Review of Bambi (2013) by Brady L — 10 Dec 2018

The year is 1937. Walt Disney is trying to come up with his next animated feature film. He looks over at his young daughter and sees she is reading a book called Bambi. He asks when she finishes if he can read the book.

As he goes through the chapters, his mind illustrates every scene thoroughly, giving life to the characters on the page. He went to the studios and began the groundwork that would become this masterpiece.

Creating a new division, Effects, to simply put together the little things in the film, such as the snow, water, fire and even the leaves falling around the characters. A young animator also created the practice of layering the backgrounds for animation purposes, giving the scenes a deeper sense of dimension and also allowing for non-changing backgrounds to be used throughout a scene without having to constantly be drawn and re-animated.

What was created using these techniques and Walt Disney's attention to detail on the animals and the forest itself is nothing short of spectacular. Having the animators view actual behavior of these animals and also understanding the biology of these creatures makes the realism almost palatable.

The story of a young fawn growing up in a world where he is hunted yearly by Man and having to find himself without the security blanket of his mother is still a great story to tell even in this year of 2018.

Couple of complaints I have about the version I watched, the Signature edition. They removed the body and blood stained snow of the mother after she is shot. Instead they go from Bambi escaping to the hovel, realizing he is alone and going searching for his mother.

In the moment he finds her laying in the snow, they instead take it straight to seeing his father in the falling snow, telling him that his mother is gone and that he needs to follow his father. This fine for those parents that do not want to have to explain death to their young child.

However, during the following year's hunt, we witness a female quail get shot and we watch her limp body slam hard into the ground amidst a shower of feathers. We also lay witness to the death's of the hunting dogs as they are crushed beneath the weight of the falling boulders Bambi loosens while fleeing the dogs.

If you are gonna complain and have removed the death of Bambi's mom, why would you be alright with these other gruesome sequences? This movie needs the death of Bambi's mom, it is integral to the story and also important to children that they understand death and the value of life through this film.

Every child needs to see this film and enjoy it with their parents and their grandparents.