Bambi (1942)

The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.

Directors:

James Algar, Samuel Armstrong (as Sam Armstrong)

Writers:

Felix Salten (from the story by), Perce Pearce (story direction)

Stars:

Hardie Albright, Stan Alexander, Bobette Audrey

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Hardie Albright	...	Adolescent Bambi (voice) (uncredited)
Stan Alexander	...	Young Flower (voice) (uncredited)
Bobette Audrey	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Peter Behn	...	Young Thumper (voice) (uncredited)
Thelma Boardman	...	Girl Bunny / Quail Mother / Female Pheasant (voice) (uncredited)
Janet Chapman	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Jeanne Christy	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Dolyn Bramston Cook	...	(voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Tim Davis	...	Adolescent Thumper / Adolescent Flower (voice) (uncredited)
Donnie Dunagan	...	Young Bambi (voice) (uncredited)
Sam Edwards	...	Adult Thumper (voice) (uncredited)
Ann Gillis	...	Adult Faline (voice) (uncredited)
Otis Harlan	...	Mr. Mole (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Eddie Holden	...	Chipmunk (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)

Storyline

It's spring, and all the animals of the forest are excited by the forest's latest birth, a buck fawn his mother has named Bambi. The animals are more excited than usual as Bambi's lineage means he will inherit the title of prince of the forest. Along with his mother, Bambi navigates through life with the help of his similarly aged friends, Thumper, a rabbit kit who needs to be continually reminded by his mother of all the lessons his father has taught him about how to live as a rabbit properly, and Flower, a skunk kit who likes his name. As different animals, they have their own issues and challenges which may not translate to the others. Being similarly aged, Bambi, Thumper and Flower may have to experience the uncharted phases of their lives without the knowledge or wisdom unless gleaned from those who have gone through them before. Bambi has to learn early that the lives of deer and of many of the other forest animals are not without their inherent dangers, for deer especially in ...

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Plot Keywords:

gun | deer | animal | hunter | disney | 

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Taglines:

A great love story.

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Family

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Certificate:

M/6

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first Disney animated feature film to not contain any musical elements. Starting with Tarzan (1999), all films in the Disney animated classics lineup would not be musicals, with the exceptions of The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), Winnie the Pooh (2011), Frozen (2013), Moana (2016), and Frozen II (2019).

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Goofs

When Bambi first meets Faline, she licks him on the forehead, but when he wipes away the kiss, he is wiping his left cheek.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Thumper: Wake up, wake up!

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Crazy Credits

The RKO logo is in dark teal on a lighter teal background, and there are branches with leaves (in the same dark teal color) surrounding the logo.

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Alternate Versions

The original theatrical release had the RKO print logo at the front of the film. On the 1989 and 1997 American VHS, the "Walt Disney presents" title card is the start of the film, although the 1997 laserdisc (9505) retains RKO, as the collector's format was kept pristine. For the 2005 Region 1 DVD release, the theme has a slight musical extension to fill in a new time gap made by a shorter version of the Walt Disney logo, which is perfectly in sync with the music. After the logo ends, the Walt Disney title card appears, and the film starts normally. It is unknown if this musical extension is in the original theatrical release, though it can be heard on some older Super 8 film prints. The 2017 Signature/Anniversary Blu-ray and DVD reinstated the RKO logo, but while the original dissolved from RKO to "Walt Disney presents", this version fades to black and back, it uses the extended music to match the length, and it still retains the 2005 remaster's additional background colors for the credits rather than the original's shades of blue.

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Connections

Edited into The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures (1975)

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Soundtracks

Love Is a Song
(1942) (uncredited)
Music by Frank Churchill
Lyrics by Larry Morey
Sung by Donald Novis

User Reviews

My third favourite Disney classic - a gorgeous, heart-warming story! :)

This film is receiving a lot of bad reviews on this website. WHY? "The cover will gather dust" indeed! Not while I'm around!

Anyway, this famous and popular film is about a little fawn/calf (young red deer are called calves and he might be a red deer) called Bambi, who is learning to live in the forest with his mother and two main friends to play with, Thumper and Flower. Also, Bambi is not just any fawn/calf. He's the young prince! Will he manage to take his rightful place as great prince of the forest?

I love and have loved this film for about 90% of my life. It is a beautiful classic, has stunning animation, a good story and I love all of the characters, except for the baddie dogs at the end. They are the only baddies you see on screen - and I like that.

So if you haven't watched this classic, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING THEN? Watch it, you're guaranteed to love it! :) ;) :()

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1944 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Bambi

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,216,741, 17 July 1988

Gross USA:

$102,247,150

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$267,447,150

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1