Bambi

Bambi is a 1942 American-German animated drama movie. David Hand was the head director (he was in charge of other directors). Walt Disney made the movie. It is based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten. RKO Radio Pictures sent the movie to theatres on August 13, 1942. It is the fifth movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. The story is about a baby deer named Bambi. He learns to grow up in the wild after hunters shoot his mother. The main characters are Bambi (a roe deer) his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his mother), and his friends: Thumper (a rabbit), Flower (a skunk), and Faline (who becomes his wife later).
For the movie, Disney changed Bambi to a mule deer. In the book, Bambi was a Roe deer. However, roe deer do not live in the United States, and Americans know more about mule deer. The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound (Sam Slyfield), Best Song (for "Love Is a Song" sung by Donald Novis) and Original Music Score. In June 2008, the American Film Institute wrote a list of its "Top 10"--the best ten movies--after asking over 1,500 people. Bambi came in third in animation. In December 2011, the movie was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
This movie has a sequel called Bambi II.
The story
A little fawn called Bambi is born in the woods. In his first days of life, he explores the forest around him. He makes a friend named Thumper. Thumper is a rabbit. Bambi learns new words every day. Bird is his first word. He learns butterflies, rain, and meadow. He sees his father (the Great Prince of the Forest) for the first time. The movie first shows Bambi's childhood, such as a walk in the woods, a day in the meadow, and his first experience seeing snow.
The most famous part of the movie is the death of Bambi's mother. Bambi and his mother have trouble finding food. One day, Bambi's mother finds a patch of grass, and they eat. The audience hears scary music (Man's theme). Bambi's mother knows there is danger. She tells Bambi to run. As they run across an icy field, she screams "Faster! Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running! Keep running!". Bambi runs away, but there is a gunshot. Bambi gets back to the den but finds that his mother is not there. He walks around, and desperately calls for her. He meets his father, the Great Prince, who tells him that "your mother can't be with you anymore". Bambi follows his father into the woods, taking one last look behind him.
The next spring, Bambi and his friends are young adults. They meet a wise old owl, called Friend Owl. The owl tells them of the dangers of falling in love. They make vows not to fall in love. However, they fall in love at first sight very soon. Bambi falls in love with his old childhood friend Faline. He happily dances in the clouds until another deer gets in the way. He tries to get Faline to go with him, but Bambi does not want to. He gets into a fight with this deer. Bambi wins. He goes on a date with Faline. The Man comes back and makes more trouble for the animals. Bambi saves Faline from some angry dogs.
A forest fire comes and nearly destroys everything. Bambi has trouble getting up, but his father helps him. They both make it to an island where the animals have got together. The next spring, everyone goes to see Bambi and Faline's new fawns (baby deer). The wise owl says that Bambi should be proud. The Great Prince steps down from his current place as king, and Bambi is left standing proudly. A chorus sings the song from the beginning, Love is a Song.
Production
Walt Disney wanted to have realistic detail in this animated movie. The artists learned from animal experts. They also visited the Los Angeles Zoo. A pair of fawns (named Bambi and Faline) were shipped from the area of present-day Baxter State Park in Maine to the studio so that the artists could see for themselves how these animals move. The source of these fawns, from the Eastern United States, gave the company the idea to change Felix Salten's Roe Deer to a mule deer. The background of the movie was also the Eastern woodlands. One of the earliest and best known artists for the Disney studio, Maurice "Jake" Day, spent a lot of weeks in the Vermont and Maine forests. He drew pictures and took photographs of deer, fawns, and the wilderness areas around them.
Cast
Bobby Stewart as Baby Bambi, the film's title character and protagonist.
Donnie Dunagan as Young Bambi
Hardie Albright as Adolescent Bambi
John Sutherland as Adult Bambi (Sources differ on whether Sutherland actually voiced Adult Bambi.)
Paula Winslowe as Bambi's Mother and the Pheasant
Peter Behn as Young Thumper, a rabbit friend of Bambi's.
Tim Davis as Adolescent Thumper and Adolescent Flower, a striped skunk and another friend of Bambi's.
Sam Edwards as Adult Thumper
Stan Alexander as Young Flower
Sterling Holloway as Adult Flower
Will Wright as Friend Owl
Cammie King as Young Faline, a female deer whom Bambi eventually falls in love with.
Ann Gillis as Adult Faline
Fred Shields as Great Prince of the Forest
Margaret Lee as Mrs. Rabbit
Mary Lansing as Aunt Ena and Mrs. Possum
Otis Harlan as Mr. Mole
Characters
Characters from Bambi
Bambi, voiced by Bobby Stewart, Donnie Dunagan, Hardie Albright, and Alexander Gould, is the main character in the story. In the first movie, he is often cute and innocent. In the second movie, he feels sad because of the loss of his mother. Bambi tries to live without her. In the second movie he tries very hard to win the attention, support, and love he needs from his father.
Thumper, voiced by Peter Behn, Tim Davis, and Brendon Baerg, is Bambi's main best friend. In the first movie, he helps Bambi learn new things, like "bird", "flower", and "butterfly". In Bambi II, he helps Bambi try to impress his father. Thumper also spends much of his time running away from his four sisters as he finds them annoying.
Flower, voiced by Stan Alexander, Sterling Holloway, and Nicky Jones, is a bashful skunk and Bambi's other best friend. In Bambi II, Flower also helps Bambi try to impress his father and is scared of turtles.
The Great Prince of the Forest is Bambi's father. He is voiced by Fred Shields in Bambi and Patrick Stewart in Bambi II. In the first movie, the Great Prince is not around very much. In Bambi II, he feels that a father is not what Bambi needs, and he tries to send Bambi away rather than teach him the ways of ruling the forest. Things are not helped much by the fact that he is used to a quiet life. In spite of this, he learns how to become a loving father and friend to Bambi.
Faline, voiced by Cammie King, Ann Gillis, and Andrea Bowen, is one of Bambi's childhood friends. She later grows up to become his wife. In Bambi II, her effect on Bambi has changed little since the first movie. Whenever she is around, Bambi mostly becomes tongue-tied and very clumsy. However, when Ronno tries to make Faline leave, Bambi stands up for her, in what looks like a back-to-back screen-shot of a very similar scene in the first film. Also, just like in Bambi, Ronno and Bambi have a fight, only this time much shorter. The scene is just like the scene in the first film, and the fight is broken only after Mena comes in. Ronno, still angry, bumps into Bambi causing Mena to fall into one of Man's traps. Then Bambi has to fight a pack of dogs just like he did in the first film.
Friend Owl, voiced by Will Wright in Bambi and Keith Ferguson, in Bambi II, is a friendly but easy to annoy old owl. Thumper and his baby sisters are always waking him up going "Wake Up! Wake Up, Friend Owl!" He will respond going "Oh, NOW what?!" (played for laughs). In Bambi II, Friend Owl is asked by the Great Prince to find a suitable doe to raise Bambi.
Bambi's Mother, voiced by Paula Winslowe, is Bambi's main parent in the first movie. Her death made many people upset. She has the same voice as Jane Jetson from The Jetsons (1962) on Hanna Barbera. In Bambi II, she is voiced by Carolyn Hennessy and is seen in a dream sequence in which she talks to Bambi.
The Hunter is a poacher who tries to shoot Bambi. He fails, but he instead shoots Bambi's mother, beginning the most well-known scene of the movie. He is the bad guy of the movie, even though he is never seen.
Characters from Bambi II
Ronno, voiced by Anthony Ghannam, fights Bambi for the love of Faline and is generally full of annoyance. According to production notes, Ronno was the unnamed deer who had a fight with Bambi in the original movie.
The Groundhog, voiced by Brian Pimental (who also directed Bambi II), is the focus of the forest's Groundhog Day celebrations. On February 2 each year, the Groundhog comes out into the forest square and says whether or not winter will last a few more weeks. He hates the job and is scared of his own shadow. He says that "my nerves just can't take it any more."
The Porcupine, voiced by Brian Pimental (again, director), is a less important character who is very protective of his land. As the forest's troll, he takes joy in keeping animals away from his log home. When Bambi first meets the Porcupine, he leaves humiliated and in pain. When Bambi meets the Porcupine again, the Porcupine ends up being used to fight off the dogs. The Porcupine also causes Bambi to accidentally kiss Faline at the end of the movie.
Mena, voiced by Cree Summer (who also voiced Kida in Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire), is the doe Friend Owl finds as a mother for Bambi, in order to let the Great Prince keep the forest safe without being distracted. Friend Owl found her just when Bambi and the Great Prince were beginning to bond, nearly ruining the relationship. She grew up with Bambi's mother.
Release
Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, during World War II. It was Disney's 5th full-length animated movie. Bambi was released again to theatres in 1947, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1982, and 1988. It was then made available on home video in 1989. Even in home video, Bambi has seen many releases, including two VHS releases, in 1989 (Classics Version) and 1997 (Masterpiece Collection Version), and a digitally-remastered and restored Platinum Edition DVD. The Platinum Edition DVD went on moratorium on January 31, 2007.
Bambi was released in Diamond Edition on March 1, 2011, consisting of a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack. According to Cinema Blend, this release is set to include multiple bonus features that were not previously included in Bambi home releases: a documentary entitled Inside Walt's Story Meetings - Enhanced Edition, two deleted scenes, a deleted song, an image gallery, and a game entitled Disney's Big Book of Knowledge: Bambi Edition. The release also marked the first use of "Disney Second Screen", a feature which is accessed via a computer or iPad app download that syncs with the Blu-ray disc, allowing the viewer to follow along by interacting with animated flip-books, galleries and trivia while watching the movie. A UK version of Diamond Edition was released on February 7, 2011.
Midquel
Bambi II is a story which takes place after Bambi's mother dies, but before Bambi becomes an adult. It shows the Great Prince of the Forest having trouble raising Bambi, and Bambi not being sure if his father really loves him. The movie was released direct-to-video on February 7, 2006. While the movie was a direct-to-video release in the United States and other countries, including Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, it was a theatrical release in some countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Dominican Republic, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom and some other European countries.
Titles in other languages
(Bambi)
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"xi wangzi Bambi" (Cantonese); "xiao wangzi Bambi" (Mandarin). Young Prince Bambi. Note: Bambi is pronounced "Bambay" in Cantonese. Second note: Early title used Ban instead of Ban
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(Banbi)
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("Bambi, Prince of the Big Forest"; mostly known as Bambi)
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("Little Deer...Bambi")
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References
Other websites
1942 movies
1940s family movies
American animated movies
American family movies
Bambi
Disney animated movies
English-language movies
Movies about animals
Movies about hunters
Movies set in forests
Movies based on books
Movies composed by Oliver Wallace
United States National Film Registry movies