Bambi (1942)

Director:

David Hand

Writers:

Felix Salten (story)
Perce Pearce (story)

Release Date:

21 August 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Walt Disney's multiplane technicolor feature

Plot:

Animated film about a young deer, Bambi, growing up in the wild after his mother is shot by hunters.

Plot Keywords:

Bambi | Deer | Hunter | Forest | Growing Up

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Hardie Albright	...	Adolescent Bambi (voice) (uncredited)
Stan Alexander	...	Young Flower (voice) (uncredited)
Bobette Audrey	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Peter Behn	...	Young Thumper (voice) (uncredited)
Thelma Boardman	...	Mrs. Quail / Pheasant (voice) (uncredited)
Janet Chapman	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Jeanne Christy	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Dolyn Bramston Cook	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Marion Darlington	...	Bird Sounds (voice) (uncredited)
Tim Davis	...	Adult 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)
Sterling Holloway	...	Adult Flower (voice) (uncredited)
Jack Horner	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Thelma Hubbard	...	Girl Bunny / Quail Mother / Female Pheasant (voice) (uncredited)
Cammie King	...	Young Faline (voice) (uncredited)
Mary Lansing	...	Aunt Ena / Mrs. Possum (voice) (uncredited)
Margaret Lee	...	Thumper's Mother (voice) (uncredited)
Clarence Nash	...	Bullfrog (voice) (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Babs Nelson	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Sandra Lee Richards	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Francesca Santoro	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Fred Shields	...	Great Prince Of The Forest (voice) (uncredited)
Bobby Stewart	...	Baby Bambi (voice) (uncredited)
John Sutherland	...	Adult Bambi (voice) (uncredited)
Paula Winslowe	...	Bambi's Mother / Pheasant (voice) (uncredited)
Elouise Wohlwend	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Will Wright	...	Friend Owl (voice) (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Walt Disney's Bambi (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Portugal:M/4 | Australia:G | South Korea:All | Philippines:G | Argentina:Atp | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Germany:o.Al. | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #5013) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1974) | Greece:K | Iceland:L

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

The world premiere of this film was scheduled to be in the tiny Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta, Maine, USA. Maurice Day, an animator with Disney, brought Felix Salten's book to the attention of Walt Disney, and when Walt decided to make the movie he thanked Maurice by planning to hold the premiere in Maurice's home town. However, the State of Maine objected, fearing that hunters would be offended by the film, and the actual world premiere was elsewhere.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the forest fire sequence the squirrel with the chipmunk as a sleeping partner turns from a grey squirrel into a red squirrel! He returns to grey for the end of the film.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues (#11.6)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Love Is A Song

The last of its kind

Walt Disney didn't make another full-length animated film until 1950, by which time his golden age had well and truly passed. Was `Bambi' a quiet, gentle farewell, then? If you haven't seen it you could be forgiven for thinking so; and the slightly over-sugared opening scenes might confirm this view. But prepare to be jolted out of your seat. The forest contains darkness as well as light. The gunshots that ring out across the silences are truly alarming (and there are many ways Disney and Hand make them more alarming: consider the scene where a flock of birds are cowering in the grass, until one decides to fly into the air and risk death rather than put up with the suspense). Also worth noting about `Bambi' is its use of psychological colour. In at least three key scenes, the colour scheme shifts wildly, not because the sun has set or anything of that kind, but in order to illustrate Bambi's psychological state. Particularly fine is the scene where he is running away from the clearing in fear and the world turns into just a few pale and dirty shades of yellow.

The greatest thing is the way Disney manages to convince us that there is nothing else in the world, outside the forest. Not once do we see a horizon. Nor do we sense one. By some standards not much happens in the forest - a few deaths, a few births, what else is new? But when the forest is the whole world they matter a good deal.