Bambi is, and probably always will be, my favourite Disney film. By conventional standards, even for the time, it has a weak plot. Essentially it is just about a young deer trying to survive; there is no real character arc beyond the natural progression of growing up, maturing and experiencing first love, whilst the antagonist stays off screen and is never defeated. But what makes this film work is that it puts all the little moments front-and-centre, with the exception of the mother getting shot and the climactic fire (hopefully I haven't spoiled the film for anybody), the film is all about the moments of first friendships and experiencing a world anew. These scenes are so beautiful not only in…

They're deer, rabbits, skunks, squirrels, owls.

This is rather astonishing. Barring a few notable exceptions, most animal-centered films go out of their way to humanize the animals, to show them as living in a human-like society with flourishes of animal-like behavior. Here, the film emphasizes that the world they live in is that of animals*. They do this by rooting the narrative in animal behavior (hibernation, for instance) and more importantly by contrasting them with the villain Man. Making humans the villain clearly delineates this world between animal and human.

This is important. What would be seen as a neglectful father or a sexist romance is instead just animal behavior. You can see distinctions between types of animals and their…

Bambi is the type of movie that I respect more than I necessarily enjoy. It stands as a bit of departure from its predecessors. Whereas those were meant to have more of a through line (not including Fantasia), Bambi attempts to be more of a coming-of-age/slice-of-life film, detailing the important events of this deer’s life. And in many ways, the film succeeds at this goal. For one, this has some gorgeous animation for the time. I love so many of the forest-scapes in this, and colors just make everything pop. I especially like the character designs they chose. They manage to be very cutesy and likable, and also really expressive. They really do help sell the emotions that the characters…

(Walt Disney Animated Series)

Classic Disney's most masterfully simplistic film.

“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

I have no idea how I missed seeing this as a kid, but it is interesting to see it from a fresh perspective as an adult. Bambi is Disney's 5th animated feature and tells the story of life in the forest for a young deer. Over the course of just an hour and a few minutes, this family film does a great job of showing Bambi's growth from learning to walk and talk, to standing by his father's side as a mature young adult deer.

I was really impressed by how well the animation still holds up, especially with…

Disney Animation Ranked 🤙🏼

Bambi: a child's introduction to death. This film was adorable, wholesome, but traumatic if you are a child. I understand now why my mother never put this on for us to watch as kids. I have no nostalgia for this film; therefore, no connection. It was very mediocre to me when watching. I wish I had seen this during the first ten years of my life. The music was beautiful, and the animation is stunning and head of its time. I will say that the score is perhaps one of the best aspects of the film. It tells the story of Bambi more than the animation itself, in my opinion.

Some may call the simplicity of the…

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Review In A Nutshell:

It seems maturity and wisdom has opened my eyes to Disney’s classic gem as Bambi was another film that I felt previously was a disappointing entry in their filmography. I was distant due to its lack of a narrative arc and the inability to provide memorable music; which is still a problem this time around but my feelings towards it is not as sour. The classics simply were a different breed to the beautiful and charming Disney animated films I grew up with, their stories felt more frank with its message, putting that in the forefront rather than the story. When I was younger, I didn’t care…

A classic of the animated genre Bambi still stands the test of time today as a landmark feature and one of the most genuinely affecting of all Disney’s work.

From a plotting standpoint Bambi is certainly one of Disney’s cleverest and most successful features. The various different writers involved ensure that this is a polished and clever work with the environmental themes explored in the film very interesting and powerful but never distracting or too solemn. Bambi makes some very interesting points about the joy and wonders of nature as it follows the adventures of a young deer and his animal pals. The life of freedom these characters live in their beautiful surroundings is incredibly clear with the picture going…

Bambi works as a beautiful hand animated coming of age movie with the life cycle of a plain forrest buck akin to the lion king but much simpler characters and a more enchanted fantasy feel with the glowing soul ballads. The way these extremely early disney movies we're really well animated and have elegantly energetic movements from all the cute critters. That's very true here from the way Bambi prances along to the shadowey lighted duel between Bambi and another buck - the movie is incredibly eye-pleasing, I saw it on Disney+ and its drop dead gorgeous. The hand painted green lush backgrounds pop perfectly against the adorable animals and seeing the seasonal switch was great. Kinda wanna say its…