After not seeing this movie since I was a very small child (I was probably 3 or 4) and remembering next to nothing about it, I gave it a re-watch last night. And honestly, after hearing so much over the years about the death of Bambi's mother, I expected that particular sequence to hit me hard. But I was surprised that the scene in question occurred completely off-screen. We hear only a gunshot, no other sounds-- and then Bambi's father appearing, and telling Bambi that his mother can longer be with him. And then a tear drops from Bambi's eye, and that's it. I felt no particular deep sorrow in that scene; I imagine, if I were much younger-- and not such a critical man in his late 40s --it would hit me different.
However, the scene in The Lion King (1994)-- which I saw when I was much older --where Simba's very strong father is shown frightened, and then falling to his death? THAT one really got to me, and to this day, pulls at my heart. But we are all different.
Curiously, with Bambi, I've met a young man (in his 30s, anyhow), with two small children-- one boy, one girl --who hunts small game, and thinks the world needs to "toughen up"; and yet, he will not let his kids watch Bambi, because he himself was crushed when Bambi's mother died, and thinks it's a "fucked up" children's movie. Not for the anti-hunting message that could be taken from the movie, but because the mother's death was so wrenching for him. As human beings, we are walking masses of contradictions, are we not?
(I myself-- though I do not hunt --have no issue with the practice. Around where I live, there are many men and women who take part; in fact, among young women in particular, hunting seems to be increasing in popularity).
Now, the sequences that I did find most powerful in Bambi were during the final act, where many birds are shown flying in panic, and getting rather graphically shot by hunters; followed by carelessness by the hunters at their camp, where an untended fire pit leads to half of the Forest getting burned down. I'm very surprised that all of that was included in a movie made in 1942. Nowadays, there'd be many who would be calling this movie too "Woke". What a strange and crazy world we live in. And while audiences back in the United States were watching this movie upon its initial release in 1942, mass murder was taking place across large swathes of Europe, Asia, and Africa. What a world it has been, and is.
In closing, I was also struck right away by the supreme animation of this film-- made all the more impressive by the fact that each panel had to be illustrated by hand. No computers whatsoever. And yet, it all looks so lustrous, and so much better than much of the computer animation that we have out there today.
Bambi (1942)--
Not a film of its time, but one that is, truly, timeless.
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Reply by rooprect
on October 22, 2023 at 12:10 PM
Wow another great topic, look who's ruining my otherwise braindead day now?
I never saw Bambi but I was always a wildlife lover so its message would've been preaching to my choir of 1. And I guess that's the issue here: people will take from a movie whatever message they want to take. What they don't agree with, they'll either overlook or, like the hunter you mentioned, re-interpret it on a purely emotional level without grasping its practical relevance.
Maybe if you're young enough when you see a film like this, it might inspire a different direction in your life. I can't think of any movie that ever changed my life, but I do remember after Charlotte's Web my mom started calling all the spiders in the house "Charlotte" and we never killed any. In that example it isn't the movie that made a difference so much as a parent who picked up on the message and followed through. So going back to your example of the hunter who won't let his kids see Bambi, yeah that's just hypocrisy--and imo bad parenting--on all levels. It's as if he doesn't want his kids to learn compassion (while he himself is guilty of feeling it?).
I don't have kids, but if I did I'd take them to every 'woke' film ever made. I think it's good to challenge their morality while they're still young and open-minded. They can make up their own minds if the message matters to them or not.
Reply by bratface
on October 22, 2023 at 4:23 PM
I will apologize in advance for this (but I had to):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skgWYP3ct5s
Reply by northcoast
on October 22, 2023 at 5:46 PM
bratface--
Naughty, naughty, naughty!!! ;)
But seriously, thanks for sharing. I bet that little less-than-two minute bit of subversive humour took the Newlands a lot longer than two minutes to make-- especially more than 50 years ago. I've heard that a brief five-minute youtube video with good production values today can take literally hours to produce.
Thanks again for finding and sharing that little short film.
Reply by bratface
on October 22, 2023 at 7:25 PM
You are welcome.