Once Upon A Disney #5: Bambi

From elephants flying to deer... well, y'know... we're taking a hop, skip and a jump into this week's Disney Classic: 

Bambi (1942)

Savage.

Yes, it's a downer this week. I normally try to avoid Bambi for its tear-inducing plot, but it wouldn't be a challenge unless we went through some tough times together. To be honest, I'm more apprehensive about our next streak of films (Saludos Amigos anyone? Yeah, I thought not). 

The last of a Disney's first string of absolute bangers, Bambi has a dreamlike, almost balletic quality, far removed from Dumbo and more akin to Fantasia. The opening sequence, which sets the secluded forest setting through a series of nature vignettes, reminded me of Fantasia's Nutcracker segment, each animal and plant offering its characteristics to the music. 

In fact, Bambi is the first Disney movie not to include any human characters – at least not on screen – focussing entirely on the natural world. The story disarmingly simple (deer is born, loses mother, grows up and takes his place as Prince of the Forest), it instead focusses on the passing of time in nature, namely the seasons. The movie could almost be told without any dialogue at all, and long stretches of the film do just that. 

Me when I go near a cold swimming pool 

The way that the movements and colours of the forest are accompanied by the romantic orchestral score is where Bambi truly shines. From the percussive, reflective Little April Shower, to Bambi's first time on ice, to the tense, Jaws-like score when the hunters come for his mother, the music and animation are perfectly in tune, lulling us into this dream of a movie. 

Keeping the kids awake are Flower and Thumper, who, along with the owl and some of the other woodland creatures, inject some humour and lightness into what might otherwise turn into a dangerously serious film.  Much like the Timon and Pumbaa effect on Disney's later re-imagining of the story, The Lion King. Their adorable antics remind us that we're meant to be having fun, as well as bawling our eyes out. That, and Disney obviously got the 'insert cute baby animals' memo after Dumbo.

Thumper had too many mulled wines

THAT heart-wrenching moment aside (no, I'm not going into details), even as Bambi ends on a triumphant note, there's a stoicism about it that left me with a bittersweet feeling. Maybe it's the knowledge that the seasons will change again, and more tragedy will come, or it could be the awareness of the sinister threat that still lurks out on the meadows. Either way, Bambi catches an elusive, melancholy atmosphere that I haven't felt in any of the Classics so far. 

Villain rating: 2/5

Best Song: Little April Shower 

Disney Detail: Whether this was deliberate or not, there's one scene where Thumper is ROFLing, and it looks like he goes through the exact same sequence of movements as one of the girl bunnies in a much later Disney movie – Robin Hood.    

Why it's a Classic: Setting the blueprint for The Lion King, Bambi's mother dying is a classic Disney moment and showcases the studio's mastery to bring us to tears through animation. Also, Thumper. 

No caption needed