Bambi

Release Date: August 9, 1942

While Fantasia is considered fine art for its music, Bambi is considered fine art for its visual style and animation. The backgrounds, the color, the special effects, and the realistic movement of the animals are all exquisitely done. The artists involved with this movie spared no pains to create the best work of art that they possible could. The viewer is pulled into the forest through the backgrounds, color, and use of the multi-plane camera. The impressionist backgrounds also help the viewer really focus on the characters in the movie, while surrounded by an almost dream-like setting.

Even though Bambi was the sixth movie released by the Walt Disney Studios, work began on it shortly after Snow White was finished. It took the studio years to finish this movie. Part of the reason is due to the story not being completely fleshed out beforehand. Entire sequences were worked on, and then scrapped because they distracted too much from the story. But the other delay was because Walt constantly pushed for the very best, requiring his animators to do what had never been done. Their work paid off to make Bambi the classic that it is today.

The music in this movie is also timeless. It is the first animated movie where the characters don't sing any of the songs. Instead, the use of a choir in the songs bring to life the pastoral symphony feel of the movie, capturing the grandeur and beauty of the forest setting in the film. Personally, I also think the musical theme for Man is also genius. Similar to the theme for Jaws, the theme for Man indicates a danger that leaves you on edge. Even though you don't actually see Man on screen, the threat is very present through the music.

I have memories of watching this movie from a very young age. In fact, I think I received the movie on VHS for Christmas in my early childhood. Thumper was always my favorite character. He has the best expressions and some of the best lines in the movie. My two favorite scenes with Thumper are when he is teaching Bambi how to talk, and when he tries to teach him to ice skate.

In my opinion, Bambi is well worth the time and talent put into its creation. Like other movies that came out in the 1940's, it did not make a profit during its original release. There was too much going on in the world, especially World War II. Fortunately, since then people have recognized its value. Some elements of Bambi have become pop culture norms, such as the word "twitterpated." Bambi deserves its place of honor among Walt Disney's classic films.