![]() ![]() Once Bambi transitions into adulthood, though, the tone completely changes, the imagery growing darker and more menacing while the subtle movements of the young animals turn more panicked, as if each prance is a desperate lunge for survival. ![]() That the film spends most of its time on the first section makes perfect sense, since this is first and foremost a children’s film. The beautiful harmony these animals create is suddenly destroyed, a motif that grows more costly as the film taints Bambi’s childhood innocence with the now infamous moment his mother is gunned down off screen.īy now, Bambi has become entirely about first-time experiences, the loose narrative breaking down into three periods of Bambi’s development: childhood, puberty, and adulthood. The invasion of man during this moment (never seen or heard except for the piercing gunfire that rips through the space) is especially telling, a terrorizing destruction of mental space that formulates the film’s one moral prerogative. If the bustling forest equates to a natural symphony of sound and fury, then Bambi’s first foray into an open meadow is the film’s musical crescendo, where all corners of life come together and coexist in a seamless way. The experiences of life are constantly in motion and Bambi’s nuanced moments of growth replace the need for dialogue or traditional plot points. There are melodies everywhere, like when a lightning storm mirrors the beat of drums or a herd of deer hop along seemingly propelled by calm woodwinds. From here, much of Bambi deals with his assimilation into the flow of forest life, a process that takes on a constant musical rhythm.Īs Bambi meets Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk, the generational process of this ecosystem begins to expand, and we see each animal slowly learn about the deeply entrenched codes and layers of their surroundings. Young Bambi’s introduction is carefully modulated around wonderment and silence, with each critter watching carefully as the young fawn attempts to walk, talk, and smile. Slowly, each section of the forest comes to life, full of anticipation toward the news that a new “prince” has been born. ![]() The opening, in which a seemingly endless tree line casts dark shadows across the forest floor, is a painterly masterpiece, a picture of life quietly awaking before our very eyes. Visually, the story of a fawn experiencing the natural ebbs and flows of forest life is a stunning example of Disney’s obsession with dynamic mise-en-scène. What’s most striking about Bambi this time around are the individual images on display. Admittedly, seeing the film through the eyes of an adult reveals a thin thematic focus in comparison to something like Dumbo, yet its luminary treatment of generational evolution is still admirable. ![]() I approach Bambi, a film my mother reminds me I vigorously watched repeatedly as a child, with this ideological context in mind. In truth, film critics walk this tricky tightrope throughout their careers, and all we can do is honestly assess a particular film at this point in time, at this point in our lives. How does one balance obvious feelings of nostalgia and a freshly minted critical eye without plummeting into either side of the abyss? The answer remains murky, and I’d wager it’s a conflict even the most experienced writers grapple with from review to review. Reexamining a childhood favorite like Walt Disney’s seminal Bambi is always a difficult task. ![]()
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