The Young-Deer•Teenage-Prince Bambi

Bambi is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1942 animated feature film of the same name. A deer living in a forest, he is best friends with Thumper (a rabbit) and Flower (a skunk). However, he was closest to his mother, who was shot and killed by a hunter during his first winter. Raised into a buck by his father.
==Background==
===Appearance===
Bambi is either a roe deer, white-tailed deer, or mule deer depending on the source. In the original Felix Salten novels, he is explicitly stated to be a roe deer. His appearance in Disney material was inspired by white-tailed deer according to some sources and mule deer according to others. He may be a cross between certain types of deer, but this is just speculation. Regardless of what type of deer, it remains consistent across all of his appearances that he is a male deer. He has brown fur and brown eyes. As a fawn, his fur is somewhat lighter and is sprinkled with white spots. As he grows, the spots leave, his fur darkens and he grows antlers.
===Biography===
Sources vary on many aspects of Bambi's life. While there are some things in general about his life that are certain, such as his mother's eventual death at the hands of Man, many elements of Bambi's life are inconsistent from story to story.
Bambi's life began at an unknown time, though it was likely in or before the month of April. One source implies that it might have been December 22. He was born in a den to a mother whose name is unknown. She was a young doe at the time. His father was the Great Prince of the Forest, though the Old Stag was not present for his son's birth and wouldn't actually meet his son until much later. Shortly after his birth, Bambi's home was flooded with visitors from all over the forest in which Bambi and his mother lived, with all of the visitors hoping to see the "Young Prince". Among those friendly visitors was Friend Owl and Mama Bunny and her several children, including her daughters and her son, Thumper. According to one source, it was actually thanks to Thumper that Bambi received his name; his mother had not yet named him and when Thumper childishly mispronounced the word "baby", she was struck with inspiration and decided to call her son Bambi.
Bambi grew, as most fawns do, and soon learned to walk, despite his pronounced clumsiness. During a day of fun with Thumper and six of his sisters, he learned to speak for the first time. His first word was, "bird", which he learned thanks to help of Thumper. Within minutes, he also learned to say the words "butterfly", "flower", and "pretty". It was while a sniffing a patch of flowers that he came across a young skunk. The skunk and Bambi became fast friends, with Bambi mistakenly believing he was a flower, too. Though Bambi may have been mistaken, the name stuck, and "Flower" would remain a close friend of Bambi and Thumper's.
It was also during this tender stage of his life that Bambi became friends with Buckteeth. Like Flower, Buckteeth was not his actual name. Rather, it was a nickname bestowed upon him by Bambi that would stick with him for life.
Later, when he was more verbose and energetic, Bambi was taken to the meadow for the first time. Different sources give different accounts about his first visit to the meadow. According to one, Bambi first ran out to the meadow while racing Thumper and his sisters, only to be chided by his mother for running out into the dangerous field. Another account does not include Thumper and his sisters in the narrative; Bambi and his mother are alone when they approach the meadow, though Bambi still rushes onto it out of pure joy only to once again be warned by his mother of its dangers.
During one trip to the meadow, he first met and befriend the skittish forest prey Friend Hare. On another trip, he met his mother's relative Ena and her children, Faline and Gobo. According to one account, Bambi's first meeting with Ena and Faline was, coincidentally, also Bambi's first ever trip to the meadow. After briefly chatting with Thumper and his family, who were enjoying a meal of clover, Bambi followed Bullfrog to a river. As Bambi looked at his reflection in the water, he realized that there was a second reflection of another fawn. This was his first time ever seeing another fawn, so he ran away to his mother in fear. His mother explained to him that the friendly fawn was Faline. Bambi was reluctant to speak to Faline at first, but he soon warmed up to her, and the two engaged in a friendly chase. This account slightly contradicts another account, which says that while Bambi did indeed first meet Faline on the meadow, it was not his first trip but a subsequent visit. This source also says that Bambi not only met Faline that night, but her twin brother, Gobo, too. He and his mother saw them from a distance, and his mother immediately recognized the twins' mother as her sister, Ena. She took Bambi to them. Bambi, Faline, and Gobo were all nervous around each other at first, but they soon warmed up to each other and engaged in a friendly race.
At any rate, moments after meeting Faline, Bambi was surprised by yet another momentous meeting on the meadow. According to one source, he, Faline, and Gobo were suddenly surprised to see two stags, one large and regal and the other slightly smaller, on the other end of the meadow. They did not approach the stags but questioned as to who they were. Their mothers explained that those were their fathers. Another source says that Bambi did not just see two stags on the meadow, but a whole host of young bucks who stood in honor of the Great Prince of the Forest. Though Bambi did not know at it the time, that Great Prince was his father, and his first ever meeting with his sire was a cold one; the Old Stag stared coldly at his son for a few seconds. Bambi tried to smile at him, but the stag continued to stare before walking away. Rest of biography is yet to be written.
==Relationships==
===Faline===
Faline is Bambi's mate and childhood friend. Faline's mother, Ena, was the older sister of Bambi's mother, making them maternal cousins. Another version, however, says that Ena was the cousin of Bambi's mother, making Bambi and Faline more distant cousins. The two first met on the meadow when they were just fawns. At first, Bambi was very shy around her, not wanting to speak to her. They became friends after Faline licked his face several times, leading to him chasing her through the meadow.
Their friendship would continue to remain strong throughout their childhood, though Bambi would still occasionally become nervous and bashful around her. Even though he may have been somewhat intimidated by her, when the situation called for it, Bambi would willingly defend her. This could be seen in him defending her from bullies such as Ronno.
The two began to feel romantically for each other as they progressed into adolescence, even sharing an accidental kiss at one point. However, it would seem that shortly after, for unknown reasons, they fell out of contact with each other. They met again some months later as full-grown adults. Again, Bambi was initially somewhat intimidated by her, but became comfortable around her after she licked his face, this time romantically. Just as when they were children, Faline would inspire Bambi to be brave, as he fought and defeated both Ronno and Karus, potential suitors for Faline, in order to be with her. After his defeat of these two, he and Faline became mates.
Their love for each other could be seen again when, in the wake of the return of Man to the forest, the two tried to find each other. When Faline was cornered by Man's hunting dogs, Bambi bravely battled the canines in order to let Faline escape. He risked his life and was even shot immediately following his defeat of the dogs. As an ensuing forest fire consumed much of the forest, Faline waited for her love to return, hoping he would come back love. He did, and the lovers were reunited.
Even though their relationship seemed to be at its strongest during this time, it was shortly afterwards that the two began to grow apart as Bambi began to spend more time being mentored by his father. He began to live a life of solitude and spend less time with Faline. By winter, the two hardly had any sort of relationship at all.
Even after Faline bore Bambi two children, Geno and Gurri, he was still not a constant figure in her life. This was due both to his somewhat solitary lifestyle and the fact that, after the death of his father, he had become the leader of the herd and the new Great Prince of the Forest and now had duties that kept away from his family. He would sometimes visit during the day when the children were asleep and, as Geno and Gurri aged, began to visit them and Faline even more. Despite his other duties, he still showed love and affection towards Faline whenever he was with her, and she continued to admire and adore him.
===Thumper===
Bambi and Thumper first met shortly after the former's birth. Thumper was the elder of the two and took on something of a teacher role in Bambi's life. He was instrumental in teaching him how to jump over logs, talk, tell the difference between a bird and a butterfly, and tell the difference between a butterfly and a flower, among other things. The two quickly became best friends as Thumper consistently taught his younger friend new things about the world, which Bambi greatly appreciated.
Thumper was the first one to tell Bambi that there were other deer in the forest besides him and his mother. He also helped explain clover to him and explain to him what ice was.
After Bambi's mother died, the two's relationship continued to grow as Thumper provided a support for Bambi, encouraging him to actively seek out a relationship with his father. He gave him advice on how to build relationships with words of wisdom such as, "Parents like it when you ask them questions." When Bambi revealed his desire to be brave like his father, Thumper, with the assistance of their mutual friend, Flower, taught the Young Prince how to growl and how to be "scarier than whatever's scaring you."
At some unknown point, Bambi and Thumper apparently fell out of contact with each other, not reuniting until adulthood. Their reunion only lasted a short time as Thumper quickly left Bambi to spend time with Miss Bunny, much to Bambi's disappointment. Despite their relationship not being as close as it once was, the two would still interact occasionally, with Thumper's sons, Hopper and Patter, becoming friends with Bambi's children, Geno and Gurri.
===Ronno===
Bambi first met Ronno when he was still young. According to many sources, the two were essentially rivals from the outset. One source says that Ronno and Bambi met on the meadow. There, Ronno, still a fawn, tricked the young Bambi into getting close to Man, though the human which he saw was, in truth, just a harmless child. Though he was safe and unharmed, Bambi was still left with a distaste for Ronno following this nasty prank. Another source says that Ronno, a fawn bursting into staghood with budding antlers in this account, first met Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Faline, and Thumper's sisters on Groundhog Day after he scared the Groundhog in an attempt to humor everyone. The two's rivalry began shortly afterwards as Ronno apparently became jealous of Bambi's popularity. Another account claims that Ronno, a full-grown adult who had already been wounded once by Man, met Bambi, Faline, Bambi's mother, Ena, Gobo, Karus, Nettla, and Marena during Bambi's first winter. In this account, Ronno was at first very friendly towards Bambi, only becoming rough towards him after Bambi's mother died and Bambi became an adult and thus a rival for Faline's affections.
At any rate, despite the variance in Ronno's personality and attitudes in each account, all sources are clear that Bambi was at first friendly towards the older deer. He did not see in him a rival, enemy, or threat, instead viewing him as a potential new friend. Bambi did little to facilitate any sort of conflict between the two. Once when they were fawns, Ronno, jealous of the attention that Faline was giving Bambi, tried to goad Faline away from Bambi against her will. Bambi's response, though forceful, was a simple "leave her alone." This, paired with some interference from Thumper, caused Ronno to burst in rage at the Young Prince and chase him through the forest.
It seems that at the core of Ronno's disliking of Bambi is jealousy. At some points, he seems jealous of Bambi's close relationship with the Great Prince of the Forest. At many other points, he is intensely jealous of Bambi's closeness with Faline, desiring to have her to himself. It was jealousy over Faline's love of Bambi that led to Ronno and Bambi, now adults, engaging in combat with one another. Bambi proved the victor in the violent battle, and what became of Ronno's relationship with him afterwards is unknown.
===Other relationships===
*Flower - Best friend
*Friend Owl - Friend
*Bambi's mother - Mother
*The Great Prince of the Forest - Father
*Mena - Friend
*Ena - Aunt
*Geno - Son
*Gurri - Daughter
*Ronno - Rival
==Gallery==
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==Behind the Scenes==
Bambi was created by Felix Salten as the titular character of his novel, Bambi: A Life in the Woods, which was first released in 1922. He was conceived as a roe deer, a species of deer found in Salten's native Austria. He later appeared in Salten's 1939 novel, Bambi's Children, the sequel to Bambi: A Life in the Woods.
Bambi: A Life in the Woods was adapted into a film by American filmmaker Walt Disney in 1942. As the titular character, Bambi played a key role in the film. While Salten's original novels referred to him as a roe deer, Disney planned to depict Bambi as a mule deer instead. His mind was changed by artist Jake Day, though Day did not advocate for Bambi to remain a roe deer, instead arguing that Bambi should be a white-tailed deer. He arranged for two white-tailed deer fawns to be sent from their native Maine to California, where Disney's studio was located. These fawns would be studied by Disney's animators for months as they matured into adulthood. These fawns served as the inspiration for Bambi and his love interest, Faline, though it should be noted that Bambi still has some traits in common with mule deer.
Following Bambi, the character appeared in a variety of media, including comics and even more animation. His foray into comics began in 1942 with the Bambi comic strip. Among his more significant post-Bambi appearances in animation was a cameo in the 1955 film No Hunting starring Donald Duck.
Bambi made his first live-action appearance in a brief cameo in Perri, the 1957 True-Life Fantasy film based on Felix Salten's novel, Perri: The Youth of a Squirrel.
===Voices===
*Infant-Fawn - Bobby Stewart.
*Regular-Fawn - Donnie Dunagan.
*Adolescent-Fawn - Hardie Albright.
*Fawn (Bambi II) - Alexander Gould.