‘Bambi’ movie poster art, 1942. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images)

As a middle-aged person, I *finally* watched the original Bambi (1942), an animated movie classic, for the first time. I know some of you might find that hard to believe, but why in the hell would I lie about something so minor? Anyway, after watching it, I decided to write about it, given my ‘late to the party’ perspective.

If you have yet to watch the movie, stop reading this piece because spoilers will be discussed.

The Making of the Movie

As described by John Wills for the Library of Congress, “[Bambi, the movie] is based on “Bambi, A Life in the Woods” (1923) by Austrian Felix Salten that offered a sentimental yet critical take on human-nature relations for a largely adult audience.” In April 1937, Walt Disney “acquired rights to the title from MGM director Sidney Franklin, who had failed to turn the story into a working live-action movie.”

That premise sounds like a lot for a movie most people probably saw simply as animated film about a deer, his family and life in the woods.

However, Salten’s book in which the film was based, was written for an adult audience. Reviews of the book during that time lauded it as being “literature of a high order“, “beautiful and graceful“, and a “delightful animal story.“

According to The German Way & More website, “[The book] Bambi in English was a bestseller after its publication, becoming a “book-of-the-month” selection and selling 650,000 copies in the United States by 1942.” Nevertheless, the book was banned in “Nazi Germany in 1936” since it was viewed as “political allegory on the treatment of Jews in Europe.” 

Well, Disney didn’t seem too interested in supposed cultural inferences, critiques, and brouhaha’s about Salten’s book. It had a children’s movie to make!

According to film’s trivia section via the IMDB: “Disney animators spent a year studying and drawing deer and fawns to perfect the look of Bambi and his parents and friends.” Even with that amount of time, the animators still had to make adjustments when it came to animating Bambi and his father’s antlers. For the former, they had to “infuse [Bambi] with the traits of a human baby.” Regarding the latter, a “plaster cast was made of real antlers which was filmed at all angles” then said film was “rotoscoped onto animation cells.”

After almost four years in production, Bambi premiered in New York City, NY on August 13, 1942 during World War II. It was subsequently re-released in U.S. movie theaters in 1947, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1982, and 1988).

Most of the original (1942) reviews were mixed in that the reviewers were wowed by the animation and imagery, but not so much by the story or vice versa:

  • Time Magazine‘s review found Bambi to be an appealing character and said that “Bambi’s rubber-jointed, slack-limbed, coltish first steps in the art of walking are, even for Disney, inspired animation.” The reviewer also seem to have loved the other characters in the movie especially Thumper. The movie was described as “good” but felt that Disney’s earlier films, Fantasia and Dumbo “were better.”
  • In the New Republic’s review, Bambi was described as “[having] all the stereotyped mechanisms of the formula movie—the heavy side to the love triangle, the fight for the doe’s (“Feline”) affections, the wise old king deer whose place Bambi wins over in the closing shots” along with “songs everywhere, coming out of the mountains, from under the trees, flooding you with the most maudlin sounds a director ever let happen.”
  • The New York Times’ critique primarily concerned Disney’s interpretation of nature in action, stating that “[o]ne cannot combine naturalism with cartoon fantasy. Because Bambi and his mother are naturalistically conceived, the fact that they speak like people becomes widely incongruous; because the stags are similarly drawn their stiff leaps across the meadow merely throw into relief the failure of pen and brush to catch the fluent movement of real photography.” But still admitted that “Bambi is going to please a great many people, for all [their] churlish exceptions [they have about the film].”

Maybe the so-so reviews along with the film being released during WWII had an impact on its box office ticket sales. It made $3 million at the domestic (U.S. box office). Its box-office take didn’t crack double-digits ($20 million) until its 1975 re-release.

Over time Bambi has come to be viewed as a cinema classic and a watershed movie moment for many in regards to their childhood, their understanding of mortality and views about nature and conservation. The American Film Institute ranked it as the third-best animated film in history. The Library of Congress added it to its National Film Registry. Furthermore, others have seen allegories in the book and/or the movie such as the persecution of minorities, antisemitism, anti-hunting, and anti-meat.

That’s a ton of trivia-like to heavy information about a childhood film! Much of the above I had learned about via general readings, film reviews and college film classes. Yet, I never got around to seeing the film until 2024.

Finally Watching the Movie

Somehow Disney movies just were not on my childhood radar. I think some of it has to do with growing-up mostly around older members of my family (Silent Generation and Baby Boomers) who were more interested in other things besides watching television and occasionally going to the movies. Don’t get me wrong – I did watch television and go to the movies. But most of it wasn’t kids’ stuff, with Saturday morning cartoons being the exception. I was aware of the Wonderful World of Disney television series, which showed Disney movies on Sunday evenings, but it wasn’t something that our family watched. As a result, there are a bunch of Disney movies that I have yet to see. As such, any cultural references or jokes regarding these films mostly, and sometimes hilariously, have gone over my head.

I decided to rectify my ‘Disney Movies’ cluelessness by starting with Bambi. I knew that watching the film as adult would feel differently than doing so as a child. The animation and story line probably would have felt more fresh and heartrending through my younger eyes. Yet, I still found the movie worthwhile and actually pretty impressive. The animation was lively, bright and warm, it brought the wonderfulness of the forest and its creatures to life. The voiceovers fit the characters well, It helps that child actors (not adults mimicking children) voiced the roles of the young creatures, which was unusual at that time. The film’s soundtrack is decent, but the orchestral music and vocals were overwrought, which seems to be an animation music trait from that period, based on snippets of other cartoons I’ve seen from that era.

Bambi on the surface is about the birth and life of a male deer named Bambi. But there is so much more than that going on in the film. The movie shows the life and livelihood of other living things in the forest where Bambi and his family resides and are viewed as royalty. There are other characters in the film: Thumper (rabbit); Flower (skunk); Friend Owl (owl); Faline (doe); and Bambi’s parents. As you see the animals, birds and insects go about their day, you also see the forest change during the seasons. All of it is meant to show that the forest isn’t just a bunch of trees, it is also a life and home to the creatures who live there.

The movie is definitely a reflection of its time in how it strongly and stereotypically defines male and female gender roles…to non-humans, no less. 1) The ‘mother’ female creatures have soothing voices and are nurturing when it comes to instructing their children. Moms are still primarily portrayed as such, though they have a lot on their proverbial plates. 2) The ‘younger’ female creatures (deer, skunk, rabbits) have long lashes, are flirty and somewhat aggressive when they’re attracted to a male of their species, which was eye-rolling. 3) The ‘young ones’ ask probing questions, say cheeky things and go on adventures throughout the forest, which was sweet and endearing and 4) As for the two adult male creatures, one is old and wise (Mr. Owl) and the other (Bambi’s father, The King of the Forest) is strong and stoic as he spends most of his time guarding the forest and protecting its inhabitants. Basically, an owl and a stag are adult males imbued with intelligence and manliness – though they’re not actually men.

Of course, the main thing that viewers constantly mention about this film is the death of Bambi’s mom. She was killed by “Man” (a human/humanity) who was shooting at the deer for hunting purposes. You never see Man, but you hear him and hear the fear when the creatures talk about him. The scene leading to the Mom’s death is tense and suspenseful. While Bambi and his mom are running from Man (and his gun), Bambi’s mom cries to him fearfully, yet in a determined voice: “Faster! Faster, Bambi! Don’t look back! Keep running! Keep running!” When Bambi makes it to safety and turns around and says happily “We made it, Mother!” he notices that that his mom is not behind him. He goes looking for her, calling her name, until he realizes that she is dead. That “Man” had killed her.

It is a striking and stark moment for a family film, especially one that is seen as a family and/or children’s movie. I could not help but think of the myriad of television series, movies, even video games that veer away from killing-off main, pivotal or favorite characters because the writers or producers don’t think that it would ‘go over well’ with audiences. (FYI: Do a Google search for thousands of articles about “characters who should’ve been killed-off”, “characters that overstayed their welcome” or “movies that left out real tragic endings”). So for the film producers to make such a decision for a family film is pretty gutsy, even though they knew they had to do it to show Bambi’s growth through tragedy via the deadliness of Man.

If I had seen Bambi as a child I would’ve been sad and came away with a lot of questions. Questions about life, death, fear and sorrow – and tons of ‘how did they do XYZ that?’ for the film. But the sadness of the film would’ve stunned me, then I would’ve cried for a bit. I have a soft spot for nature’s creatures. I avoid seeing anything clumpy on sidewalks, streets and highways because I’m afraid that it’ll be a dead animal that has been killed. Hell, I tear-up watching nature videos and documentaries when I see animals starving, dying or being killed. Yes, I know it’s the circle of life (to quote my husband), but I still mourn their loss of life – it’s as simple as that.

‘Bambi’ overall is a beautiful film, not just in its production, but in what it shows to its audience. The wonder of nature. The joy of friends and family. The loss of love ones. That fear, sadness and death, just like happiness, are a part of growing-up. It is why the original Bambi has resonated over the decades with the many who have seen it.

Now I finally know and understand why.