Bambi

    

      Walt Disney Feature Animations fifth movie and I have to say it probably is one of my least favorites of the Disney movies and that is Bambi. Bambi is the story of a young deer and basically follows him through his life cycle until he grows up and becomes a parent himself. He's aided in his story by a couple friends, those being Thumper the rabbit, Flower the skunk, and Owl, well the owl. There are some hiccups along the way in the story and those would be revolving around man's use of hunting and destroying the forest. It's pretty much giving us a glimpse into Bambi's experiences growing up from learning to stand and walk, learning to talk, learning about the change of seasons, and about being "Twitterpated" especially with his girlfriend Faline. For me there just wasn't enough in the way of actual story, so much as being more of a nature cartoon and like I said it just doesn't connect with me the way alot of the other Disney films do. But, story aside you do have some of the more beloved Disney characters and I think that's in large part to them being animals and most of the film being very young animals at that. I do have to say though probably my favorite part of Bambi is not in the story and the characters, but in the background art, I think Disney did a wonderful job of giving that real forest look but with a slightly lighter airy feel. For many people though, Bambi, isn't always the most loved movie, but the saddest movie. Those of you have seen it or know about it will realize I'm referencing to the scene with Bambi's mother (Not to give to much away for those having not seen it). To me looking back I think that's the first time an audience was and is able to connect on an emotional level with the characters their watching on the screen. That's what I think Walt did well when he was alive and involved in his films, he knew audiences, he knew the story he wanted to tell and he knew what it would take to pull you  into these fantasy worlds he was creating. Walt Disney didn't want you to be just watching an animated tale, he wanted you to feel like you were a fly on the wall watching everything happen before you and include you in what is happening. Bambi also includes two classic Disney songs "Love is a song" and "Little April Showers", both of which blend so easily into the movie and just add to the tone and feel of being in this forest and watching the animals and plant life going through phases. Walt wanted this movie to display such realism, that it went through production from 1936 to 1941, it was suppose to be his second animated film, but creating this realism took longer and allowed three other movies to come between it and Snow White. This would also be the last full-length animated film until Cinderella. The movies in-between from Saludos Amigos to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, are all movies composed of smaller short stories strung together. Those however are stories for another blog.
    Your gonna be hard pressed to find many references to this film at all in Walt Disney World. Outside of some topiaries here and there and a presence at Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival, there's not alot of love for Bambi in the parks. I did hear rumors that this years Flower and Garden Festival will feature "Bambi's Butterfly House", replacing the usual one over towards Test Track, this one would be larger and located on the pathways to Imagination pavilion. You do have to wonder why the Bambi characters aren't worked into the parks a little more. I feel there's some missed opportunities, especially at like Rafiki's Planet Watch, Fort Wilderness, and even Wilderness Lodge. When you think about it though, outside of doing some topiaries and murals, its a little harder to work in a film like this, especially when you can't really bring the characters to life for like Meet/Greets, I do think Disney has the technology now with projection systems and other technologies that could be used to bring them to life by other means than as a topiary. If you look smaller though you'll Bambi and Thumper like to grace alot of pins, especially any related to spring or seasons change. Also what better characters to base plush toys on then animals, you'll see many a child in the parks toting a Bambi or Thumper around, for some reason I guess carrying a skunk around doesn't seem to go over to big (sorry, Flower).