Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Music – Motion Picture Soundtrack – Drama or Comedy, Bambi is a true big-screen animated classic. Long before audiences were introduced to Aladdin, The Lion King, or Finding Nemo, Walt Disney single-handedly conjured the animated feature out of thin air and turned it into an enduring and highly respected genre, creating one family classic after another, beginning with Snow White. (1937), then Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941) before creating this gem in 1942. Directed by David Hand, longtime Disney animator and supervising director of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi it is a masterpiece of color, movement and the beauty of life. Their relative simplicity harkens back to a time gone by when such films focused on symbolism, emotional breadth, and pushed the limits of artistic creativity, rather than catering to a perceived audience demographic. The result is a truly extraordinary and memorable family experience…
Bambi begins with the birth in the forest of a young fawn (Bambi) who comes into the world surrounded by an eager crowd of admirers. Hailed as the “great prince of the forest”, Bambi is thrust into an exotic world of plant and animal life, complete with all the ups and downs experienced in the world of reality. One of the most powerful scenes in the film (and the one most often referenced in regards to Bambi) is when the dreaded “man” (i.e., a band of hunters) enters the woods and kills Bambi’s mother. Bambi. Although the scene takes place off camera, Disney manages to convey the full emotional trauma of the event in the briefness of a few bold and powerful brushstrokes.
As Bambi seeks to recover from the death of his mother, he must learn to go from clumsy fawn to fearless male. The charming scenes of Bambi tumbling on a frozen pond are soon overshadowed by the power of him maturing into a formidable leader. He helps him on his journey with a parade of unique personalities, the most notable of which is a rabbit named Thumper. Thumper’s vocal speed and his eagerness to befriend Bambi threaten to steal the show, but the growing deer never loses his well-deserved spotlight. He adds a skunk named Flower and a beautiful doe named Faline (Bambi’s love interest), and the film comes together in its own right, creating a combination of tragedy and triumph that all ages can enjoy…
In stark contrast to its contemporary peers, Bambi is a refreshing departure from today’s highly commercial animated features. Though Thumper provides much-needed comic relief, the film is more than just an avalanche of juvenile one-liners, and it features absolutely zero fart jokes. Instead, Bambi wraps up a timeless tale of a lifetime’s journey to adulthood in the majesty of Mother Nature. His witty illustration of a forest teeming with wildlife and the dangers its inhabitants face is truly impressive. In short, Bambi has all the makings of a tinsel town classic, one that should make today’s Disney creations green with envy…