Bambi (1942)

Bambi
This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011.
Genre: Animation Drama Directed by: Supervising Director David D. Hand Sequence Director James Algar Bill Roberts Norman Wright Sam Armstrong Paul Satterfield Graham Heid Produced by: Walt Disney Written by: Perce Pearce Larry Morey George Stallings Melvin Shaw Carl Fallberg Chuck Couch Ralph Wright Based on: Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten Starring: Hardie Albright Tim Davis Paula Winslowe Will Wright Fred Shields Music by: Frank Churchill Edward Plumb Production company: Walt Disney Productions Distributed by: RKO Radio Pictures Release date: August 9, 1942 (London) August 13, 1942 (United States)[1] Runtime: 70 minutes Country: United States Language: English Budget: $858,000[2] Box office: $267.4 million[3] Franchise: Bambi Sequel: Bambi II

"Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure is awful stuff to eat." I made that last part up myself."

— Thumper

Bambi is an American 1942 animated coming-of-age drama film directed by David Hand and produced by Walt Disney. It is based on a novel by Felix Salten, Bambi: A Life in the Woods. It was released in 1942 by RKO Radio Pictures and has been included in the United States National Film Registry in December 2011.

Synopsis

A young deer named Bambi joins his new friends, a rabbit named Thumper and a skunk named Flower, in exploring his forest home. As a boy, he learns from his doting mother and his father, The Great Prince of the Forest, that there are dangers in the open meadows where hunters can spot the animals, and he meets a beautiful young doe named Faline. As Bambi grows up, he learns that there is tragedy as well as beauty and joy in his forest world and on the path to adulthood.

Why It's A Love Song That Never Ends

1. The entire movie has extremely artistic and realistic animation that's popping out from a children's book illustration.
2. It has fairly great development for every character. Every character is memorable, especially Bambi and Thumper.
3. Thumper the rabbit is a great comic relief, especially in the scene where he helps Bambi skate on the ice.
4. It spans from heartwarming scenes (like Bambi's relationship with his father, the Great Prince of the Forest) to heartbreaking scenes (like the death of Bambi's mother) to thrilling scenes (like the forest on fire) with ease and without shoehorning them. The merit of this goes in part to the novel.
5. It teaches us, humans, to respect nature, without hammering it in.
6. The villain of the film, known as "Man" is very scary but he never appears on screen, which adds to the creepiness. The script and the plot make you hate the villain with passion, then at some point, you realize the villain...is a member of your own species.
7. It has a motivational soundtrack, which has a pretty classical vibe to it.
8. It has amazing vocal performances from the likes of Will Wright, Paula Winslowe, and Fred Shields.

Bad Qualities

1. Some scenes can be too scary, intense, and/or distressing for younger viewers, most notably the infamous death of Bambi's mother scene and the pheasant death.
2. Ronno, while an interesting villain, does not speak in the movie. He does speak in the sequel though even if it's a younger version of himself.

Reception

Bambi wasn't a success at all during its first release and grossed out less than it cost. This was due to WWII preventing a lot of the European and Asia Pacific markets to be accessed. After a few re-releases, the film grossed over $260 million worldwide.

Critics gave mixed reviews at the time of its release but the movie gained more and more approval by critics and public starting from its re-release in 1947 and now is seen as one of the greatest and most beloved Disney classics. It currently has a 8.2/10 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Trivia

• The chipmunk and the squirrel who make a brief appearance in the film were intended to originally have a major role and are a nod to Laurel and Hardy.
• Paul McCartney claimed that he started caring for animal rights after he saw the scene where Bambi's mother gets killed off-screen by the hunter.
• The creepy music that accompanies the Man is of three notes only.
• Disney specifically stressed about animating the deers better, more realistic way than in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Eric Larson, animator at Disney Studios, claimed that the deers in Snow White were animated "like big flour sacks".
• There's a famous theory that some Disney fans believe the hunter "Man" that killed Bambi's mother was Gaston from from Beauty and the Beast.
• There are two deleted scenes that could be in both storyboards and test screening until it was removed for been too grim, first is Bambi's mother was get shot on-screen and lastly is shown the Man's corpse (only the arm with the rifle) after the fire.

Videos

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External Links

• Bambi (1942) at the Internet Movie Database
• Bambi (1942) on Rotten Tomatoes

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