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Bambi
(1942)
In Disney's classic feature-length animation - the
visually-beautiful and musically-expressive film
with a multiplane camera, and based on the 1923 Felix Salten story
- about the maturing of Bambi and illustrating the struggles, turmoil,
and changes that accompanied the changing of seasons, the passage
of time, and life's survival, as the young fawn came of age and completed
the cycle of life:
- the highly-realistic opening birth scene ("the new
prince is born") of a young fawn named Bambi in the depths and
undergrowth of the forest - beautifully realized
- as Bambi grew up in coming-of-age
scenes, he walked through the forest, and stumbled
over his spindly legs and had trouble with his footing when
taught how to walk/run by his cute, energetic and lovable rabbit
friend Thumper; during Bambi's first winter, Thumper offered lessons
for Bambi on how to slide across the ice - causing Bambi to end
up spread-eagled
- other friends included bashful skunk Flower, Owl,
and many other forest creatures, especially a female fawn named
Faline
- during Bambi's first visit to the meadow with his
mother, he had a glimpse of his father - The Great
Prince, who warned the other animals of the approach of Man - a
hunter
- in the most traumatic scene (with the sound of a
gunshot off-screen), Bambi's mother was murdered by Man - a hunter
in a snow-covered meadow; and the small fawn who had escaped harm
gave fearful cries of "Mother,
where are you?" during a raging snowstorm
The Traumatic Scene of the Death of Bambi's Mother by Man
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- Bambi's buck father's delivered a fateful
message about her death to Bambi: ("Your mother can't be with
you anymore") - one of the saddest sequences in film history
- as Bambi matured into a young stag, wise old Owl delivered
a humorous sex-education speech on the power of falling in love ("twitterpatted");
at around that time, both Flower and Thumper found romantic counterparts
- Bambi courted pretty young
doe Faline, but was interrupted by a rival older buck deer named
Ronno, and Bambi was forced to fight for Faline's affection, in an
expressionistically-filmed fight sequence
- in another terrifying scene during the return and
approach of hunters, Bambi protected Faline from a pack of mad and
vicious hunting dogs unleashed by Man; although Bambi was wounded,
he survived
- three fearful
pheasants cornered in the tall grass were also worried about their
predicament; the most scared one exclaimed: "Listen, he's coming...He's
coming closer!...We'd better fly"; others whispered: "Hush.
Be quiet...Be calm. Don't get excited"; there was a warning
and a plea: "No, no, don't fly. Whatever you do, don't fly!" -
but the fearful pheasant did fly upwards as it shouted out: ("He's
almost here. I can't stand it any longer!") - and was shot down;
the lifeless body tumbled to the ground, followed by a flurry of
feathers - and scattering of all the other animals
- the forest was destroyed by a chaotic and raging
wildfire (carelessly caused by a campfire set by Man), and the animals
were helplessly caught in the conflagration as they attempted to
flee
- in the final springtime scene, a grown Bambi (with
the recent birth of twins with Faline) proudly took his place and
stood with his 'Prince of the Forest' father, silhouetted against
the sky, before he ascended to the top position in the herd when
his father stepped aside (and presumably passed on)
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On the Ice with Thumper
Fearful Pheasants At the Approach of Hunters
Forest Fire
Bambi Proudly Standing with His Father: "Prince of
the Forest"
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