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This article is about the 1942 Disney animated film. For the original novel, see Bambi, A Life in the Woods. For other uses, see Bambi (disambiguation). 1942 film| Bambi | |
|---|---|
| File:Theatrical2.jpg | |
| Directed by | David D. Hand |
| Written by | Felix Salten (novel) Larry Morey (story adaptation) Perce Pearce (story direction) Gustaf Tenggren (illustration) |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | Bobby Stewart Donnie Dunagan Hardie Albright John Sutherland Paula Winslowe Peter Behn Tim Davis Sam Edwards Will Wright Cammie King Ann Gillis Fred Shields Stan Alexander Sterling Holloway |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date | August 13 1942 |
| Running time | 70 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Over $2,000,000 |
Bambi is a 1942 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 13 1942. The fifth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, the film is based on the 1923 book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten.
The main characters are Bambi, a white-tailed deer, his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother), and his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit), Flower (a skunk), and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline. For the movie, Disney took the liberty of changing Bambi's species into a white-tailed deer from his original species of roe deer, since roe deer don't inhabit the United States, and the white-tailed deer is more familiar to Americans. This film received 3 Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Best Song for "Love is a song" and Original Music Score.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Bambi was acknowledged as the third best film in the animation genre.
Plot
A doe gives birth to a fawn in the thicken whom she names Bambi. After he learns to walk, Bambi befriends Thumper, a young rabbit, and while learning to talk he meets Flower, a young skunk. One day his mother takes him to the meadow, a place that is both wonderful and frightening. There he meets Faline, a doe-fawn, and his father, the Great Prince of the Forest. It is also during this visit that Bambi has his first encounter with man, who causes all the animals to flee the meadow. During a harsh winter, Bambi and his mother go to the meadow and discover a patch of new grass, hearalding the arrival of spring. As they eat, his mother senses a hunter and orders Bambi to flee. As they run, gun shots ring out. When Bambi arrives at their thicket, he discovers his mother is no longer with him. He wanders the forest calling for her, but she doesn't answer. His father appears in front of him and tells Bambi that his mother "can't be with him anymore" then leads him away.
In the spring, an adult Bambi is reunited with Thumper and Flower as the animals around them begin pairing up with mates. Though they resolve not to be "twitterpated" like the other animals in love, Thumper and Flower each leave with newly found mates. Bambi is disgusted, until he runs into Faline and become a couple. As they happily dance and flirt through the woods, another buck appears who tries to force Faline to go with him. Though he initially struggles, Bambi's rage gives him the strength to defeat the older buck and push him off a cliff and into a river below.
That night, Bambi is awoken by the smell of smoke. His Father explains that Man is in the forest and they must flee. Bambi goes back to search for Faline, but she is being chased by hunting dogs. Bambi finds her in time and fights off the dogs, allowing Faline to escape. With Faline safe, Bambi runs but is shot as he leaps over a ravine. The Great Prince finds him there and urges him back to his feet. Together, they escape the forest fire and go to a small island in the lake where the other animals, including Faline, have taken refuge.
At the end of the film, Faline gives birth to twin fawns, Bambi stands watch on the large hill, and the Great Prince silently turns and walks away.
Production
Walt Disney attempted to achieve realistic detail in this animated film. The artists heard lectures from animal experts, and 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 first-hand the movement of these animals. The source of these fawns, from the Eastern United States, was the impetus for the transformation of Felix Salten's roe deer to white-tailed deer. The background of the film was also the Eastern woodlands — one of the earliest and best known artists for the Disney studio, Maurice "Jake" Day spent several weeks in the Vermont and Maine forests, sketching and photographing deer, fawns, and the surrounding wilderness areas.
Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, during World War II and was Disney's 5th full length animated film. The famous art direction of Bambi was due to the influence of Tyrus Wong, a former painter who provided eastern and painterly influence to the backgrounds. Bambi was re-released to theaters in 1947, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1982, and 1988. It was released on VHS in 1989 (Classics Version), 1997 (Masterpiece Collection Version), and digitally remastered and restored for the March 1, 2005 Platinum Edition DVD. The Platinum Edition DVD went on moratorium on January 31 2007. The Masterpiece Version was the first Disney Video to be THX certified.
Reception
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Although the film received good reviews, it was criticized for being inappropriate for children because of the death of Bambi's mother as well as the scary violence of the hunting scenes, dog attacks, and the forest fire climax. During it's original release, it did poorly at the box office. In 2006, a straight-to-VHS/DVD midqual by the name of Bambi II, which follows the death of Bambi's mother and fills the gap that was made when Bambi follows his father into the thicket.
The death of Bambi's mother is one of the best-known moments in American film history, a moment so upsetting to certain children that they had to be carried sobbing out of the theater during numerous theatrical presentations. For this reason, and because of the horror and violence of the climactic hunting/forest fire sequence, many critics question the suitability of Bambi for very young audiences. When Bambi was shown during the Christmas period in December 2006 on UK channel ITV 2, the scene of the death of Bambi's Mother and the Prince telling Bambi of her death was edited out. It wasn't until nearly 40 years later that The Disney Company featured the death of a parent in one of their movies (Tod's mother in The Fox and the Hound). The off-screen villain "man" has been placed #20 on AFI's List of Heroes and Villians.
The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has criticized the movie Bambi for propagating the idea that the best way to manage the forest resources within the U.S. was to fight forest fires. The Secretary of the Interior points out that controlled burning is now recognized as more beneficial, and that forest animals, such as Bambi, simply move out of the way of forest fires and, in general, are not killed by them.
In 1942 the animated feature film Bambi was released. Soon after, Walt Disney allowed his characters to appear in fire prevention public service campaigns. However, Bambi was only loaned to the government for a year, so a new symbol was needed, leading to the creation of Smokey Bear.
In 2006,the Ad Council, in partnership with the United States Forest Service, started a series of Public Service Announcement ads that feature footage from Bambi and Bambi II for wildfire prevention. During the ads, as the Bambi footage is shown, the screen will momentarily fade into black with the text "Don't let our forests...become once upon a time", and usually (but not always) ending the ads with Bambi's line "Mother, what we gonna do today?" followed by Smokey Bear saying "Only you can prevent wildfires" as the Smokey logo is shown on the screen.
The ads air on various television networks, and the Ad Council has also put them on Youtube.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Bambi was acknowledged as the third best film in the animation genre.
Sequel
Main article: Bambi IIBambi II was released as a midquel sequel to Bambi. Set in middle of Bambi, it shows the Great Prince of the Forest struggling to raise the motherless Bambi, and Bambi's doubts about his father's love. The film was released direct-to-video on February 7, 2006.
Release history
Release dates
Re-release schedule & home video
Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, during World War II and was Disney's 5th full length animated film. It was an advance over the previous movies in sophistication of the animation, due to the experience gained in character animation at the Disney studio. The famous art direction of Bambi, which suggests emotion and the feeling of a forest rather than depicting a real forest, was due to the influence of Tyrus Wong, a former painter who provided eastern and painterly influence to the backgrounds. Bambi was re-released to theaters in 1947, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1982, and 1988. It was released on VHS in 1989 (Classics Version), 1997 (Masterpiece Collection Version), and digitally remastered and restored for the March 1 2005 Platinum Edition DVD. The Platinum Edition DVD went on moratorium on January 31 2007. The Masterpiece Version was the first Disney Video to be THX certified.
Recycled animation from Bambi in other films
Animation from Bambi has been reused in several other Disney films, especially footage of birds, leaves and generic woodland. For example, one scene in The Fox and the Hound reused footage of the animals running from the rain in Bambi's "Little April Shower" sequence. The most reused footage from Bambi are the few seconds of Bambi's mother looking up from eating grass just before she is killed by the hunter. This footage has been used in hunting scenes in The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. It is also featured in The Rescuers during the song "Someone's Waiting For You" and in the opening scene of Beauty and the Beast. Even a latter-day Donald Duck short featured Bambi and his mother. They are drinking from a stream and then a bunch of garbage floats past them in the stream and Bambi's mother says to him calmly, "Man is in the forest. Let's dig out." They then leave.
Errors in Bambi's Animation
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Several errors occur in the animation for the original film, from color to appearance to the way the characters move around. The Platinum Edition of the Bambi Disney DVD was released with most of these errors fixed:
(1) In the opening credits, each frame has a black border around it, like on a computer screen.*
(2) The color of Mrs. Rabbit's fur changed 3 times during the film, ranging from grey to peach.*
(3) Bambi's walk through the forest starts with 5 rabbits walking with Bambi, including Thumper. Thumper's sisters change color from peach to brown, and sometimes there are 2 peach rabbits, or 3 brown ones. The number of Thumper's sisters ranges from 4 to 6 during this sequence.**
(4) When Bambi and his mother are going to the meadow,after Bambi says "Then why don't I ever see them?," we're taken to a shot with Bambi's mother emerging from a bush. We see her flash onto the screen after she has come out of the bush.
(5) When the Great Prince is "feeling the forest", for about 10 seconds you can see a few lines wriggling under his feet.*
(6) When Bambi and the Great Prince are looking down on Man's campfires, we see a shot of crows following the sequence and as the crows fly away, the same frame is repeated. As we switch to Faline, her eyes change color from blue to red.**
(7) When all of the creatures are climbing out of the pond to escape the fire, we see a mother raccoon licking its baby, but in the next frame, it changes position.
* Errors present only in the 1989 VHS ** Errors not fixed in the Platinum Edition.
Bambi in popular culture
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- The off-screen villain, "Man", has been placed #20 on AFI's List of Heroes and Villains.
- Several Hunting and fishing magazines, such as Field and Stream claim that this character is a symbol of the "animal rights nuts" who are against fishing and hunting.
- A strip of Gary Larson's The Far Side depicts a group of woodland animals reminiscing with one another about what they were doing at the moment they learned that Bambi's mother had been shot.
- In one strip of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin tells his class a story from his report about overpopulation. In the story, a man named Frank gets up from his desk and walks off to get some coffee. Suddenly, Frank gets shot. Four deer, armed with rifles, gather around his body. They praise Bambi's nice shot, who, of course, asks for somebody to get the camera. His report gets him a parent-teacher conference.
- In an episode of the Jim Henson sitcom Dinosaurs where Robbie goes to a bar for herbivores, a musician there sings a song called "Has Anybody Seen Bambi's Mom?"
- In an episode of Animaniacs, Slappy Squirrel takes her nephew Skippy to see 'Bumbi, the Dearest Deer', a parody of Bambi. Skippy cries uncontrollably when Bumbi's mother gets killed, prompting Slappy to take him to meet the deer actress who portrayed her.
- Bambi and Thumper made a cameo appearance in both Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Shrek the Third.
Trivia
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- Famous Georgian writer Vazha-Pshavela had earlier published a book called "A Fawn's Tale", about a little fawn whose mother is killed by a hunter.
- This film was the personal favorite of Walt Disney.
- One of the many rejected ideas for this film was to show the hunter being killed by the very forest fire that he had accidentally started.
- The animators of Bambi studied real-life animals to get their movements and behaviour right. They owned two fawns called "Bambi" and "Faline" as well as a fully-grown female doe.
Soundtrack listing
- Main Title (Love Is A Song)
- Morning In The Woods/The Young Prince/Learning To Walk
- Exploring/Say Bird/Flower
- Little April Shower
- The Meadow/Bambi Sees Faline/Bambi Gets Annoyed
- Gallop Of The Stags/The Great Prince Of The Forest/Man
- Autumn/The First Snow/Fun On The Ice
- The End Of Winter/New Spring Grass/Tragedy In The Meadow
- Wintery Winds
- Let's Sing A Gay Little Spring Song
- It Could Even Happen To Flower
- Bambi Gets Twitterpated/Stag Fight
- Looking For Romance (I Bring You A Song)
- Man Returns
- Fire/Reunion/Finale
- Rain Drops (Demo Recording)
- Bonus Interview – Introduced by Richard Kiley: Walt Disney
- Bonus Interview – Introduced by Richard Kiley: Ollie Johnston And Frank Thomas
- Bonus Interview – Introduced by Richard Kiley: Henry Mancini
On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes Love is a Song on the red disc, Little April Shower on the green disc, and Looking for Romance (I Bring You a Song) on the purple disc. And on Disney's Greatest Hits, this also includes Little April Shower on another green disc.
The original 1942 release included two additional songs (that were subsequently removed):
- "Twitterpated": (Based on Friend Owl's lecture on the amorous effects of spring) written by Helen Bliss, Robert Sour and Henry Manners.
- "Thumper Song": written by Helen Bliss, Robert Sour and Henry Manners
Voice Cast
| Actor | Role(s) |
|---|---|
| Bobby Stewart | Baby Bambi |
| Donnie Dunagan | Young Bambi |
| Hardie Albright | Adolescent Bambi |
| John Sutherland | Adult Bambi |
| Paula Winslowe | Bambi's Mother and Pheasant |
| Peter Behn | Young Thumper |
| Tim Davis | Adolescent Thumper, Adolescent Flower |
| Sam Edwards | Adult Thumper |
| Stan Alexander | Young Flower |
| Sterling Holloway | Adult Flower |
| Will Wright | Friend Owl |
| Cammie King | Young Faline |
| Ann Gillis | Adult Faline |
| Fred Shields | Great Prince of the Forest |
| Thelma Boardman | Girl Bunny, Quail Mother and Frightened Pheasant |
| Mary Lansing | Aunt Ena, Mrs. Possum, Pheasant |
| Margaret Lee | Mrs. Rabbit |
| Otis Harlan | Mr. Mole |
| Marion Darlington | Bird calls |
| Clarence Nash | Bullfrog |
| Stuart Erwin | Tree Squirrel |
Supervising animators
- Franklin Thomas (Bambi and Thumper)
- Milton Kahl (Bambi and Thumper)
- Eric Larson (Bambi and Thumper)
- Oliver M. Johnston, Jr. (Bambi and Thumper)
Sequence directors
- James Algar (Bambi and Thumper)
- Bill Roberts (Bambi and Thumper)
- Norman Wright (Bambi and Thumper)
- Sam Armstrong (Bambi and Thumper)
- Paul Satterfield (Bambi and Thumper)
- Graham Heid (Bambi and Thumper)
See also
References
- Walt Disney Collection: Walt's Masterworks — Bambi.
- The Trouble with Bambi: Walt Disney's Bambi and the American Vision of Nature by Ralph H. Lutts: From 'Forest and Conservation History' 36 (October 1992)
- Maurice E. Day, Animator, 90; Drew Deer for Movie 'Bambi': Obituary in the New York Times, published May 19, 1983)
- ^ How They Restored Bambi, Monsters and Critics. Cite error: The named reference "Critics" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ IGN.
- Kevin Jackson 'Tears of a fawn', The Independent, Feb. 6, 2005.
- "AFI's 10 Top 10". American Film Institute. 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - AFI's 100 Years… 100 Heroes and Villains
- Soundtrack, IMDb.
External links
- Bambi at IMDb
- Template:Bcdb title
- Bambi Special Edition DVD Home Page
- "AFI's 100 YEARS… 100 Heroes & Villains" American Film Institute, n.d., Retrieved May 11, 2006.
- David Ansen and Sean Smith, "Oscar Roundtable: Prize Fighters", "Newsweek", February 6 2006, retrieved April 29 2006.
- Spoofed by "Cartoons Gone Bad". Thamper is a Thumper spoof.
- "Washington Talk: Briefing; Elks, Parks and Bambi" By Jeff Gerth and Philip Shabecoff, "The New York Times", March 6 1989, retrieved April 29 2006.
- Barrier, Michael, Graham Webb, and Hames Ware. "The Moving Drawing Speaks." Funnyworld #18, Summer 1978. pp.21.
- Babbit, Bruce. "Babbitt Urges California Leaders to Help 'Fight Fire With Fire.'" US Dept. of Interior. Washington: GPO, 1998
- Stewart, Doug (June/July 2002, vol. 40 no. 4) "Fires of Life". National Wildlife Federation
- Webb, Graham (2001). The Animated Film Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to American Shorts, Features, and Sequences, 1900–1979. McFarland and Co. ISBN 0-7864-0728-X.
- "Fire Wars." Director Kirk Wolfinger. Performers: Matt Snider, Neil Sampson, Bruce Babbit. Nova. May 7 2002
- The Trouble with Bambi: Walt Disney's Bambi and the American Vision of Nature
- Articles lacking sources from July 2008
- Misplaced Pages articles needing factual verification from May 2008
- 1942 films
- Coming-of-age films
- American films
- Children's fantasy films
- Disney animated features canon
- Films about animals
- Films based on children's books
- Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
- Films shot in Technicolor