Disney has released tons of classic movies throughout the years, many of which have inspired viewers, make them laugh, or conveyed important themes that turn audience members into better people. However, 84 years ago Disney released an animated film that, above all else, traumatized viewers.
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In 1937, Disney did the impossible. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs hit theaters, proving that a feature length animated film could not only be done, but it could be a success. This release changed the course of the company forever, with the feature animation department quickly becoming the most important aspect of Disney. Snow White was followed up by 1940’s Pinocchio, 1940’s Fantasia, and 1941’s Dumbo, each of which has gone on to become a classic. However, Disney’s fifth film was an odd one, with it being not nearly as narratively driven as Snow White, Pinocchio, or Dumbo, but not quite as experimental as Fantasia.
Bambi Hit Theaters 84 Years Ago Today
On August 13, 1942, Bambi hit theaters, with supervising director David D. Hand, producer Walt Disney, and a variety of other creatives and animators working to bring the film to life. Based on Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods, Bambi tells the story of the titular young deer as he grows up in nature and prepares to take on the role of Great Prince of the Forest in adulthood. Bambi is surrounded by his mother and father, as well as a variety of other woodland animals, such as Thumper the rabbit, Flower the skunk, and Faline the fawn.
Of all of Disney’s early features, Bambi is arguably the most visually gorgeous. Much of the film is dedicated to highlighting the beauty of nature through the lens of Disney’s animation, and it is shocking how beautiful it is. While there is a story, so much of Bambi is dedicated to the serenity of nature and the incredible soundtrack, and that’s what many fans love about the film.
Interestingly, Bambi was in consideriation to be Disney’s first feature-length animated film, although it wound up being the fifth. MGM initially purchased the rights to the book in 1933 and planned on making a live-action film, although this was later deemed impossible. So, Walt Disney was approached to make an animated version, something that he turned down as he felt that his team wasn’t prepared to make such a demanding project. In 1937, the film rights were sold to Disney, and work begun on Bambi as their second feature. However, the animation was more difficult than they expected, leading them to work on Pinocchio and Fantasia first. Proper production began soon after Fantasia‘s release, but a simoultaneous production of Dumo was started soon after, and it wound up being released before Bambi. Bambi was finally finished and relesaed in 1942, nearly a decade after Disney had first considered making the project.
There is a lot to love about Bambi, but the one thing that most audience members remember is the traumatizing death of Bambi’s mom. In a shocking scene, Bambi’s mother is shot by a hunter simply known as “Man.” This death completely shatters the film’s lighthearted and peaceful tone that existed before the scene, ripping viewers out of fantasy and into the dark reality of the life of a deer. This scene has become iconic for how traumatizing it was, with it often considered to be one of the most terrifying scenes in any Disney movie.
Bambi’s Cancelled Live-Action Remake Would’ve Been Disney’s Weirdest Yet
Bambi‘s years-long story and loose narrative structure have made it an odd one among Disney’s filmography, which is why it was so shocking when a live-action Bambi remake was announced in 2020. It would have been written by Captain Marvel‘s Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines‘ Lindsay Anderson Beer, and it would have been a mostly photorealistic CGI remake, similar to 2016’s The Jungle Book and 2019’s The Lion King. The film was in development through 2023, when Sarah Polley was announced to be a director. On top of that, country star Kacey Musgraves signed on to write songs for the film, and it was announced that, unlike the original, the Bambi remake would be a musical.
In March 2024, it was announced that Polley was no longer attached to the project, and no updates have been released since. This is probably a good thing, as 2019’s The Lion King is one of the worst Disney live-action remakes mostly due to its weird photorealistic animation. Bambi‘s biggest appeal is its gorgeous animation, meaning that this would have been a bad mix. Plus, turning a film that is mostly a loose narrative set to orchestral music into a musical would have completely moved away from what the original Bambi is, meaning that it probably would have been a step down compared to Disney’s animated classic.
