Bambi (The Movie)

Bambi. A name well known as it is one the most popular Disney movies. In 1942, the movie, Bambi, first appeared in theaters. The movie also appeared in theaters again multiple times years later. The movie is based off a novel written by Felix Salten called Bambi, a Life in the Woods. After its release, the movie received three Academy Award nominations, nominated for a Genesis Award, a Golden Globe, a Hugo award, and Satellite Award. It was also added to the National Film Registry of The Library Congress.

In 1933, Sidney Franklin purchased the rights to create a film on Felix Salten’s book Bambi, a Life in the Woods. Franklin intended to do a live action film of the novel, but determined that it was too difficult and sold it to Walt Disney in 1937. It took time to produce the movie to start as it was established that the novel did contain dark themes that would not be appropriate for a Disney film. It was also a struggle to create an animation of a deer that looked realistic. It was not till 1939 when Disney began the production of Bambi.

One of the most important parts of the film is the animation that was able to be created in the 1940s. The team who made the movie were able to create a beautiful forest that showed the fascinating parts of a forest. There was also great animation in terms of showing facial expressions and more that the animals did to provide them a personality, emotion, and benevolence. Something else that made the film amazing is the soundtrack. There are times when there are sounds/music that line up with rain droplets hitting a flower or when lightening strikes.

While Bambi is a Disney movie that holds fun and silliness, it also holds fear and heartache. After not seeing the movie since I was young, I was not ready for some of the dark scenes that would be in the movie. For example, I was not expecting to hear a bird get shot and to see its lifeless body land on the ground. I am not sure how this may have affected me when I was younger, and I wonder how it effects children now.

Bambi (The Book)

As I mentioned above, the movie, Bambi, is based of a novel written by Felix Salten called Bambi, a Life in the Woods. However, the book I read was translated and introduced by Jack Zipes and is called The Original Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest. The novel was published in 1923. Like it is in the movie, the central idea of the novel is about Bambi, a male roe deer, who from birth to growing up, loses his mother, finds a mate, learns lessons from his father, and learns about and experiences the dangers of hunters in forests.

Felix Salten’s intention of his novel was to make it an allegory to the threats and oppression that Jews were encountering in Europe. One of the reasons Salten’s novel, Bambi, became famous is because Whittaker Chambers translated it to English in 1928. However, the translation is filled with many errors and failed to illustrate Salten’s type of writing.

The book held many dark themes that could not be displayed in a Disney film. With his intention of illustrating the threats and oppression that Jewish people received, Salten had to have the book contain dark aspects. Not only are there physical darker aspects, but also some emotional and mental that could not be shown in a Disney film. For example, at the beginning of the novel, Bambi is pushed away and highly ignored by other animals. There are times when the other animals just wanted Bambi to leave them alone and stop talking to them. While this may not seem extreme, when this happens to human beings, these actions can be harmful.

Something else that I wanted to point out is how different the meadow is interpreted in the movie compared to the novel. In the movie, the first scene with the meadow is shown as trying to convince Bambi to listen to his mother which is great for Disney as they try and encourage little kids to listen to their parents. Since it is a Disney movie, the dangers of being in the meadow is not explicitly stated. However, in the novel, it is clear to why Bambi’s mother is telling him what to do. The use of exclamation points truly shows how important it is that Bambi listens to his mother.

Final Thoughts

It was fascinating being able to read The Original Bambi for the first time and compare it to the movie. The different ways that specific aspects are portrayed in the movie compared to the novel was astonishing, especially since I know that many other Disney movies are based off other novels. I hope that more people start to realize how the movie truly became to be and that is because of Felix Salten and his work.