10 Little Known Facts About Disney's Bambi

The Great Prince of the Forest was introduced to the United States 77 years ago today at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. 
I have always shared a soft spot for the beautiful eyed fawn.  Maybe that is because we are "born" a day apart.  He is my sweet spirit animal.

Even though Bambi is beloved now, Disney's fifth animated feature did not find success at first. Upon wide release on August 21, 1942, many critics felt that Bambi did not live up to the Disney reputation.  Maybe it was a result of the film’s depiction of the animal’s struggle to survive and humans’ need to hunt the animals.  Perhaps the film felt too real and lacked the fantasy of the four prior Disney films. It is hard to believe that Bambi cost $1.7 million to make and only grossed $1.64 million.

The years have been kind to Bambi and now he is a beloved and revered Disney character. The 75th anniversary DVD was gone before I had a chance to scoop it up! The ideas in this film are still extremely relevant!  We need to respect the creatures that share the earth with us and sadly we fail over and over. I was reminded of this on August 12th, World Elephant Day.

10 Little Known Facts About Bambi:

• Bambi is based on the 1923 book "Bambi, A Life in the Woods" by Austrian author Felix Salten.
• Bambi is a roe deer in the books but a mule deer in the movies since roe deer are not native to North America.
• His partner's name is Faline.
• Gurri and Geno are Bambi's twins.
• Four different actors voiced Bambi at different stages.
• Disney was forced to cut 12 minutes from the film before final animation to save production costs.
• The film received 3 Academy Award nominations (Best Sound, Best Song and Original Music Score.)
• Bambi also appears in Salten's novels "Bambi's Children," "Perri" and "Fifteen Rabbits."
• Bambi was voted #3 in the top ten animated films of all time in the American Film Institute's 10 Top 10 list.
• Bambi is listed in the Top 25 Horror Movies of all time by Time Magazine.

Have you read any of the Salten books?  Now that I know Bambi appears in a few I need to go check those out. 


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