Film #169 - Bambi (1942)
Bambi is considered one of the greatest of all the Disney Animated Features and it does much to deserve that reputation.
First, is the film’s willingness to embrace the realities of nature. It doesn’t force too much humanity onto the characters, instead allowing their natural characteristics to emerge. While there are certainly anthropomorphic aspects to Bambi, Thumper, et. al., like The Lion King fifty years later, the focus is on how the various animals of the forest interact with each other and the social behavior in which they actually engage in the real world. (For instance, Bambi being raised by his mother correctly reflects the way does raise the young in the wild.)
With this in mind, the coming-of-age story in Bambi is still quite universal. Although not everyone loses a parent at such a young age, almost everyone has to deal with some kind of loss and learn to move on. So Bambi’s journey is still one that everyone can understand.
And beyond the drama, there is plenty of comedy, usually based on Bambi and his friends’ struggles while growing up. The comedy is gentle and good for all ages (as you’d expect); light years away from the fart jokes that riddle what passes for family comedy these days.
It is also a beautiful film. The fully painted backgrounds make it more lush than Disney films would be for many years (they were about to enter into the War-related cutbacks to production that led to a significant drop in production values until 1950’s Cinderella).
Bambi is a true perennial. I’ve shown it to my nieces and nephews and they still respond with the same delight (and fear) as kids must have back in 1942. It has more than earned its place of honor.