Movie #5 of The Disney Discussion
Bambi (1942)
Featuring the voice talents of Bobby Stewart, Donnie Dunagan, Hardie Albright, Peter Behn, Tim Davis, Sam Edwards, Stan Alexander, Sterling Holloway, Will Wright, Paula Winslowe, Cammie King, Ann Gillis, and Fred Shields
Directed by David D. Hand (supervising director)
***Please note that there are MAJOR plot spoilers ahead.***
Summary (in 150 words or less):
A young deer named Bambi is born. This is his tale of friendship, love, life, and death. Simplistic, but entirely effective.
Let the Discussion Begin...
Bambi is the Walt Disney Company's fifth full-length animated feature and it was released on August 13, 1942. Upon its initial release, the $1.7 million production only earned $1.64 million with World War II putting a damper on things (and causing the European market to be inaccessible). Subsequent rereleases allowed Bambi to earn a profit.
Critics were actually mixed on Bambi in its initial release, stating that the film wasn't fantastical enough for what "animation" had that point had been come to represent. However, today the film is looked upon with greater respect, earning the #3 spot on the American Film Institute's Top Ten Animated Films of All Time (placing after #1 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and #2 Pinocchio). As you'll soon see, I think Bambi rightly deserves that placement -- a statement which I couldn't have made for the films that rank higher than it on the list.
Bambi was not nominated for any Oscars, but it was selected in December 2011 for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.
The Characters
(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)
Unlike in Dumbo, having the main title character speak in Bambi proves to be much more successful in establishing the character's thoughts, actions, and emotions. The innocence of Bambi is felt by the audience much more than that of Dumbo simply due to the fact that Bambi can vocalize his feelings. This isn't to say Dumbo isn't moderately successful, but it's also one of the major reasons why Bambi is such a fantastic film.
Too goshdarn cute, I tell ya...
Plus, the animators add in the character of Thumper and how can you not love this rabbit? First off, he’s a rabbit, and rabbits, in general, are loved by all – I would imagine even gardeners would have to admit to the animal’s inherent cuteness. Secondly, young Thumper is voiced to near perfection by Peter Behn (no, you shouldn’t have heard of him…this was his only role). A little bit ornery, Thumper is the person that we in the audience connect with, while also providing the comic relief that this rather heavy story needs.
Flower's a guy...I realize that might not be obvious...
Least successful on the character front is Flower. Looking at the film, Flower is unnecessary and Thumper would have sufficed as Bambi’s only friend, but the addition of the cute skunk is certainly welcomed by me and it never works against the film. In fact, in this viewing, I was actually amazed at how little Flower appears in the film. I have to wonder if some of his scenes were left on the cutting room floor as this well known character gets very little screen time.
Not only does Man kill Bambi's mother, but he inadvertently starts a fire that ruins the forest. Us humans are just mean.
Ranked #20 on the American Film Institutes 100 Best Villains list, "Man" is the antagonist in Bambi. It's such a vague villain and is, in fact, the only Disney villain whom we never actually lay eyes upon. While there's no animated figure looming over the film's characters, Man's ominous presence is always felt. Man is simply doing what he feels he needs to do in order to survive which causes pain to these characters we’ve grown to love. Despite this never-seen villain, the havoc and fear he can cause is staggering. In a particularly gripping scene that so very easily could've landed as the Best Scene in the film, Man returns to the woods after killing Bambi’s mother. The animals hide as best they can. We see a family of quail and a female is growing increasingly more frightened. She literally starts to go a little crazy, feels that she must flee, escapes from her hiding place, and is immediately shot. Once again, another powerful moment.
The Music
Bambi is not known for its music and none of the four songs are sung by characters within the film. This is the first narrative Disney film that didn't have its characters express their feelings by song, but given this film's attempts to stay relatively realistic in its depiction of nature, it seems fitting that the characters don't sing. While the songs aren't necessarily "memorable," they are not a detriment to the film at all. They often either provide some nice respites from the heaviness or accompany montages that help showcase the animators' prowess in crafting the forest and its inhabitants.
The most successful song (and most well-known) is "Little April Shower" which provides the audience with a glimpse of the wildlife in the forest reacting to rain and thunderstorms. The sequence is nicely animated down to the smallest detail (rain falling on leaves, then into puddles), but admittedly it doesn't add anything to the plot. However, in its defense, it really wasn't meant to further things along.
Least successful is "Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song"...and it's not just because of the usage of "gay" in the title. This bright and cheery song is oddly placed immediately after the death of Bambi's mother -- an odd juxtaposition that proves a tiny bit jarring.
My Favorite Scene
It's tough to deny the emotional impact of the scene where Bambi’s mother is killed. It's an iconic piece of cinema known worldwide by all and it is one heck of a moment. A mother and child are grazing in a snow-covered field…the rustling of birds…a mother frantically rushes her child off the field for fear of an attack from Man. “Run, Bambi, run! Don’t look back!” Gunshot. A young deer continues to run, following his mother’s instructions to not look back. Finally, he stops. Calls for his mother as he ventures out into a field with snow lightly falling around him. The young deer is nervous, then sees his father looming above him. “Your mother can no longer be with you.” Just heartbreaking. And amazingly effective.
Random Thoughts
- During the making of the film, Walt Disney had two young fawns brought onto the studio lot in order for his animators to watch them as they aged and learn their mannerisms. This certainly proved beneficial as the animation of the animals in this production is top notch.
- This film totally tries to lull you into a sense of calmness and security. There's a scene about thirty minutes in during which Bambi, his mother, and all the other animals in the forest are prancing about in a meadow. I was sure this was when his mother was going to be shot. Nope...the animators fooled us by allowing all to escape unscathed only to have us be hit in the gut by the tragedy that occurs later.
- It’s kind of amazing how quickly and naturally the friendship between Bambi and Thumper is established within the film’s opening minutes. The outgoing Thumper and the reserved Bambi make a perfect fit right away.
- Unlike some other Disney films we'll tackle in this journey, Bambi's burgeoning relationship with his significant other Faline feels legit and never forced upon us by the storytellers. The two meet while young and grow up together, only to fall in love as adults. The romance feels natural and believable.
Final Analysis
(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)
Bambi is a near perfect film. It packs quite an emotional wallop into its short 70-minute running time. It succeeds in lulling the viewer into a sense that this is simply going to be a pleasant nature film with cute talking animals, only to throw us for a loop by creating some powerfully sad and emotional moments. Up until this point in Disney's animated features, we've never been faced head-on with death and Bambi doesn't shy away from the circle of life (which, obviously, we'll come to learn about in a future Disney flick). If there were a stigma attached to animated movies about being "for kids," Bambi should've changed that -- and it may very well have been one of the reasons the film wasn't overwhelmingly positively received by critics at the time.
Nowadays, the film is certainly revered, but I don’t think it is held on the same pedestal as Snow White or Pinocchio. In this reviewer's eyes, it certainly should be elevated to that pedestal and I, for one, am thrilled to have re-discovered this classic.
The RyMickey Rating: A
Join us next Wednesday for Saludos Amigos, the sixth film in The Disney Discussion.
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