Great Prince of the Forest

The Great Prince of the Forest is one of the two overarching protagonists (alongside Bambi's mother) of Disney's 5th full-length animated feature film Bambi.
He is Bambi's father, the widower of Bambi's mother, the father-in-law of Faline, and the paternal grandfather of twins, Geno and Gurri. He is the protector of the forest until he retires, and Bambi succeeds him. 
He was voiced by the late Fred Shields in the first film and in the midquel, who also portrayed Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series, and Jean-Luc Picard in the Star Trek: The Next Generations series and Star Trek: Picard TV series.
==Appearances==
===Bambi===
The Great Prince appears as a minor character in the film. The opening scene shows the Great Prince standing on top of the hill watching his newborn son, Bambi and his mother, along with all the forest animals visiting and congratulating his mother.
A few months later, the Great Prince appears on the meadow, causing all the other deer to stand still in reverence. While walking past the other deer, he stops and looks at Bambi and his ears move forward in curiosity before he leaves the meadow. Bambi asks his mother about him, and she explains that everyone respects him, because he's the oldest surviving deer in the forest, and he's very brave and very wise. 
A few seconds later, while the Great Prince is standing on another hill, he sees and hears Man in the forest, and he rushes back to the meadow to alert the other deer and the other forest animals. Bambi gets lost trying to find his mother, and the Great Prince finds him and leads him back to his mother, and they run to safety with the other deer and forest animals. 
Later, during the winter, Bambi and his mother are eating Spring grass, his mother senses Man's return, and she yells at Bambi to run and not look back. A gunshot is heard, and his mother is shot and killed. After returning to the safety of his mother's den, Bambi calls his mother, and wanders in the snow looking for her, and he's shocked when he sees the Great Prince. He tells Bambi: "Your mother can't be with him anymore. Come, my son." Devastated, Bambi goes with him.
When Spring comes, the Great Prince sees an adult Bambi standing on a hill overlooking Man's campsite, and he tells him that Man has returned to the forest, and there are more of them. They must go deep into the forest, and he tells Bambi to follow him, but Bambi turns back to look for his future mate, Faline.
Unfortunately, due to Man's carelessness, a forest fire breaks out, and the Great Prince finds Bambi shot in the leg by Man, and orders him to get up and to follow him. While running from the fire, they jump over the waterfall and into the water, and they get to safety and meet up with Faline and the other surviving animals.
The Great Prince is last seen at the end of the film, where he and Bambi are standing together on top of the hill watching Faline, who has given birth to twins, Geno and Gurri. The Great Prince is happy that he lived long enough to become a grandfather. After father and son share a glance, he retires, and turns around and leaves, and Bambi becomes the new Great Prince of the Forest.
===Bambi II===
The Great Prince appears as the film's deuteragonist in the midquel, which takes place after Bambi's mother's death and before Bambi reaches adulthood. The opening scene takes place after Bambi's mother is shot and killed by hunters. Bambi's father tells him that his mother can't be with him anymore, and he tells him to come with him, and he takes Bambi to his den. Afterward, Friend Owl arrives and he asks if there's anything he can do to help. The Great Prince tells him to find a suitable doe to raise Bambi, since he was taught that raising fawns is the doe's job, but Friend Owl reminds him that food is scarce during the winter, and the does can barely feed themselves. The Great Prince then decides to let Bambi stay with him until Spring.
While Bambi is staying with his father, he joins him while he's doing his duties protecting the forest from Man and other dangerous threats, and he tries to learn as much as he can. Soon, the Great Prince allows Bambi to go with Thumper and his sisters to see the Groundhog, who if he couldn't see his shadow meant spring would come, and says he will meet him later. Bambi later goes to a quiet spot, and he falls asleep and dreams about visiting his mother in Heaven. In the dream, he and his mother nuzzle each other, and his mother gives him reassurance that everything will be okay, and that she's always there, even if he can't see her. 
Bambi then wakes up hearing her voice and goes out into the meadow, but then learns that it is one of Man's tricks, and he freezes in fear after seeing Man's hunting dogs. Luckily, the Great Prince arrives just in time, and he fights off the hunting dogs, and he and Bambi run back to his den. He then yells at Bambi for falling for one of Man's tricks and for freezing in fear instead of running. Bambi apologizes, and he asks about his mother: "She's never coming back, is she?" The Great Prince sadly lowers his head, and he quietly answers: "No." He then walks away to be alone to calm himself down.
Sometime later, the Great Prince sees Bambi jump over a large chasm while he and Thumper were being chased by Ronno the Bully, and he is shocked, and he tells him that he didn't make a jump like that until he had antlers. When Ronno the Bully tries to jump, he slips and falls into the mud.
When Spring comes, Bambi and the Great Prince grow closer, and while they're playing, Friend Owl arrives and tells the Great Prince that he found a suitable doe named Mena to raise Bambi. At first, Bambi is happy to meet her after she tells him that she grew up with his mother, but after learning that his father was sending him away with her, he yells at his father, including telling him that he wished his mother was there instead of him, and he runs off to tell his friends. The Great Prince tells Friend Owl: "This is my fault. Bambi needs a mother. A prince should NOT be raising a child!" Bambi eventually goes with Mena, but he also nuzzles his father's chest before leaving. 
While Bambi goes with Mena, Ronno the Bully torments Bambi about his father's decision to send him away, and they fight, and Mena accidentally ends up in one of Man's snare traps. When they hear the alarm go off, along with hearing Man's hunting dogs, Ronno runs away. Bambi then hears Mena yelling his mother's last words before she was killed, he is determined not to let history repeat itself, and he distracts the hunting dogs, and drives them off.
Afterward, the Great Prince arrives and finds Mena and frees her from the snare trap, and he asks her where Bambi is. He then sees Bambi drive off Man's hunting dogs, along with seeing him using his hooves to knock one of the hunting dogs off the mountain, but when Bambi jumps to another cliff, it collapses and he falls and loses consciousness. The Great Prince is horrified, and he finds Bambi and thinks he is dead, and he sheds a single tear. Bambi regains consciousness, and says for the first time: "Dad?" to the shock and relief of the Great Prince, and he answers: "I'm here! I'm here!" and they lovingly nuzzle each other. Mena then leaves, deciding that she's no longer needed.
A few months later, the Great Prince takes a now teenage Bambi through the forest to a glade and tells his son that this is where he first met his mother, and he was about Bambi's age. Bambi asks him what he was like, and the Great Prince answers that he was a lot like him.
==Gallery==
===Images===
Imagebatgpotf.jpg|Bambi sees his father for the first time
Imagetgpotfecu.jpg|The Great Prince stops and takes a closer look at his son, Bambi for the first time 
Imagetgpsd.jpg|The Great Prince senses danger, and signals the other deer and forest animals to run
Imagetgplbts.jpg|The Great Prince helps his son, Bambi get to safety with his mother
Imagetgpabib2.jpg|The Great Prince with his son, Bambi in Bambi II
Imageobtgpotf.jpg|The Great Prince talking to a young adult Bambi about Man's return to the forest
==Trivia==
*The Great Prince looks like Donner from Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.
==External Links==
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