Bambi

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David Hand directs. Frank Churchill scores. Thomas Scott cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 70-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 3Grossed $267M — a 311.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 484 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 5Part of the "Bambi Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 6Original score by Frank Churchill. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Thomas Scott shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Donnie Dunagan and Peter Behn and Stan Alexander carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Love Comes To The Forest Folk . . . and to you, in one of the world's greatest love stories!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0034492 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 10 themes, including "loss of loved one", "cartoon", "forest", "coming of age".

The technical file

Original score

Frank Churchill

Editing

Thomas Scott

Runtime

70 min · 1h 10m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$858,000

Box office

$267,447,150

Return

31171% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

Bambi (1942) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

91% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

91/100

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 163,247 votes

MPAA

Approved

Part of

Bambi Collection

The "Bambi" film series follows the life of Bambi, a young deer growing up in the forest with his friends Thumper and Flower. As Bambi learns about the joys and hardships of life in the wild, he steps into his role as the Prince of the Forest.

• 
  Bambi

  1942 · this one
• 
  Bambi II

  2006

Also by

David Hand

• 
  Countdown to Christmas

  2002 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Fantasia

  1940 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Thru the Mirror

  1936 · ★ 7.2
• 
  The Mad Doctor

  1933 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

  1938 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Magician Mickey

  1937 · ★ 7.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Bambi - 1982 Reissue Trailer (35mm 4K)

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Bambi - 2005 Platinum Edition DVD Trailer #2

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Bambi - 1988 Reissue Trailer (35mm 4K)

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Bambi - 1942 Original Theatrical Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  The Making of Bambi

  Behind the Scenes
• 

  ▶
  Bambi Blu-Ray - Official® Trailer [HD]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Gimly2020-06-20
  ★ 4/10

  The scenery in Bambi is honestly so beautiful. If you were to compare it to the animation I grew up with in the 90s, or even the animation of today, it doesn't just hold up, Bambi's nature scenes actually outclass them. Positively gorgeous. But in that spirit of honesty, Bambi is a really boring movie. I think the one and only time I've seen it before I was around 5 or so, that'd be more than two decades ago. Revisiting it again after all these years actually made me appreciate the movie less. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.

  Read full review ↓
• insidemovies842021-02-16
  ★ 8/10

  Looking back at this film as it was filmed in 1942 by nine freaking directors man... one supervising director David Hand and the rest sequence directors: James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Norman Wright, Arthur Davis and Clyde Geronimi. One thing I’d never known before that I learned is that Bambi the film was based on an actual book from 1923 called Bambi, A Life In The Woods written by Austrian author/hunter Felix Salton. Always thought it was straight creation of Disney’s but it’s not, weird. Bambi is a film not just about a young deer and his life in the forest it’s really about the survival of nature against the ever deadly animal known as man killing off animal species and there are some scenes that are really drastic for a supposedly family film but I’ll get to that. At the beginning of the film we meet our very first cast of characters as there’s pink nosed Thumper and A bashful skunk named Flower, friend Owl and the wakening of the forest animals as a new fawn was born to an unnamed Doe whom as we learn is the Son of the Prince of The Forest. The best thing about this animation is the attention to detail of other wild life besides the birth of Bambi, his beginning stammering and early bonding moments with Flower and Thumper. I enjoy Bambi’s moment of falling on the ice it’s cute. Shows that he was still not quite used to his young body enough to be sure of himself. I find the part where we meet his father very regal The Prince has a very stoic prescient and it’s here Bambi gets his first glimpse of the things astute deer do which apparently is rushing at other bucks with antlers with playful bashing of horns. We also get a playful moment with Bambi meeting young Faline a female doe the first female of Bambi’s species as we can see more awkwardness. As an adult I found her teasing a little annoying but as a child I remember the moment fondly as his first meeting a girl moment. Reminds me of The Lion King later with Nala a little bit. Winter comes and at the first sign of the new green grass his mother is alerted of danger and tells Bambi to run for the thicket and never look back... we hear a shot run out and Bambi calling for his mother is a tear jerker... when he runs into his father and he tells him so solemn that his mother won’t be with him ever again this almost ruined the film for me it was a sad, dark moment. There is another moment I enjoy in this film where friend Owl explains to the now grown Bambi, Thumper and Flower about the betwixings of love... just love this part it’s so eerily comical... I’d forgotten that Bambi also ends up getting shot himself but I do remember the fire that man caused and watching how many animals had to move their homes... not to mention the pidgin that got frantic and nervous flew up in the air and got shot in the whole process. In a sense this had the same pivotal message as Lion King as there is a birth/relationship/ rebirth and continuing line of royalty among creatures in the forest. I think this film hold up and find it very beutiful. A decent family film to still watch and enjoy. Thoroughly recommend. Have it four stars as Bambi’s mothers death still bothers me did it have to be so cruel?

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-03-27
  ★ 7/10

  "Bambi" is born into an idyllic forest life - his father is the bull stag; his mother an adoring hind and he quickly befriends all the other animals in his gloriously technicolour world. He learns to walk, to talk, even to ice-skate with the help of his bunny pal "Thumper" and he encounters the joys and perils of the seasons from sunny summers to freezing winters too. All is perfect until human beings take an hand - then, alongside his father and his friends, he must face the more brutal realities of life. The animation is gorgeous - simplistic, perhaps, by 2020 standards - but the artistic craftsmanship of the drawings and the score more than adequately compensate for that. There is a minimum of dialogue - the images tell the story, and they do it superbly.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Walt Disney Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerWalt Disney
• MusicLeigh Harline
• EditorThomas Scott
• Art DirectionBruce Bushman
• Art DirectionClaude Coats
• Art DirectionHugh Hennesy
• Art DirectionLance Nolley
• Art DirectionKendall O'Connor
• Sound EffectsJames MacDonald
• Sound EffectsPaullean Rob
• Sound DirectorC.O. Slyfield
• Sound RecordistHarold J. Steck
• Background DesignerMerle Cox
• Background DesignerBob McIntosh
• ConductorAlexander Steinert
• OrchestratorCharles Wolcott
• OrchestratorPaul J. Smith
• Art DirectionTom Codrick
• Art DirectionRobert Cormack
• Art DirectionAl Zinnen
• Art DirectionMcLaren Stewart
• Art DirectionLloyd Harting
• Art DirectionDavid Hilberman
• Art DirectionJohn Hubley

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• loss of loved one
• cartoon
• forest
• coming of age
• best friend
• cartoon rabbit
• forest fire
• aggressive
• fawn
• cartoon deer

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere1942-08-13G· New York
• Theatrical (limited)1942-08-14G· Salt Lake City, Utah
• Theatrical1942-08-21G
• Theatrical1947-12-25· Re-release
• Digital2017-05-23G
• Physical1989-07-28G· Walt Disney Home Video #942 [𝐕𝐇𝐒📼] / [βet⍺🖭] / [𝐋aser𝐃isc💿] 69 minutes
• Physical1997-02-04G· VHS
• Physical2005-03-01G· VHS / DVD
• Physical2011-03-01G· Blu-ray / DVD
• Physical2017-06-06G· Blu-ray / DVD

Also known as

International titles

• Walt Disney's BambiUS
• Bambi 1CA
• 밤비KR
• ΜπάμπιGR
• БэмбиRU
• BambiRS