Disney Classics In Order - No. 5 Bambi

I know I’ve stated previously that this blog was largely trying to be positive about things as there is enough of the internet railing against things that people think are shit. Today is going to fail on that point...

Bambi (1942)
Dir. Supervising Director: David Hand; Sequence Directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield and Norman Wright
Based Upon:- Bambi, A Life in the Woods (Austrian novel, 1923) by Felix Salten

The One Where
A whole lot of nothing happens apart from that one bit that everyone remembers.

General Viewing Notes
This film is five minutes longer than Dumbo but feels about three times as long. It really, really dragged for me and I found myself clock-watching most of the way through. Remarkable how different a feel this has just one film further on. The animals' cutesy kid voices are deeply irritating - I genuinely hated them. To try and find something positive to say, the animation does looks great in a lot of places and the movements of the deer in particular feel very well observed. Also, the depiction of the parenting relationship between Bambi and his father feels less sentimental than in other Disney efforts (surprising given the sickly sweet, cutesy nature of much of the film).

Disney Tropes
- Dead Parent - It’s the one thing that everyone remembers about this film (Bambi’s mum) and is the archetypal Disney Dead Parent (DDP). What is surprising is that it happens well over halfway into the film - in my memory, I had thought that it happens much earlier.
- Cute Animal Montage - To be honest, most of the film seems to consist of cute animal montages. There really isn’t that much more to the film.

It’s That Voice Again
Sterling Holloway is back, this time as Bambi’s friend, Flower the Skunk.

Things You Notice As An Adult
- The theme music for Man (who is a more threatening presence for not being seen) feels a little reminiscent of the Jaws theme.
- There’s a very odd tonal shift after Bambi loses his mother. It switches from Bambi’s father telling him that he’ll never see his mother again into an extremely jaunty spring song.

Classic Songs - Are They?
It’s unusual in that it doesn’t really have any songs per se (apart from April Showers and the Spring Song which are more like prominent parts of the soundtrack than actual songs within the film). Maybe that lack is what makes it feel longer than it is.

Any Good Then?
From my point of view, no. I really did not enjoy this one at all and found it a hard slog to get through. I had hoped that, having not seen it since being a youngster, my attitude toward it may have changed but sadly that was not to be the case. 

Next One Of These
The most famous of all the Disney films (this comment may contain a hint of sarcasm…)