Originally written May 30, 2018

Released during the height of World War II, Bambi was Disney’s fifth animated feature movie, and was made along with Dumbo for modest budgets to try to recover from the box office failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia. I think the comparison with Dumbo is a good one, as Bambi is much more similar in tone and style to that movie than many Disney movies. At the time of its release, Bambi really wasn’t received all that well, both financially and critically. It underperformed at the box office, and critics weren’t all that happy with the movie. In fact, the movie gained a lot of controversy because of its story, and many people were upset over the film’s apparent anti-hunting message. However, in the years since its release, Bambi has gone on to be a Disney favorite for many people, so it’s definitely gained some affection since its initial release. To be honest, it’s not one of my personal favorites, but it’s still a decent movie nonetheless.

My biggest problem was just that I didn’t think the movie had a whole lot of substance to it. There isn’t really a ton of story to be found in Bambi. It just centers on a deer named Bambi, who is growing up in the forest. There isn’t really any deeper plot than that. All we’re really watching is Bambi going from a baby to an adult, and learning and experiencing all of the things that come along with forest life with that. The only real meaty parts of the movie come at the end, when Bambi is fleeing from threats such as wild animals, hunters, and forest fires. I found the end of the movie to be pretty fantastic, but getting there is a bit of a mixed bag.

I think for me it’s just a matter of preference. There are the kinds of Disney movies that are enjoyable for both adults and kids, and then there are other kinds that seem to be geared specifically towards kids. Bambi is in the latter category. The movie primarily seems to be focused on being cute and showing off its cast of forest animals, which is all fine and good, but I just prefer something with more substance, like Pinocchio. This just isn’t my kind of movie most of the time, but I do still think it’s better than some of its other contemporaries. For example, comparing it to its predecessor, Dumbo, I definitely think Bambi is a better movie.

I find that I appreciate movies like Bambi more when I research into its development. The animators faced a lot of initial challenges animating the animals properly, so they actually set up a small zoo so that they could observe the animals’ movements. The end result of this is some truly great animation, but it was just interesting hearing about the process of getting there. Also, there were a lot of other story ideas that were initially proposed for the movie, but they winded up being scrapped. It’s really interesting reading about some of them, such as a man who’s on fire, so if you ever get the chance to read about them, you should. It could have been interesting seeing the movie as its initial vision.

All in all, though, Bambi is a good movie, but to me it’s not anything special. I think that it’s probably a highly enjoyable movie for most kids, but if you’re looking for something with a bit more substance to it, you might be disappointed with Bambi. It’s a decent movie for sure, but I don’t think that it ranks among Disney’s best movies ever made.

3.5/5