Dumbo

In 1919 Sarasota, Florida, equestrian performer Holt Farrier returns after World War I to his previous employer, the Medici Brothers' Circus. The circus has run into financial troubles; Ringmaster Medici reveals he was forced to sell his horses after Holt's wife, Annie, died from the Spanish flu outbreak. After Holt reveals that he lost his arm in the Battle of the Argonne, Medici instead hires him as the caretaker for Mother Ella Jumbo, the circus's pregnant Indian elephant. She gives birth to a calf with unusually large ears, and Medici orders Holt to hide them, fearing how the public might react to such a deformity.