, honest version of the same truth: taste isn’t only what you can defend; it’s what consistently breaks you open.