What kind of name is BAMBI for a Prince of the Forest? Well, it was good enough to make this animated film one of the favorites of millions of Moviegoers. That's what kind of name it is. Just say the name and people will always react with, "AH, yes, Bambi! with a sigh.
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You are reading a contribution to the Disney ~*~ When You Wish Upon A Star Write-Off!
Emily Rose , the 15 Month Old baby daughter of fellow Epinion member:
ImAmes
(http://imames.epinions.com/user-imames)
is battling
Retniblastoma (a form of cancer, which is found in the eye).
Special thanks to hosts:
Lisa_J
(http://npreciouscare.epinions.com/user-lisa_j)
and
Opalman
(http://www.epinions.com/user-opalman).
Also, special thanks to
Shurie
(http://explore.epinions.com/user-shurie)
for the Write-Off Page/Link host. Please visit:
http://epiniontools.isparkl.com/epinions/write_off_participants.asp?id=1
for rapid access to all entrants.
Thank you!
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When I first saw
Bambi, Walt Disney's Classic Movie, I was a young mother with three young children. It must have been the showing of the FIRST RE-RELEASE of this picture, as I know it was not
1942, the year
Bambi was first released.
My husband picked me up after work, loaded the kids in our red Studebaker, and we took off for a theatre in downtown Phoenix. Well, as you can imagine, the place was
absolutely packed and the only seats left for 5 people were in the center of the very first row. Wow! The children loved that, but as the beautiful, colorful pictures went past my eyes and the sounds assaulted my ears, I developed a severe headache, much like my normal migraines.
I remember sticking it out for the rest of the family's sake, but I could never remember a thing about the picture, except for the fire, near the end. As I recall, I was forced to go to bed for two days after that. So, my introduction to
Bambi was less than memorable.
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My Walt Disney's Classic
Bambi is in a very colorful VHS folder and states that it is the Original Animated Classic! It has
a picture on it of that darling fawn
Bambi, looking back and smiling at a butterfly on his tail, while the little SKUNK is watching from a bed of white flowers, and OWL is looking down from his perch in the tree and THUMPER, is watching with his foot raised to thump, wearing a big smile, which reveals his lone tooth.
The video is Closed-Captioned and is rated G - General Audiences, and is presented in Digitally Mastered Hi-Fi Stereo. I am thrilled to have it. Our generation is so fortunate. Never would I have dreamed back then that I could ever watch it in my own living room, where I can control the sound and the picture. LOL.
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~~Beginning of the Story~~
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As I watched Bambi this week, I took notes on most everything. No doubt, most of you, if not all of you, have already seen this masterpiece. So, I'll ask your indulgence, if my REVIEW is a bit subjective. I'll try to flow with my notes:
The picture opens with a sweet tune in the background,
Love is a song that never ends, Love's sweet music flows on. We are looking at an early morning forest, where the corners of night have not yet been swept away. A bird chirps. And then others chirp. Soft, gentle sunbeams begin sweeping out the corners .
The sweet music is flowing over a rippling stream, fed by a beautiful waterfall, then we see an OWL in a nook of a tree, yawning, ending its long night of work. A squirrel stretches and wakes up, as does his chipmunk companion. The owl Snores. The music plays on, while a little tree mouse awakens and washes his face in a dewdrop, which falls on him from an overhead leaf.
We see baby birds in a nest, fighting over a strawberry, which the mother has just fed them. Momma and baby quails run across the screen, then THUMPER, that irresistible bunny with the big smile and the huge feet, starts drumming on a stump to announce that
"The NEW PRINCE is BORN!"
All the cute, little animals rush toward the resting place of a lovely Doe with her little fawn curled up next to her. Each one exclaims how cute he is, shouting, "Congratulations," and Owl is kitchy cooing as only an owl could kitchy coo. I mean, really, this scene could turn the hardest criminal to absolute mush.
The PRINCE awakes. Tries to stand up. Thumper states with a little laugh, "Kinda wobbly, isn't he?" All the animals are saying hello to the little prince, who is continually falling down. Finally owl states that the little prince is sleepy and he shoos all the animals away. They scamper or fly away, as
Bambi cuddles up to sleep by his mother..
But Thumper lingers. "Whatcha gonna Call Him?" he asks, and in sweet, dulcet tones, the Doe answers,
Bambi!
Thumper thinks about it and says, "Well, I guess that'll do!" and finally runs off because of his mother's insistence. The scene pans up to a high mountain where a stately Buck, with huge antlers, is standing still while viewing his domain.
The PRINCE OF THE FOREST
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~~The Joy of Discovery~~
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After this heartwarming beginning we enjoy watching
Bambi discover the world around him. Thumper is his main teacher, teaching him to say "B I R D" and "B U T T E R F L Y". He's teaching the little fawn how to say "F L O W E R," when a darling skunk pops up from the clump of white flowers, and thinks he's been given "FLOWER" for a name. He likes it and from then on is called "Flower."
Ah! The wonder of it all.
Bambi turns his head upside down to look at bats hanging down from a branch of a tree, chases a butterfly, and learns how to jump over a log. The Little Prince seems delighted with the world around him.
Then came a crash of THUNDER, Thumper rushes home and
Bambi finds his mother and curls up next to her. Soon raindrops begin falling and
Bambi discovers another new marvel. "Drip, drip, drip, Little April Shower," begins playing and we are swept through the forest, seeing many pictures of mother love and care while the ferocity of the storm increases. I loved the mushroom umbrellas, and the little ducks who thought they were in heaven..
The storm gets rather violent, but all the little animals are safe in their homes, while the wind blows, the lightning strikes and the thunder crashes. Then comes a bright, beautiful sunset with the gentle drip, drip, drip of some lingering raindrops. A perfect picture of love and the protection we each have, or long for, during the storms of life.
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~~ More Discoveries~~
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1. Momma Deer teaches
Bambi to be careful in a wide-open meadow and how to run away when a hunter disturbs the silence with a crack of a gun. It was funny when we ran across the rabbits eating clover in the meadow. Thumper, the irascible one, eats the clover flowers and avoids the greens. His Momma scolds him and asks him what his father told him about eating flowers instead of the greens. Very reluctantly, Thumper parrots:
"EATING GREENS IS A SPECIAL TREAT
IT MAKES LONG EARS AND GREAT BIG FEET!
BUT IT SURE IS AWFUL STUFF TO EAT."
In an aside, he tells
Bambi that he made up that last line.
2.`
Bambi discovers a little girl fawn named
Faline
3. The GREAT PRINCE OF THE FOREST appears, and stops and looks at
Bambi, who is amazed at how all the animals stopped what they were doing and gave this Buck the utmost respect. His mother tells him it's because the Prince is the oldest one in the forest.
4.
Bambi discovers snow, along with the hunger that comes from a cold, barren winter. He learns that life can be hard sometimes. In a lighter moment, his friend THUMPER teaches him how to slide on an ice pond, but
Bambi's thin legs will not cooperate!. I think everyone remembers these amusing scenes. THUMPER just about steals the picture in this scene, I think.
5. Spring comes, and
Bambi's mother finds a green patch of new grass for him to chew on. Then, shots ring out and
Bambi and mother flee. We hear a thump and we cry as we hear
Bambi calling for his mother. "Where are you?" he sobs, "Mother, Mother!" After this heartbreaking scene, the Prince of the Forest appears and tells
Bambi to come with him.
"Where's my mother?" Bambi asks, and the Prince tells him that his mother can't be with them anymore.
Did ANYONE NOT cry over this? Whew!
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The Young Prince is Growing Up!"
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1. Spring comes along and all the animals are "twittlepated," as OWL called it. Spring means it's the mating season, and we watch all the stoic males falling prey to the cute little females of their species, with their many feminine wiles, blinking their eyelashes and giving little giggles. Then we see that time has passed for
Bambi now has short little antlers and we realize that our cute fawn is growing up. (Sigh!) Especially poignant to see him come under Faline's spell, despite his declaration that HE wouldn't get Twittlepated! Not him! [grin]
2. The Young Prince protects Faline by locking horns with another male who was aggressive.
3. Another siege of hunters starts shooting in the forest, causing a huge uproar and
Bambi and Faline are separated, until a pack of dogs corners her by a big rock. And our little hero finds them and takes on the entire pack himself. He shouts for Faline to run away. She does. Then a gunshot wounds
Bambi.
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The Climax
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A hunter's campfire gets out of control and the forest is burning. The Prince tells
Bambi to get up, despite his wounds. "YOU MUST GET UP!" he orders and then comes the big run to the river for all the animals.
Rivers of flames, fire music playing, a plunge down an enormous waterfall, trees falling, stumps burning up, flames blazing, animals crying and running. Whew! These scenes are dynamic.
I have to leave it here. If, by some chance, you HAVE NOT seen this classic, I can't bear to tell you the ending.
But it's a GOOD ONE.
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Credits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At http://allmovie.com I gleaned the following information:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1942
.USA
69 Minutes
..Animated Color
Director: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Perce Pearce, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright
Faline Cammie King
Bambi Bobby Stewart
Flower Stan Alexander
Thumper Peter Behn
Awards: Nominated in 1942 for 2 Best Score and 2 Best Song and 1 Best Sound
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Observations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. This story was from the book
Bambi, written by an Austrian writer named Felix Salten, in 1927. The origin of
Bambi's name has been debated, but most persons believe it is from the Italian word
bambino, meaning "Child." He also wrote a sequel, called "Bambi's Children."
2. There are a few little mistakes in the picture to look for. The best ones that I discovered online were:
a. Faline's eyes vary in different scenes; Sometimes, Blue. Sometimes, Brown.
b. After the fire, when the animals are reaching the other side of the river, watch Mrs. Opossum coming up the bank with her TWO baby possums. When she plops them on the ground, a new one appears and she is now the mother of Triplets. LOL
I totally loved this picture and I am sure that you will, too. It's great, not only to amuse, but to teach us that
Love is a Song that Never Ends.
Thank you for reading this. Please read the reviews of these fine writers, listed below, so we may help our Epinion's friend, Imames. and her baby daughter, Emily Rose.
I will contribute all funds earned by this Review to her, and pray for her little girl's complete recovery. Hope you will encourage her, too.
Thanks, again, for reading. Please read the Reviews listed below and wish all the Love in the world to little Emily.
Lorace
You can donate the eroyalties to Emilys fund, or just allow your participation be a symbol of support!
Paypal account# ImAmes@new.rr.com
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