Movies - Bambi

	Movies - Bambi

Bambi is the fifth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon, which was originally released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on August 13, 1942 and produced by Walt Disney. The film was based on the 1923 book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten. In the book, the main characters are Bambi, the young roe deer prince of the forest, his parents - the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mate - and his friends Thumper (a rabbit), Flower (a skunk), and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline (a deer). For the movie, Disney took the liberty of changing Bambi's species into a white-tailed deer for visual emphasis against the colored backgrounds.

Plot

The story of the natural life cycle - birth, death and re-birth - is the true plot of the film. It is a case study in the very basics of life: the ‘doe-eyed’ innocence of childhood; parental love; discovering and learning about the world around us (both its beauty and its danger); loss and grief; developing friendships; loyalty; balancing risk and need; growing toward independence; being at one and in harmony with nature; and romantic love.

The death of Bambi's mother- Like the majority of Walt Disney's feature-length animated narratives, Bambi embraces both joy and tragedy. Bambi is a movie that alternates frequently between these two extremes, with the one typically being used to set up the other. For instance, the joy of Bambi's first walk through the forest is interrupted by a frightening thunderstorm. His first visit to the meadow is joyful until it is interrupted by hunters who fire upon Bambi and his mother and father.

The seminal scene in the movie involves Bambi's mother and her death at the hands of off-screen hunters. In the sequence, we see the use of the joy/tragedy motif used again. The scene is set in late winter, and Bambi and his mother struggle to find food as mournful music plays. Joy is felt as they discover a patch of new grass, signalling the arrival of Spring, and joyful music is heard on the soundtrack. As they feast, the mood changes again, and we hear Man approach off-screen, represented only by his theme music (a low, three-note motif). Bambi's mother suddenly catches Man's scent, and orders her child to run, but she is too late. As they flee across the snow field, a shot rings out. The camera stays with young Bambi as he runs through the forest, finally stopping to catch his breath. He notices at this time (as does the audience) that his mother is nowhere to be seen.

In a series of heartbreaking dissolves, Bambi wanders desperately through the forest calling for her, but no answer comes. Bambi is startled by the sudden appearance of his father, the Great Prince, who tells him that his mother cannot be with him any more. Bambi casts his head to the ground, and when he lifts it again, we see he is crying, realizing what has happened. Bambi follows his father into the forest, taking one last look back as he leaves his childhood and innocence behind.

The death of Bambi's mother is one of the most famous moments in American animation, a moment so upsetting to certain children that they had to be carried screaming out of the theater during Bambis numerous theatrical presentations. For this reason, and because of the horror and violence of the climactic hunting/forest fire sequence, many critics question the suitability of Bambi as a film appropriate for very young audiences. When one takes Bambi together with the other Disney feature films created during the same period of the early 40's, such as the dark Pinocchio, the powerful Fantasia
, and the serious Victory Through Air Power
, one can see an attempt by Walt Disney to produce films pushing against the stereotype of Disney animation as "children's films".
Controversy
Recently, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior has criticized the movie Bambi for propagating the idea that the best way to manage the forest resources within the U.S. was to fight forest fires. The Secretary of the Interior points out that controlled burning is now recognized as more beneficial, and that forest animals, such as Bambi, simply move out of the way of forest fires and, in general, are not killed by them.
History
Re-release schedule and home video
Bambi was released in theaters in 1942, during World War II and was Disney's fifth full length animated film. It was an advance over the previous movies in sophistication of the animation, due to the experience gained in character animation at the Disney studio. The famous art direction of Bambi, which suggests emotion and the feeling of a forest rather than depicting a real forest, was due to the influence of Tyrus Wong, a former painter who provided eastern and painterly influence to the backgrounds. It was re-released to theaters on 1947, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1982, and 1988. It was released on VHS video in 1989 (The Classics version) and 1997 (Masterpiece Collection version) and remastered for DVD in 2005 (as a Platinum Edition release).
[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Bambi ]

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Movies - Bambi

Plot

Controversy

History

Re-release schedule and home video

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