Even 75 years after its original release, the Disney cartoon "Bambi" continues to move children and adult audiences alike. Based on an Austrian novel, the film's environmental messages have had a lasting influence.
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Bambi turns 75
The baby deer who brought life in nature to the big screen turns 75 on August 9, 2017. Take a look at how Bambi has changed over the years - and the impact the Disney story has had on childrens' response to nature.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Bambi is born
One of the top 10 movies of all time according to the American Film Institute, Disney's "Bambi" was released 75 years ago on August 9, 1942. With its realistic representation of forest creatures, it was considered an animated masterpiece, one whose messages of respecting your natural surroundings continue to affect audiences today.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Getting it right
The movie's release was long delayed; some film critics at the time said it was due in large part to Disney's perfectionism. "I wouldn't hurry. I wanted it right," Disney reportedly said in an interview. Getting it right included bringing two fawns - gifted by the Maine Development Commission - to the studio. The artists studied the deer in order to render them more accurately.
Image: 2016 Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Difficulties drawing deer
Great pains were taken by the animators to ensure the animals remained life-like even as they took on human qualities. Deer are one of the most difficult animals to draw due to the placement of their eyes on the sides of their heads. Moving their mouths to speak likewise proved difficult. Maybe that is why there are less than 1,000 words spoken in the 70-minute feature.
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Based on an Austrian novel
First released in 1923 in Austria, the book "Bambi: A Life in the Woods" by Felix Salter was originally written for adults and features a plot filled with murder and sex. Adapting the book for an audience of children meant rewriting most of the story. While the movie diverges heavily from the original book, its environmental messages remain clear. Pictured is a film poster from the 1942 release.
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'Man ... was in the forest'
Disney intentionally chose to leave the villain off screen, as this poster featuring the main characters shows. While no humans appear on screen, the effect of humans' behavior is felt; the most suspenseful parts of the film come when Man has appeared off stage, inciting fear in the forest creatures. The not-too-subtle message: Human behavior influences the natural world, to catastrophic end.
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A fire mascot
The movie was ahead of its time in drawing attention to man-made environmental devastation. A catastrophic fire sweeps through the forest in which they live, sending the animals running for their lives, as seen here in this poster. After its release, the movie, its protagonist and its music have served the pubilc interest and have been used repeatedly in fire safety messages.
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Finding his legs
Fitting with the film's coming-of-age storyline, one unforgettable scene shows Bambi sprawled out on ice, struggling to get on his feet. The young fawn's hooves fail to grip and ensuing tumble offers more than a few laughs. Bambi maintains his childlike demeanor throughout the movie, in large part due to Disney's decision to have children voice the characters to make them more lifelike.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Disney/DWVD Bambi
Twitterpating: the circle of life
"Bambi" traces the year's seasons and explains the circle of life in doing so. Come springtime, the animation grows more colorful as it shows the meadows in bloom. The forest is awash with animals looking to mate and Bambi, Thumper and Flower learn about romance - or Twitterpating - from Owl. Bambi meeting his future love in the spring, however, is a bit of fiction: Whitetail deer rut in autumn.
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A tragedy for children
The coming-of-age story tracing Bambi's earliest year is also listed as one of the top 10 saddest children's movies. Following the book's plot, the fawn encounters hunters and learns to fear humans as a result. His mother is later killed by one. After determining the plot too grim for a children's audience, the characters of Thumper the Rabbit and Flower the Skunk were added for comic relief.
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Alone in the woods
Throughout the movie, the young fawn is faced with challenges that increasingly have him learning the independence he'll need to get through life later without his mother. The anxiety he feels in this scene after the two get separated in a snowy woods had a lasting effect on audiences. Many adults who saw the movie as chidlren refuse to watch it again despite no violence occurring on screen.
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A musical masterpiece
Like Disney's musical groundbreaker, "Fantasia," "Bambi" did away with sound effects, employing a full orchestra and choir to bring the action to life, including in this memorable rain storm scene. "Little April shower" provided the soundtrack to the animals running for cover, crescendoing as the storm increased in intensity. The movie received three Oscar nominations for its sound.
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The prince of the forest
On a day out to the meadow with his mother, Bambi encounters male deer for the first time. This large buck, known as the prince of the forest, is later revealed to be Bambi's father and the young fawn understands that this will be what he grows into, once independent from his mother.
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Transitioning to Manhood in 'Bambi II'
Though the original "Bambi" continued to draw millions in revenue decades after its release, Disney studios released a sequel in 2006 - "Bambi II." With 64 years between the original and the sequel, it was the longest delayed follow-up in film history. In it, the young fawn is taken in by his father, the great prince of the forest, who shows him the ways of the world as he transitions into a buck.
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Many of us vividly recall the first time we watched the Disney classic, "Bambi." Most often those memories involve a great deal of tears and sadness.
The story of a young fawn making his way in the forest, "Bambi" traces the title character's transition from childhood to manhood. Modeled on the whitetail deer common to North America, Bambi is joined in his jaunts through the woods that make up his home by his mother and other forest animals.
Rabbit Thumper and Flower the Skunk explain the world to the young deer, who shows himself to be both naïve and childlike. They play in meadows, huddle in caves during rain storms, and learn about love and romance while cavorting in flower patches.
It's a syrupy start, with animals drawn with baby-like qualities to up the sweetness factor and win over the hearts of young viewers.
A tragic twist with a moral
The story quickly turns tragic though, when hunters arrive. Though never confirmed, it is implied midway through the movie that Bambi's mother has been shot to death by a hunter, leaving the fawn to fend for himself (with the help of the other forest animals).
It's a story that has brought tears to viewers of all ages - and led us to hug our moms just one more time. The first Disney film to employ the trope of the missing or dead parents, the movie only gets more difficult to watch as the newly independent Bambi faces grave danger when a forest fire rips through the woods he calls home.
Released in 1942, "Bambi" revenues suffered due to delays in accessing the European marketImage: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Based on an Austrian novel by Felix Salten, which was written for adults and first published in 1923, "Bambi" is said to be one of the first movies to explicitly emphasize environmental awareness. It wasn't, as a result, entirely well received by audiences when released.
A 1942 editorial in the magazine "Outdoor Life" had editor Raymond Brown write the movie was "the worst insult ever offered in any form to American sportsmen."
Added to the bad reviews were initial losses at the box office. The film was was released in the middle of World War II and lacked accesss , the movie is said to have been Disney's favorite.
It would not only become an audience favorite, too, but it has also been employed in fire prevention campaigns over the years, including a series of 2006 public service announcements featuring footage from the film.
"Bambi" has long been credited with making people more aware of the impact their actions have on nature.
In December 2011, the cartoon, which traces animal life in the woods, was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, cited as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." At its induction, the registry said the movie was being "recognized for its eloquent message of nature conservation."
A long process to create realistic characters
By the time "Bambi" first opened in 1942, with a premiere in London on August 9 and then a brief run at New York's Radio City Music Hall, it had been in planning and production for nearly a decade.
Audiences had to wait 64 years for the sequel, "Bambi II" (2006)Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
Originally foreseen as a live-action animation like "Fantasia" (1940), the film took years to produce, as it required great attention to detail in its drawings.
"I wouldn't hurry. I wanted it right," Walt Disney later explained in an interview.
Capturing life in the deep woods required quite a bit of study for the animators. Two fawns were gifted to the Disney studio by the Maine Development Commission. Other animals were brought to the Disney zoo to be studied. Disney wanted the animals to be portrayed accurately, both in behavior and appearance, even as they adopted more human-like qualities.
"It's a caricature with a certain little humanized touch, but still believable as deer as animals in the forest. We put in an intensive series of training on animal anatomy," Disney said.
The added study in anatomy and attention to detail in the animation paid off. Today, 75 years after its initial release, the original animation of "Bambi" has been reissued nearly a dozen times, and the American Film Institute has ranked it number three on its list of 10 best animated films. It remains one of the most memorable movies for the generations of people who have seen it.
