We proceed on the expedition through the Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue by watching the movie Bambi, one of the company’s more intricate and artistic projects. Released in theaters in the year 1942, Bambi was inspired by author Felix Salten’s book, Bambi, a Life in the Woods. Similar to their previous films, the Disney company was captivated by Bambi’s original story and felt compelled to adapt it into an animated feature, giving new life to Salten’s narrative. Now, in order for us to discuss Bambi, we will continue this post with a thorough analysis of the movie, allowing us to dissect the different elements that give it a mesmerizing reputation.
Analysis
When the movie starts, we witness all of the animals in the forest rushing to meet Bambi, the newborn prince of the forest. As the animals gather around Bambi, they see the young prince sleeping against his mother. After his mother coaxes him to wake up, Bambi notices all of the animals and looks at them with confusion, indicating that he is not very familiar with the woodland creatures or the reason why they are visiting him. As I was watching this part of the film, I found it fascinating that we get to see Bambi’s first impressions of the world around him. Since we meet Bambi shortly after he is born, we are given the opportunity to watch him become more knowledgeable as the movie progresses.
The next scene in the movie shows Bambi and his mother walking through the forest, demonstrating that some time has passed since Bambi was born because he can walk on his own. As Bambi and his mother move through the forest, they are greeted by all of the animals they pass. While Bambi politely acknowledges their greetings, it is evident that he still does not fully understand the significance of his role as the young prince of the forest. Later during the walk, Bambi loses his balance and falls on the ground drawing the attention of Thumper and his family. Although Thumper first met Bambi on the day he was born, I believe this moment is when they truly became friends. Thumper has a very friendly and energetic personality which plays off well with Bambi’s inquisitive demeanor. The nature of their friendship allows Thumper to act as a mentor to Bambi, teaching him how to do certain things like jumping over a log, saying words like “bird” or “butterfly,” and even helping him befriend Flower, a bashful skunk. It is endearing to watch Bambi learn new things and get excited when he finds something different. Thumper is also a great teacher for Bambi because he is patient when he explains new things to the young prince, permitting Bambi to learn multiple concepts and become more familiar with his surroundings. These teachings will prove to be important for Bambi since they will serve as the beginning of his education of the forest and prepare him to learn more intense lessons later in the film.
As more time passes, Bambi continues to mature by talking in complete sentences. It is Bambi’s evolving maturity that gives his mother the confidence to take him to the meadow, an activity she could not do with him when he was younger. When they approach the meadow, Bambi excitedly runs toward it but his mother leaps in front of him, presenting the young prince with another lesson which is to learn to be cautious in open spaces. Bambi’s mother explains the meadow is a big space with no trees or bushes to hide behind. These elements allude to the fact that potential dangers are lurking in vast unguarded places like the meadow and one must be overly observant in order to survive. This scene was one of the most memorable parts of the movie for me because it gives a tonal shift to the film’s story. The previous segments in the movie consist of Bambi becoming acclimated with the forest and the animals that inhabit it which were relatively harmless endeavors. Now that he is being told he has to be careful so he can avoid menacing threats lingering near the meadow, Bambi is filled with a newfound sense of fear and while it is temporarily abated through his mother’s reassurance, it will slowly intensify as the film’s story continues.
After Bambi’s mother tells him the meadow is safe, Bambi proceeds to have a lot of fun exploring the open field. He frolics with his mother, learns about clover from Thumper, and makes a new friend, another young Fawn named Faline who is very giddy and loves to tease him. Eventually, Bambi spots some older deer leaping across the meadow. Bambi decides to join them and they all come to an abrupt stop when they see a deer with a stronger build and longer antlers walk onto the meadow. This particular deer pauses on his stroll when he sees Bambi and briefly makes eye contact with him, showing he knows who Bambi is by acknowledging his existence. When Bambi asks about the deer and why everyone paused when he entered the meadow, his mother explains that everyone in the forest respects him because of his immense bravery and intelligence, granting him the title, the Great Prince of the Forest. Shortly after the Great Prince leaves the meadow, he sees crows flying through the sky which suggests that something hazardous is nearby. He immediately hurries back to the meadow to warn everyone, demonstrating another reason why he gains admiration from the rest of the animals which is that he takes on the role of the forest’s protector. As all of the animals flee the meadow, we begin to witness the harmful actions committed by the film’s antagonist, which will prove to negatively impact Bambi and the other woodland creatures.
Once the other animals heed the Great Prince’s warning, they begin to run towards the forest as fast as they can transforming the once calm atmosphere into a hectic frenzy in their efforts to get to safety. Bambi and his mother lose sight of each other in the chaos which is very stressful to watch since they are both lingering in the field frantically searching for each other while everyone else is fleeing, making it clear the meadow is unsafe. Luckily the Great Prine is able to locate Bambi and together with his mother, they run to the forest in time to avoid any danger. However, they do hear the sound of a gun being fired just before they make it to the forest’s edge, indicating the source of danger is not afraid to be violent. When they are safely hidden away, Bambi asks his mother why they all had to run, she replies by stating, “Man was in the Forest.” This scene felt very powerful and its overall tone makes it very difficult to forget about Man’s presence in the movie. Despite not being seen once during the film, Man proves himself to be wicked and intimidating through his ruthless desire to kill the defenseless animals of the forest by shooting them with his gun. His actions are able to instill fear in all of the animals to the extent that they do not want to be near him because he will quickly bring about their demise, a fate that tragically befalls Bambi’s mother later in the movie.
Following Bambi’s introduction to Man, the film skips forward in time, with the seasons changing from summer to autumn and winter. The colder months bring about a food shortage, leaving Bambi and his mother with little to eat until one day they spot a patch of fresh spring grass in the meadow. As they are eating, Bambi’s mother suddenly looks up and peers into the distance. She proceeds to tell Bambi to run toward the thicket. As they run, we start to hear gunshots which tells us Man is nearby and is trying to kill them. We then hear another gunshot and when Bambi exits the meadow, we no longer see his mother running behind him, leading us to discern Man has shot her. When Bambi safely arrives at the thicket, he realizes his mother is not there with him and he desperately goes out into the snow to search for her. This section of the film always breaks my heart whenever I watch it. Until now, Bambi has heavily relied on his mother, and for her to suddenly be gone is very upsetting. The scene becomes even more depressing as Bambi calls out for his mother, asking where she is, each cry sounding more desperate than the last. Eventually, the Great Prince puts a stop to Bambi’s pitiful search and tells him his mother can no longer be with him, confirming that she has died. As Bambi starts to cry, the Great Prince convinces the young deer to follow him and addresses Bambi as his son. This reveal felt satisfying and reassuring since Bambi still has a parent who can raise him, giving the young prince the potential to have a happy life as he gets older.
The next time we see Bambi, he has grown into a young adult. He converses with Friend Owl, one of the forest’s residents who comments that the other animals have been speculating on what happened to Bambi, implying the young prince has been away from the forest for a while. Thumper and Flower proceed to greet Bambi and we can see that they have also gotten older. After the friends reunite, they witness a pair of birds kissing and flying close together. When they ask why the birds are behaving strangely, Friend Owl says the birds are twitterpated, meaning they have become infatuated with each other, making them very affectionate. Bambi, Thumper, and Flower believe being twitterpated is terrible and they adamantly state that none of them will ever experience romantic feelings. After they have made this declaration, they saunter through the forest, planning to live independent lives.
As Bambi and his friends walk away from Friend Owl, determined not to become twitterpated, Flower gets distracted by the sight of a pretty female skunk. Flower feels romantic attraction towards the other skunk and decides to follow her, supporting Friend Owl’s assumption that he is capable of catching feelings for someone. Bambi and Thumper continue walking with the intention of not being twitterpated when Thumper sees a beautiful bunny who persuades him to stay with her, leading him to become twitterpated like Flower. When I first watched this part of the movie when I was younger I found the twitterpated scenes to be weird and they made me feel a little uncomfortable. Now that I am rewatching Bambi all these years later…my opinions have not changed. While I think Flower and Thumper are wonderful characters who deserve to fall in love, I found the way they found their romantic partners to be bizarre. The lady skunk and bunny both gesture for the animal they fancy to leave their friends and then try to get them to reciprocate their affections by kissing them. Maybe I am viewing these scenes with too much scrutiny, but I found these methods unsettling. Another reason why I do not like these scenes is because Bambi has not seen Thumper or Flower for a while and the fact that their time together is abruptly cut short so Flower and Thumper can have girlfriends aggravated me. Fortunately, when Bambi becomes twitterpated, I did not feel the same amount of annoyance.
I found Bambi getting twitterpated to be more tolerable compared to Flower and Thumper because the animal he becomes infatuated with is Faline, a childhood friend and not a stranger. Faline also approaches Bambi in a more friendly manner compared to Flower and Thumper’s love interests. She politely asks Bambi if he remembers her and tells him her name to remind him of who she is, then she tentatively walks up to him and kisses him on the cheek. Granted, Bambi does appear to be a little startled when he sees Faline, and his antlers are caught in a tree branch when she kisses him, preventing him from moving away. However, I interpreted Faline’s romantic approach to be sweet and cautious while Thumper and Flower’s partners heavily relied on seduction. She also chooses to kiss Bambi on the cheek instead of the lips allowing Bambi to ease into the idea of having a romantic partner. I thought this action was pretty considerate compared to the lady bunny and skunk’s decision to kiss their love interests on the lips with no hesitation. Bambi proceeds to frolic with Faline until another male deer forcefully steps in front of Bambi so he can claim Faline for himself. In order to protect Faline, Bambi charges towards the deer and fights him. The fight ends with Bambi throwing the other deer into a river, demonstrating his superiority in strength. I found this particular scene to be an abrupt shift from the lovey-dovey nature in the twitterpated sections of the film, but I really liked how we got to see how Bambi has grown up to be a strong young buck. The resilience he displays in his fight with the other deer shows us Bambi is capable of defending his loved ones which will prove to be useful during the movie’s final climax.
The final arc of the movie begins with Bambi and Faline asleep in a thicket. Bambi suddenly awakens, sensing something is amiss. He decides to walk away from Faline until he arrives at the edge of a cliff where he spots a camp in the distance. The Great Prince joins Bambi on the cliff and explains the campsite belongs to Man who has brought a group of hunters to assist him in shooting the animals. They decide to go deeper into the forest to hide when Bambi remembers Faline and runs to find her. Unfortunately, Faline wakes up to the sound of Man’s crows and when she realizes Bambi is not with her, she runs away to search for him before Bambi returns to the thicket, adding more tension and suspense to the film.
The movie gets even more intense when the other animals realize Man is nearby. Everyone attempts to avoid him by hiding and being quiet. Sadly this plan is foiled when a bird gets so anxious about the possibility of Man finding her that she attempts to fly away only to be shot down by Man when he sees her. I always feel a little uneasy whenever I watch this part of Bambi. The animation and voice acting do an excellent job of displaying the bird’s apprehension and I find myself hoping for her to be unharmed even though I know Man will kill her. It is a dreadful sight when her lifeless body hits the ground after being shot and the other animals are forced to run away. The movie becomes even more distressing to watch as Man and his hunters continue to shoot at the animals narrowly missing them as they scatter to find new hiding places, desperate to stay alive.
The conflict escalates when Faline continues to search for Bambi and encounters Man’s dogs who all have intimidating appearances due to their piercing eyes and snapping jaws. Luckily, Bambi hears Faline’s cries for help and rushes towards the dogs, fighting against them so Faline can run off to safety. After Faline escapes, Bambi lures the dogs near the top of a ledge and kicks down rocks, inhibiting the dogs from following him. By fearlessly protecting Faline and strategically defeating Man’s dogs, Bambi shows he possesses the same bravery and intelligence his father has, allowing him to finally embody his role as the young prince of the forest. As Bambi runs away from Man and his dogs, he looks like he is pleased with the outcome of the fight, acting as a hero who has emerged victorious and is triumphantly making his way home. Unfortunately, this satisfactory feeling does not last long because Man manages to shoot Bambi as he runs away.
As Bambi crumples to the ground in pain, the film redirects our attention to Man’s campsite where the campfire has spread to nearby trees, causing the entire forest to be engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds. The addition of the fire makes the already dangerous situation even more deadly. Not only do the animals have to worry about avoiding dogs and gunshots, but they also no longer have places to hide because their homes have been set ablaze by the fire. The flames prove to be distressing for Bambi as well as he struggles to get up but the overwhelming pain from the gunshot wound keeps him rooted to the ground while the flames continue their merciless trek towards his body. Thankfully, the Great Prince finds Bambi and orders him to get up, leading Bambi to escape his fiery demise. When Bambi and the Great Prince escape the fire, we see an image of the entire forest consumed by the flames, showing us the negative impact of Man’s actions. His desire to hunt the animals in the forest led to innocent lives being taken and homes being destroyed which illustrates that hunting is not a harmless activity. Instead, it brings about unnecessary destruction, damaging properties and families so the hunters can feel a brief sense of accomplishment without giving a second thought to their carelessness. Even when the movie passes forward into springtime, we are shown that part of the forest has never recovered from Man’s fire which proves his deeds caused irreparable harm and will not be easily forgotten. Fortunately, the spring season brings about something positive, letting the movie end on a lighter note.
The film concludes with a scene reminiscent of the beginning of Bambi’s life. All of the animals in the forest hurry to the thicket where Faline has recently given birth to two fawns. The movie then pans over to a nearby hilltop where Bambi and the Great Prince are watching from afar. After a few seconds, the Great Prince walks away, leaving Bambi alone on the hill, signifying that Bambi’s father is stepping down as the forest’s leader and has given that role to his son, thus ending Bambi’s journey and the movie’s story.
Now that we have thoroughly examined Bambi’s storyline, let’s talk about the songs that were composed for the film.
Music
“Love is a Song” has a very dreamy quality to it. I love how the sentiment, “Love is a song that never ends” describes love as something everlasting while also possessing a sweet and heavenly quality reminiscent of a beautiful song. This number is a wonderful opening to the film and it is probably my favorite song in the soundtrack.
“Little April Shower” is another cute and simple song that describes the April showers as a lovely symphony of music. I thought it was clever how the animators had certain notes corresponding with falling raindrops and clashing thunder, giving the music and animation a nice sense of balance. Altogether another great addition to the movie’s soundtrack.
“Let’s Sing a Gay Little Spring Song” is a sweet little tune that describes spring as a joyful, carefree season of love. Unfortunately, despite the pleasant lyrics and cheery atmosphere the song is trying to present, I cannot bring myself to enjoy it due to its placement in the film. This song is played right after Bambi learns his mother is dead and having this tragic news take place shortly before this bright, blissful song gave me emotional whiplash. If I witness something heartwrenching like someone’s mother dying, the last thing I want to do is sing a gay little spring song. For this reason, I do not like this song, and I think the movie could have potentially been better if it was never included.
“I Bring You a Song” is about experiencing young love and how you want the person you are fond of to possess the same romantic attraction. This number is played shortly after Bambi and Faline become a couple and I believe the lyrics perfectly reflect their relationship. They are experiencing feelings of romance for the first time, filling them with the desire to love each other unconditionally. Overall, I think this song is a beautiful encapsulation of a person’s first encounter with romantic love while also fitting well with its placement in the movie’s storyline.
Since I have covered all of the songs in Bambi I will conclude this blog post by giving the movie its final ratings and ranking.
Rating
Characters: 8/10 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌
I found most of the characters in Bambi to be memorable and well-rounded. Bambi is a delightful protagonist with a satisfying character arc, starting the movie as a curious, innocent fawn who grows up to become a brave, strong buck. Bambi’s mother embodies the ideal qualities of a good parent with her patience, compassion, and affection. Thumper and Flower have incredibly endearing personalities and are near the top of my list of favorite Disney sidekicks. Faline is a sweet, lively young doe who fulfills her role as Bambi’s loving partner. The Great Prince of the Forest is a symbol of courage and wisdom who plays the role of Bambi’s role model, representing what the young prince is supposed to become when he gets older. Lastly, Man is a faceless yet dominant presence in the movie whose cruel desire to mercilessly shoot forest animals makes him one of the most menacing and memorable villains in Disney history. Overall, an excellent cast of characters who deserve a relatively high rating. However, while I found these characters to be very enjoyable, I feel a little hesitant giving them a higher score and I think the reason why is because I know I find other Disney characters slightly more captivating than the characters in Bambi. So for now, I will rate Bambi’s characters an 8/10.
Story: 9/10 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌
I really like how the story of this movie was structured. The film’s plot is meant to serve as Bambi’s coming-of-age story, following him from his birth to the moment when he takes up the mantle as the Great Prince of the Forest. I loved watching Bambi grow up throughout the movie because I could see him slowly mature into the leader he was meant to be, making me really invested in his personal journey. With the exception of some scenes (the “Let’s Sing a Gay Little Spring Song” transition and the twitterpated segments), Bambi has a very satisfying storyline worthy of an almost perfect rating.
Music: 6/10 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌
All of the songs in Bambi are beautifully composed and contain sweet, pleasant lyrics. However, while all of the songs have a lovely quality to them, I did not find any of them to be very memorable. For this reason, I am giving the music a lower rating.
Ranking
I will now end this blog post by officially ranking Bambi. I really loved watching this movie and I believe it deserves to be high on the ranking list. After much debate, I have decided to place Bambi below Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs since I find the later film to be slightly more entertaining to watch. I will see you next time when I cover Saludos Amigos!
- Pinocchio
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Bambi
- Dumbo
- Fantasia