A littlefawn called Bambi is born in the woods. In his first days of life, heexplores 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 learnsbutterflies,rain, andmeadow. 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 seeingsnow.
The most famous part of the movie is the death of Bambi's mother. Bambi and his mother have trouble findingfood. One day, Bambi's mother finds a patch ofgrass, and they eat. Theaudience 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, shescreams "Faster! Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running! Keep running!". Bambi runs away, but there is agunshot. Bambi gets back to theden but finds that his mother is not there. He walks around, and desperately calls for her. He meets his father, the GreatPrince, 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 nextspring, Bambi and his friends are young adults. They meet a wise oldowl, called Friend Owl. The owl tells them of the dangers of falling inlove. They makevows not to fall in love. However, they fall in love at first sight very soon. Bambi falls in love with his old childhood friendFaline. He happily dances in the clouds until another deer named Ronno 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 Ronno. Bambi wins. He goes on adate with Faline. The Man comes back and makes more trouble for the animals. Bambi saves Faline from some angrydogs.
A forest fire comes and nearlydestroys everything. Bambi has trouble getting up, but his father helps him. They both make it to anisland 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. Achorus sings the song from the beginning,Love is a Song.
Walt Disney wanted to have realistic detail in this animated movie. The artists learned from animalexperts. They also visited theLos Angeles Zoo.[6] A pair of fawns (named Bambi and Faline) wereshipped from the area of present-dayBaxter State Park inMaine 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 muledeer.[7] 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 tookphotographs of deer, fawns, and thewilderness areas around them.[8]
Bambi, voiced by Bobby Stewart,Donnie Dunagan,Hardie Albright, andAlexander Gould, is the main character in the story. In the first movie, he is often cute and innocent. Inthe 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 byPeter Behn,Tim Davis, andBrendon Baerg, is Bambi's main best friend. In the first movie, he helps Bambi learn new things, like "bird", "flower", and "butterfly". InBambi 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.
The Great Prince of the Forest is Bambi's father. He is voiced by Fred Shields inBambi andPatrick Stewart inBambi 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 ofruling 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 byCammie King,Ann Gillis, andAndrea 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 inBambi, 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 byWill Wright inBambi andKeith Ferguson, inBambi 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 byPaula Winslowe, is Bambi's main parent in the first movie. Her death made many people upset. She has the same voice as Jane Jetson fromThe Jetsons (1962-1989) 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 apoacher 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 thebad guy of the movie, even though he is never seen.
Ronno, voiced by Anthony Ghannam, fights Bambi for the love of Faline and is generally full ofannoyance. According to production notes, Ronno was the unnamed deer who had a fight with Bambi in the original movie.
TheGroundhog, voiced byBrian Pimental (who also directed Bambi II), is the focus of the forest'sGroundhog Daycelebrations. 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."
ThePorcupine, voiced byBrian Pimental (again, director), is a less important character who is very protective of his land. As the forest'stroll, he takes joy in keeping animals away from hislog home. When Bambi first meets the Porcupine, he leaveshumiliated 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 byCree Summer (who also voiced Kida in Disney'sAtlantis: 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 beingdistracted. Friend Owl found her just when Bambi and the Great Prince were beginning to bond, nearly ruining therelationship. She grew up with Bambi's mother.
Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, duringWorld 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 twoVHS releases, in 1989 (Classics Version) and 1997 (Masterpiece Collection Version), and a digitally-remastered and restoredPlatinum Edition DVD.[10] The Platinum Edition DVD went onmoratorium on January 31, 2007.[11]
Bambi was released inDiamond Edition on March 1, 2011,[12] consisting of aBlu-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 entitledInside Walt’s Story Meetings – Enhanced Edition, two deleted scenes, a deleted song, an image gallery, and a game entitledDisney’s Big Book of Knowledge: Bambi Edition.[13] The release also marked the first use of "Disney Second Screen",[14] a feature which is accessed via a computer oriPad app download thatsyncs with the Blu-ray disc,[15] allowing the viewer to follow along by interacting with animated flip-books, galleries and trivia while watching the movie.[12] A UK version of Diamond Edition was released on February 7, 2011.[16]
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 releaseddirect-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.[source?]
Chinese:小鹿斑比 "xi wangzi Bambi" (Cantonese); "xiǎo wángzǐ Bambi" (Mandarin).Young Prince Bambi.Note: Bambi is pronounced "Bambay" in Cantonese.Second note: Early title used班 instead of斑
↑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
