Bambi

I was staying over at the home of my three-year old niece; after everyone had gone to bed, I found and popped this title in the VCR. I had only a rough familiarity with the plot (like everyone, I knew Bambi's mother gets killed) and was also aware that "Bambism" has been used as describing a overly sentimental love of wildlife.

Oh wow. I found that while this movie certainly has a heart for its characters, it is not at all sugarcoated about the realities of animal life. Consider the following points it makes:

1) Animals do not live in nuclear families. Bambi lives with his mother only, his presumptive father is off in the background.

2). Animals often go hungry in the winter.

3). Male animals must be prepared to fight rivals as a prelude to mating.

4). Man (here assisted by canine lackeys) is easily the most dangerous threat creatures face.

Rather than putting a Hollywood gloss on animal life, "Bambi" if anything is better than what would be made today. Remember that the same studio recently put Hercules into a doting nuclear family, the actual circumstances of the hero's birth apparently thought too scandalous for contemporary children to be exposed to (though one presumes ancient Greek children handled them well enough).

Plus when you consider that a large sector of the populace takes a "humanity couldn't possibly be at fault" attitude toward the decimation of animal populations, you know that Point 4). above would today be softpedaled if not entirely neutralized by the addition of sympathetic human characters. Look what happened with the otherwise excellent TBS production of "Animal Farm."

And the animation!! The gorgeous, pencil-drawn Impressionistic renditions of the rhythms of the woodlands makes you wonder if modern animators haven't been spoiled by computer graphics. I'm only sorry I probably won't ever see this film in a theatre, as it was meant to be seen.

As cliche as it may sound, this is a timeless film for all ages. I cannot praise it highly enough.

Enduring , overwhelming Disney's true vintage film about the moving adventures of a charming fawn , being a colorful and brilliant description of the changing seasons , Woods life and weather conditions notably leading to the attractive snowy , winter season. It is a heart-rending as well as heart-warming story of a young fawn growing up in the forest , concerning his adventures , fríenships , pursuits , fights and distresses . And , describing the often harsh education of a newborn , especially dealing with his friendship with an equally young rabbit called Thumper, a ground-drumming hare that unexpectedly proving to be the star of the show, and both of whom accompanied by a sympathetic skunk .

Superbly made action scenes with spectacular scenarios and breathtaking chases along with a witty dialog , all of them combine to provide an excellent movie and impressive appeal . Beind based very loosely on the book by Felix Salten , taking parts here and there . While the likeable animals are all given attractive human traits , as Bambi, Thumper the rabbit that still steals the show and Flower the Skunk , all of them are like members of rogue gangs of teens usual in the forties . Babycham shots occupy only a fraction of the running time in this flick , the remaining results to be a strikingly impressionistic renditíon of life in the meadows and Woods, and other rest containing some extremely sentimental set-pieces . Silhoutte , bizarre scenes , panorama , glmmer shades , some dark images and the cod use of classy soundtrack recall the best moments of another vintage Disney : "Fantasía" .

It contains wonderful and delightful songs composed by Frank Chuchill and Edward Plumb , including the following titles: Let sing a gay little spring song , Love is a song , Little April Shower , Twitter, The Thumper song .This enchanting motion picture , only released in video in 1994 , was very well realised with great sensibility and dignity , and from Disney's richest period , when produced such great hits as Snowwhite , Pinocho , Dumbo , Fantasía , Cinderella and subsequently Peter Pan , Sleeping Beauty , Jungle book , Aristocats , 101 Dalmats and many others. This Bambi displays splendid and colorful frames , interleaving magnificent animation with vulgar Americana style.

Rating 8/10 . It stands as one of the greatest kiddies' movies all of time , a genuine perennial tale from generation to generation. It proves that Disney animation is still the best to be found , here including some unforgettable and immortal images. As the movie turns out to be still an altogether a gorgeous and overwhelming experience to watch. This top-notch , irresistible tale is recommended for both , children and adults , but tinies should have an adult standing for their reactions to the fate of Bambi's mummy .

From the opening scene where the multiplane camera glides through a quiet forest until the stirring forest fire climax, a viewer has to be aware he is watching one of the all-time great films. So much of the cycle of life is covered that it's hard to realize the film is a mere 69 minutes. In a book called 'The Making of Bambi', Ollie Johnston reveals that originally there was much more footage that Disney eventually trimmed, cutting out whole sequences before the film previewed. Obviously, he made a wide decision.

There is no extraneous scene here, it moves seamlessly through its cycle of life story with the charming animal creatures carrying the story to its logical conclusion. The background music complements all of the drama and comedy. The storm sequence is the most beautiful blend of music and drawings ever achieved by the Disney artists. The naturally drawn deer are the result of months of careful preparation and study, giving the entire film the feel of a nature study as well as giving the audience great entertainment.

The choral work is extremely effective, particularly on songs like 'Love Is A Song' (Oscar nominated), 'I Bring You A Song' and 'Little April Shower'. The impressionistic forest glows with a life of its own and is the real star of the film, thanks to the influence of Japanese artist Tyrus Wong. No wonder this was Disney's favorite film. It will stay fresh and young forever. An awesome achievement!

In conclusion, having done some choral work myself as a glee club singer, I especially appreciated the great contribution made by the mixed chorus (male/female) that does such a wonderful job on all of the choruses that blend so seamlessly with the rich background score. Truly exceptional choral vocals conducted by Charles Henderson.

Blissful, playful, moving and inspiring, Walt Disney's "Bambi" is a precious jewel that will last longer than most of us will. Indeed, it has a timeless quality, matched with a charming music score and wonderful character voices. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker poked fun at the voice-changes when the infant animals grow up over winter (sort of a puberty-in-the-thicket), but what other way was there to show the passage of time and how it changes everything, even the woodland creatures we take for granted? It's an amazing achievement. The song score never elicited a hit the size of, say, "When You Wish Upon a Star", but it does feature the sprightly "Little April Showers", which underscores the very best sequence. ***1/2 from ****

Bambi is a remarkable film that captures the innocence and beauty of life, its challenges as we get older and nature being disrupted and damaged by "Man." Bambi is one of the shortest feature films ever but what it lacks in length it makes up for in depth. The animation in this film is extraordinary every setting looks like oil pastels on canvas as we see the wonder of nature with its waterfalls, trees and beauty of animals and plants during the various changes in nature.

Bambi is born in Spring a time of rebirth and beauty as leaves come return, flowers bloom and the world awakens from winter's cold grip. We see Bambi struggle to walk as he always falls down and as he tries to talk which are extremely humorous and give him the characteristics of a baby. We see his friends Thumper and Flower interact and have fun w/ Bambi and their innocence also builds up their happiness and bliss as their like young kids wandering around in the beauty of spring and the forest around them which protects them from harm. The dynamic Bambi and his mother share are poignant also as we see her nurture and instruct her son on how to act, walk and be around other animals and the love they exude for each other is also a shining staple of maternal love which again gives us a genuine attachment to this story .

However, as Bambi grows his mother takes him to the meadow where we 1st observe the threat of "man." His mom warns him not to rush onto the meadow and soon we 1st hear "Man" coming as the colors in the scene suddenly shift from light to dark as the forest are suddenly being overwhelmed by fear and chaos. Man's theme is a haunting piece of music that can only be matched with its power and intensity by Bernard Herrman's extraordinary score in Psycho and Carpenter's Halloween. Both movies capture horror because we don't know who is behind the actions in the film and why they're happening. By not showing "man" the viewer is terrified cause man's identity is unknown and they kill and torture animals for no apparent reason.

As we move to Winter, the animation is gorgeous particularly the scene of Bambi and Thumper on ice. The wonder of this scene is the use of snow which is striking much like the thunderstorm sequence in how nature can be so beautiful and dangerous at the same time at different times. It's also ironic that in winter, as Bambi and his mother are out grazing at grass that man's theme comes and as his mother realizes what's going on she orders Bambi to the thicket. He makes it but as we discover she doesn't murdered by "man".

While this scene is tragic and sad, it's a bit over-hyped as the "most tragic moment in film." The fact that this was the 1st time Disney showed us a realistic moment in life when someone dies and nothing can alter this and that it occurred just as winter was ending perhaps gives this scene the tragic feel and notoriety it's gotten over the years. The fact that Bambi's mom ran behind him intentionally so to shield her son from harm is the true heartbreak of this scene : Sacrificing your own life so your child can have a future.

As Spring comes again, we see Bambi ,Thumper and Flower as adults terrified of falling into "twitterpating" or love as owl describes it. Sure enough they all do and in Bambi's case its with faline the doe he met in the meadow as a child. We soon see the spring breeze of petals and song cascade as Bambi and Faline fall in love and Spring again gives birth to something love and beauty. But as the warmth continues, Man appears again with their campfire and Bambi is warned by the prince of the forest that man is back in greater numbers. Here man's theme becomes so unnerving as the sound grows louder and louder as the animals flee into the forest and it's as though we hear the footsteps of man creeping in to kill anything in their path.

The gunshots come and once more the color scheme changes as nature is being killed and hurt by "man. The fire which may have been intentionally set by man wipes out the forest and nearly Bambi and his father who barely escape along with other animals in the forest. At the end, Spring returns and bliss and happiness return as leaves and trees are growing back, and a new generation is coming to see Faline give birth to 2 new fawns .

Bambi isn't a perfect film and its flaws are somewhat stark especially how Bambi becomes and adult full of bliss only months after his mom dies. This simply makes no sense and for me damaged my connection to these characters and kills the film, until it picks up when man returns to the woods. Also the scene where Bambi and the other deer fight over Faline while dramatic, is odd because we have no background to who he is(Bambi 2 explains this.) Also after her death, Bambi's mom is never mentioned again which is odd cause Bambi seems to have no issues dealing with her demise. It's a shame cause up to the death of his mom, Bambi is a perfect film and these flaws make this a very good, but not GREAT film.

However, this is a shockingly simple moving and poignant film of human innocence, growing up, sacrifice and the horror of people who'll murder and destroy nature and humanity out of greed or sport. If someone ever asked me to see a film that captured the fear of how "man" is corrupting the world around us, Bambi would be my unanimous choice.