DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Bambi - Absolutely Recommended!!! (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

The "bum-bum!..." bass-rythm for the "evil" humans in the forest sounds *very* much like the theme in Jaws...I think the link is not coincidence!

 

[Ernest Rister]

Spielberg supposedly busted out laughing when John Williams first played him the "shark theme" on the piano.
The two themes are incredibly similar, and used in incredibly similar ways. In my opinion, John Williams saved the movie. Since the shark wouldn't on screen, Williams made the shark work off screen.

Bambi may have been a direct influence, it is quite possible.

 

[rich_d]

Is it possible that a kernel of an idea for Jaws came from Bambi's mother dying? Sure, it's possible.

Bambi is a three note progression. If Williams were to take out the middle note, it would sound pretty close to the two note progression that he used. Did he? Who knows. But Bambi's three note progression certainly can be found in classical music and the low notes easily found in funeral marches and the like. So, what influenced Williams is very hard to say.

John,

I think that the Bambi reference in Jurassic Park you mentioned is dead-on and a lot of fun. Nice idea.

 

[DaveF]

Understanding that, could Bambi be made today? Would audiences go for it?

How much of its present sales are due to nostalgia, versus a consumer desire for this form of "visual poetry"?

 

[rich_d]

One side of me says that Bambi has as much chance of being made in 2005 as classical music has of regularly appearing on MTV.

The other side says ... is Finding Nemo all that different in concept? I'm not saying that they are the same story, I'm asking don't they depend on some of the same basic concepts of storytelling? No great evil being (like so many other Disney films), danger in the forest/danger in the sea, danger from man, Newborns Bambi and Nemo growing up ...

So I guess I end up with the opinion that good storytelling is good storytelling. It might have to be a bit hipper for today's instant click generation but the fundamental story could be told and told well.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Understanding that, could Bambi be made today?

It would be made in Japan, or possibly England. It takes someone like Walt to make something like Bambi, and Walt's dead.

Would audiences go for it?

Bambi flopped in 1942, its box office and popularity grew along with its reputation.

How much of its present sales are due to nostalgia, versus a consumer desire for this form of "visual poetry"?

The sales are due to the status of the film as one of the most popular movies ever made, as well as one of the more respected films in Disney's library.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The above has been edited for terseness. MTV2 still occasionally plays music, though. MTV seems to be pretty much about cheaply produced reality programs and prank shows.

Regards,

 

[rich_d]

That Timeline 1942 feature says that Bambi was one of the top ten grossing films of the 40's. Was Bambi rereleased later in the decade?

 

[Ernest Rister]

Maybe, but the truth is that they're just adjusting grosses backwards. They're totalling up all of Bambi's releases from the 40's - today as one large sum, not mentioning what Bambi actually pulled down in the individual release of 1942. Sure, if you add up all the multiple releases, Bambi is a monster hit and one of the most profitable films of all time, let alone films made in the 40's. But it did not do well on initial release.

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston said the film didn't become a money-maker until "sometime in the early 1950's", and I'd believe them (especially since they relate Walt coming into their office and making a big deal about it - "Bambi has just paid for itself!").

 

[John Swarce]

Thanks for the Speilberg/Disney comparisons, Ernest! You learn something new each day. Now, whenever I see these movies, I will be able to pick out those references. It's odd that I never noticed them before, or if I did, they didn't stand out as much as the Jurassic Park/Bambi scene comparison that I noticed. Funny how the mind works.

I usually watch a new movie and remark how a scene is similar to an old(er) movie (the strobe light effect in Alien that has been copied numerous times since is one example). This time I was watching an old movie and saw similarities to a newer movie, that was paying homage to the older movie, and I didn't even know it!

I also don't think that Bambi could be made today and marketed successfully. Bambi doesn't have the "eye and ear candy" that some of the newer animated films have (CGI, surround sound effects, etc.), plus the pace is fairly slow. People are conditioned to expect MORE now. Don't get me wrong...my kids were enthralled with Bambi when first watching it, but I bet they would rather watch something like Finding Nemo or The Incredibles if given the choice to see it again. Sign of the times, I suppose. :frowning:

John

 

[Ernest Rister]

People are conitioned to expect MORE now.

Don't think I agree with that. Treasure Planet was filled to the brim with CGI and sonic oomph, so was Final Fantasy. So was Dinosaur and The Polar Express.

Lilo and Stitch was realtively modest in comparison and it outgrossed Minority Report.

Every year we have CGI fests that crash and burn, it is the films with great stories and great characters that last.

I think, at the end of the day, that people respond to stories, not technology. Films with cheap thrills are quickly forgotten, meanwhile Bambi is still going strong almost 63 years after its premiere.

 

[Sean Campbell]

I picked this up a couple of weeks back ( we got it slightly earlier over here ) and absolutely loved every minute of it. In fact, I've now watched it five times, multiple viewings which certainly make up for the fact that I'd been on this planet for 27 years without seeing it before.
The film is a genuine masterpiece, no doubt about it, and it's now joint first position with 'My Neighbor Totoro' as my favourite animated movie of all time.

My favourite moments...

Bambi's first visit to the meadow and the initial attack from the hunter. There's something wonderful about the moment when the Great Prince of the Forest puts his own life at risk to lead Bambi to safety - the music in particular is stirring here and the visuals have a fantastic hypnotic quality.

The way the scene in which Flower hibernates disolves into the snowstorm. Not sure exactly what it is I love about this, but the moment is wonderful IMHO. The entire segment showing the deer looking for food amongst the snow is excellent, especially the shot of Bambi and his mother in the moonlight.

The April Showers scene, particularly the lightning flashes illuminating the rabbit warren and the final shot of the water droplets hitting the puddle.

The scene where the leaves fall onto the water, Bambi's curious expression reflected from the rippling surface.

Bambi's lone tear as he bids farewell to the innocence of childhood.

The stag fight. The animation and music come together superbly to create something near mythical. The finale, with the music swelling as Bambi looks down upon his fallen challenger, is stirring stuff indeed.

The forest fire.

The final shot of Bambi upon the outcrop, the Great Prince of the Forest slowly walking away and leaving his son alone. A passing of the torch?

As you can probably tell from my references to the music, I absolutely loved the score. I bought the CD soundtrack a couple of days after I watched the movie. It's wonderful stuff and one of the best in my collection. Did anyone else find some moments similar to Dimitri Tiomkin's score for 'Lost Horizon'?
My only complaint about the soundtrack CD is that it lacks the music heard during the dog attack scene. Have the original elements for this been lost I wonder?

 

[Francois Caron]

Here's a bit of dark humour from a Canadian comedy troup some twenty-odd years ago.

Bambi MP3

The movie certainly had an impact over the years.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I can only echo most of the comment here. I saw this movie upon it release in the late 60's when I was about 10. I have never forgotten the movie, in particular "April Showers". Upon it release in '88, I took my daughter one weekend and then took my girlfriend the following weekend. She was 25 and had never seen "Bambi". I was amazed that someone had never seen this movie. She said she did not like cartoons. Boy did she ever change her mind. She agreed that "Bambi" is no cartoon. I am so tickled to have this movie in my collection as it has lost none of the splendor and grandeur that I remember some 35 years later. Our son, who is 11 just loves this film. Will probably watch it again later this week.

 

[Ernest Rister]

I wish the movie was advertised more appropriately -- the ads make the movie look like "Baby Deer in Bunnyland".

 

[BrettB]

At least they don't call it bunny-rific.

The similarity of the Jaws theme occured to me as well but I figured "it's only 3 notes, I'm probably stretching".

The "commentary" using the meeting notes is amazingly cool. I worried that it might be kind of cheesy but they pulled it off very well, great extra.

 

[Ernest Rister]

It's still a *little* cheesy, but it works.

I wish they had the discussions about shooting Thumper. That would have made some fun moments.

 

[BrettB]

Walt: By now the audience is loving this little bunny and his antics. [quiet laughter] They're really invested in this cute little guy. So when he dies suddenly it will be a very powerful moment... his brains scattered on the ground and what-not. [quiet gasps] $#!+ happens. That's your story.

 

[Marvin Richardson]

Well, my son (10) fell asleep during Bambi, something he doesn't do often. It has nothing to do with the age of the movie either, because he loves Pinocchio and Dumbo. I think Bambi was just quite a bit slower and more artistic than most other animated movies.
I admired it, thought it was beautiful, but it wasn't as good on a story level as I remembered. Definitely enjoyable on a Fantasia level as a work of visual art. As Ernest has said many times, it is some of, if not the best character animation I've ever seen. My one gripe with the film was it beating you over the head with the "man is evil" bit. I got it already. I may just be naive, but do many gangs of hunters rove the woods shooting as squirrels, gophers, etc.? Deer, I get, but little bunnies? And I'm talking they must have been running through the woods shooting in all directions willy-nilly. I wonder how many of their own they bagged?

 

[Ernest Rister]

I admired it, thought it was beautiful, but it wasn't as good on a story level as I remembered.

It's not a story -- like Fantasia, its an experience. I think that's where some people are getting tripped up, citing "faults" like lack of character development or lack of victim-villain relationships or a strong a-to-z narrative. The name of the book is "Bambi: A Life in the Woods", and its a philosophy on how animals might see their world and their lives. Disney dials back on all the philosophical dialogue in the book, but the gist is still the same. Its an experience, a point of view, not a story.

There is a philosophy in art criticism that I happen to agree with, and its the idea that works should be judged on their intent and their success or failure in achieving that intent. It isn't as complicated as it sounds -- if a filmmaker intends to make a horror movie, then you critcize it on those grounds, you don't critique it like it was a documentary.

Bambi needs to be taken on its own terms and judged according to the aims and ambitions of its creators. It is deeply unfair to the movie to judge it for not being something it had no intention of being in the first place (i.e., a story-driven narrative with complex characters).