I’m sure I must’ve seen this before, but it still felt from about 10-20 minutes in like I had only seen the usual clipped sequences you find in trailers and Disney documentaries.

On this first definite full viewing, Bambi reminded me most of “Jane Eyre”... in that it becomes so dull once the characters grow up, such a stark contrast to the wonderful scenes of their childhood. There are moments in the first half hour to 45 minutes that I was mesmerized by the animation, it captures the enthusiasm and astonishment of youth so perfectly… for example, Bambi himself as he watches the rainstorm slowly starting.

Another thing I noticed on this viewing is purely a product of my insane mind. It’s almost a Kevin Smith-like observation. When I bought the DVD last night the check-out girl was talking to another check-out girl about how she hadn’t seen the movie and always thought Bambi was a girl. Y’know, it’s a fair mistake to make. Bambi is a very girlie name. Bambi looks like a girl: just look at his eyes. And at the beginning of the movie, he sounds like a girl (fair enough, he’s a kid). But also note how he names Flower, the skunk, at the beginning of the movie, and Flower reacts almost flirtingly, “It’s alright… he can call me Flower if he loiks….” And later, when their voices break one springtime, we discover that Flower is actually a boy too. I find this fairly astounding, in a way… to me there’s a lot of, perhaps not homosexual, just gender-obscure, subtext to this movie, I think it’s awesome, yet at the same time kind of weird…. I mean…. it’s Disney....

One other thing this Disney movie makes me realise is that my objection to Disney heroes to date has been entirely unfair. Bambi’s father here is totally the worst Disney character in all their history, totally underwritten, unsympathetic, an asshole of a father, lol. They made a lobster and a candlestick holder more interesting.

This has been a fairly odd and negative review, I apologise, I just couldn’t think of anything else to say except for my own personal reaction. I loved the first half hour when they’re kids. But it turns into one of those typical old-fashioned Disney things towards the end, just a series of images and slow tunes to adorn ornamental dinner plates and cocktail party vinyl compilations.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2005 at 11:55 pm in Movie Reviews, unrated. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.