Disney Movie Challenge: Bambi (1942)

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

Bambi

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. I will be watching each film in chronological order.   

Bambi was many years in production. It was intended to be Disney’s second film after Snow White. The detailed animation that Walt Disney wanted was taking so much time it kept getting pushed back. It finally went into full production in 1939 and got released as the 5th Disney Feature Animation film in 1942. The movie is based on the book Bambi: A Life in the Woods Written by Viennese author Felix Salten.

The story is pretty basic. Bambi is born and dubbed the next Prince of the Forest. All the animals come to see the new prince. As Bambi grows up he becomes friends with a bunny Thumper, a skunk named Flower, and a doe named Faline. Bambi is shy but is really close to his mother. One day hunters come into the forest and Bambi’s mother is shot and killed. Bambi leaves with his dad then comes back as a young buck. He meets up with Thumper and Flower again and learns from “friend owl” about being “Twitterpated”. He then meets up with Faline and after fighting off a rival buck they begin a quick romance. The romance is interrupted by man again when there is forest fire. Bambi is able to save Faline and at the end he has a fawn of his own and is seen standing on a high rock with his dad.

The story if pretty boring. When talking about Bambi most remember it being sad because his mom dies. While that scene is shocking and a bit sad it’s undercut because almost immediately there is a time jump to an older Bambi and we never get to really see him deal with his grief. Bambi grows up so fast it is really hard for any of his experiences to have a big emotional impact.

What was most impressive about the film was the animation. Once again Disney outdid himself with the look of the film. You can tell great care went into making this film. Every frame looks like a fantastic painting. You could pause it at any point and just admire the artwork. Disney wanted something realistic and the animators delivered. The biggest complaints the movie had at the time of its release was the realism. A lot of the critics complained that the film didn’t have enough “fantasy”. By today’s standards it’s hard to see the animation as realistic but feels more impressionistic. To me that works even better.

Looking at how the film was animated took me on a deep dive into one of the animators, Tyrus Wong. Wong was a Chinese artist who designed most of the background art for the film. He won over Disney with his initial design for Babmi, but took inspiration from Chinese art for the background for the film. Tryus was fired after Bambi was released due to his involvement in the animators strike in 1941. While he moved over to Warner Brothers he mostly did set design and eventually retired from show biz to design kites. He lived to be 106 years old and was a fascinating guy. I encourage anyone who is even a little intrigued to look him up. 

Last thing I want to mention is the music. The music really helped create a great atmosphere for the film. The songs aren't very memorable but fit the mood of the scenes.  


OVERALL: Bit of a boring story but great to look at. I am in awe of the art that went into the film even if it doesn’t hold up as a sad film that people remember.


Random Facts

First Disney film to be released after US involvement in WWII

During the production the animators visited parks and studied deer.

Only villain is man

A lot of people were upset at the time of release about the anti hunting message. 

Bambi was used by the U.S Forest Service to help spread forest fire awareness. But Disney only let them use it for 1 year. After that they had to create their own mascot and that is when Smokey the Bear was created.