Bambi (1942)
1942: A time of war and a baby deer saying “bird” and trying to get across a log.
Brief Backstory
Bambi, the 5th animated Disney movie, became an immediate success with numerous people in 1942 (same year Joe Biden was born) and was named one of the greatest animated movies of all time even after 80+ years later. It also gave a lot of kids PTSD with notorious scenes.
Story
Newborn Bambi experiences the forest and encounters scenes of danger, laughter, death, etc. as he grows to become the heir of the Prince of the Forest.
Random Facts
Only around a thousand words are said throughout the movie.
For some reason, Bambi and the Land Before Time have quite a few similarities, well really just that Littlefoot’s mother dies as does Bambi’s.
Along with Peter Pan, Bambi is one of the first Disney movies that Walt Disney made I saw, however the Little Mermaid was the very first Disney movie I recall seeing. Most of my family, especially my father didn’t like it except for me and my mother. Most of it was because of Bambi’s mother getting killed and I think the fact that it made dogs look bad.
The theme of “man” appearing was a foundation for the Jaws theme. Turns out Spielberg always looked up to Disney.
Paul McCartney, one of the two living members of the Beatles, is an environmentalist because of this movie.
The “hunting” dogs seen to the right don’t look act and look like dogs. Their movements and appearances are more cougar-like or something – An American Tail and Fievel Goes West cat attack scenes comes to mind for this.
The name Thumper was used for a character in A Bug’s Life and the ski guy from South Park. Two women in Diamonds are Forever (the weakest of the Connery Bond movies) were named Bambi and Thumper.
Donnie Dunagan, voice of Bambi before his adult self, because a solder in the marine corps (and a drill sergeant as well, hot damn.)
Random Opinions
Bambi’s mother getting killed was upsetting? There’s way more depressing Disney moments out there. Besides the mood whiplash kicks in quickly. And to think people say my generation’s overly sensitive!
Thumper seems more like a “merlin-like” character.
The bird getting killed and Bambi getting shot later after getting past the dogs are both to me pretty funny scenes though I tend to have somewhat of a sick sense of humor. Don’t judge me.
Not showing “man” was a good thing. A lot of highly-rated horror movies get to be scary by not showing much of the bad guy.
Pros
- Getting to watch Bambi go from saying “Bird!” and “Pretty pretty Flower!” to him kicking that asshole deer’s ass is satisfying as hell.
- The animation is the #1 reason why this was one of my favorites as a kid.
- The forest fire scene sets an example of why not to play with matches.
- The heightened sense of danger lurking in quite a few scenes is handled well like in the meadow.
Cons
- Probably one of the more boring Disney movies out there.
- Pacing is pretty slow in many areas.
- Not much time is spent on Bambi as an adult. Compare that to the Fox and the Hound and the Lion King.
Rating: 6/10 – Decent
While I liked it more as a 3 year old, as a 30+ year old I prefer other Disney movies. ‘Tis no Casablanca but still a classic.
2 responses to “Bambi”
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I don’t mean to pester you over my thoughts on classic animated Disney movies, but Bambi didn’t make a huge impact on me. I didn’t cry when Bambi’s mom died. Bambi doesn’t deserve to be in the National Film Registry. Should’ve been Boogie Nights.
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I didn’t cry when Bambi died (no seriously I’m shocked people cried at that but it was 1942 and there was a fierce war going on (WW2) but regardless I’ve seen way more movies from the 1940s that could make me cry a little. Long Voyage Home might be one of them, but when will I get to that one? Who knows. I got so much going on.
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