Eeyup. What The Lion King had expanded, Bambi had started. It is also worth mentioning that out of all the films Walt had made, this was his favourite movie that he had done. So how well does this film do and age without all the fantasy/fairytale elements? Well, let's begin.
Story
Soooooo yeah, there really isn't much to the story other than the life of Bambi. There's no goal, no motivational skills from the characters, no story arcs. It's just Bambi living his whole life as a deer in the forest. Unlike The Lion King which had a more complex and detailed story. Does that mean that the story as a whole falls flat?
Well, how I can describe how this story works is basicly the same way I would describe the segments in Fantasia. The movie lets the animation and visuals carry the story more than character dialogue. It is also like Snow White where emotion is used more than logic. Films like that are pretty impressive, and you don't see them very often in today's generation. How they can a whole story with the animation and the emotions of the story to pace it. You can see how it is done in this film where as the story progesses, the seasons change from spring, to summer, to autumn, to winter and to spring again. But I'll get to the animation later.
And I might as well get it out of the way, this was the first Disney movie to have a character (Bambi's mother) to actually die realistically (technically Snow White was the first to have a character die but only through a poisoned apple) and even to this day, it has left scars on thousands of people (god damn it Disney, stop killing off the parents goddammit!)
Characters
It's hard to describe the characters of this movie but I'll do my best.
Bambi - Much like Simba, Bambi doesn't have that much of a personality to him. For the most part, he acts as a confused, quirky figure who is rather shy at times and doesn't often speak. Basicly, he's the male version of Fluttershy (god damn, I can't believe I had to reference MLP). Unlike Simba however, he doesn't have that much of the male hero archetype, up until near the end of the movie that is. Over the years, I do kinda like the sort of shy personality they gave him as it makes him a bit more interesting.
Thumper - Bambi's best rabbit friend. His personality is that he is a fun loving rabbit with a quirky attitude to him who has a habit of thumping things on the ground with his foot (hence the name obviously). Plus, he has some of the most memorable quotes:
Flower - I'm still wondering if this was even his real name or he just picked from Bambi. Oh well, too much thought. Anyway, not much of a personality with this character other than the fact that he is VERY bashful. He provides some of the cutest scenes in the entire movie, the cute scale pretty much rockets to the top. We don't even see him as much as Thumper to get really get to know him completely well but eh.
Bambi's mother - Not sure why they didn't give this character her own name but whatever. Just like Mufasa, Bambi's mum serves as Bambi's mentor throughout the movie to teach about the circle of life, and she and Bambi quickly grow a strong relationship. And of course, that leads to the heartbreaking moment where she is shot and killed. Why is it the most beloved and interesting of characters get killed off so soon??!!
The Great Prince of the Forest - Bambi's father. Again, not much personality with this character other than the fact that he serves as the protective leader of all the woodland creatures. As far as I know, he has much more development in the direct-to-video sequel to his film.
Man - The first and so far only Disney villain that is not shown on-screen. I think this is to build up the atmosphere of the fact that the movie is primarily focused on the animals and since Man is considered the biggest threat then having him off-screen makes the atmosphere all the more intense. You can sense all the fear these animals have to go through when this guy's around. It is unclear, however, if he was killed off near the end of the film. There's a small scene where a camp is on fire, and presumably Man must have stayed there and when the forest went on fire, he died. Still made unclear though.
Overall, I think the characters have a bit more creativity to them than The Lion King had, but that's just me.
Animation
Man, this is the best part once again. Now I know I said how fantastic The Lion King's animation was, but it is totally impressive here as well. I love how the film captures the beauty side of Nature, and this could definitely be considered art. It's all very pleasing to look at even if some of the environments can be quite dark. And just like with The Lion King the team had hired wildlife experts to bring in animals like deer to study their movements for the animation and needless to say, all that hard work paid off greatly. And keep in mind, this was in 1942. When animation in feature length films was still relatively new. I always say that if the visuals and animation play a huge role in the story telling, then by God, you better have some breathtaking animation to do that, and Bambi does that job no problem. Granted, it may not be as colourful as say, Fantasia as it is trying for a more darker tone, but there is still a lot to look in this one.
Sound
Well there really isn't much to the soundtrack of this film. None of the characters sing any sing-a-long songs (and no, background characters don't count) unlike Walt's past films. But I'll do my best to explain some of them:
Love is a Song - A sweet, soothing song that really knows how to capture the soul. I wouldn't say it's the most memorable opening song, but it's sweet nonetheless.
Little April Shower - A really random song that comes right out of nowhere. I mean, it's a catchy little tune I guess, but it's mostly just singing about rain in April. Whu?
Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song - Ok guys, don't expect me to make a joke about this. It's too painfully obvious (after all back then, gay did have a different meaning). Anyway, this is a pretty forgettable song. It's just birds singing about the spring. I guess it goes well with the return of spring setting but overall, it's a weak song.
Looking for Romance - A heartwarming romantic song. One thing I like about songs like this from the 40s is that they have such heavenly voices to sing the romance song. It's pretty beautiful and deep in my opinion.
To be honest, aside from the two songs I liked, I find the soundtrack overall to be underwhelming. Now granted, it was a nice change of pace not to have the main characters just break into a musical number, but the quality just isn't there.
The voice acting is pretty decent. It's pretty impressive how well the kid actors did playing the roles of the young characters and so forth. However, I don't think there was thousands of voice acting in the movie as it wasn't needed as much, so overall it's decent.
Conclusion
It is hard to describe how well Bambi holds up. On one hand, the visuals and animation of the film are stunning and artistic. On another, the story may not hold up as well in today's standards since there is little to no development of the story as it is just simply telling the life of our main protagonist. I can see not everybody liking this movie as some people may be looking for a more detailed and complex story, or the high level of cuteness may turn them off slightly. But for me, I still think it's a good flick to go back to every one and a while. Even though I prefer The Lion King, I find the characters in this film to be more creative and the fact that without this film, I doubt The Lion King would even exist. Sadly, where I feel the film falls flat is the music (despite the two songs I liked).
Even though the film is considered a classic today, it did not do well at all on it's original release. This was developed around the same time World War II was around so people had a lot more to worried about than watching films and after this film was made, the army took over the Walt Disney studios and had to make package films with War references (up until 1950). So overall, the film was a financial flop. And if that wasn't bad enough, it gained some major controversy with critics and audiences alike. Criticisms went to the film's realism and lack of fantasy elements that Snow White had. Not to mention, many hunters criticised it for being an offense to "American sportsmen". Though as the years went by, Bambi became the reason for many people to become animal rights activists and vegetarians, including former Beatle member, Paul McCartney.
So I do like the film for it's characters and beautiful art style, even if some things like the music haven't aged very well. I'd give it a: 3.5/5. I haven't seen the sequel for this film, but I am really keen to give it a watch soon. But for next, we'll move on to Disney's flick on the flying elephant:
