Bambi

Template:ImportantTemplate:InfoboxBambi is the titular main protagonist of the film of the same name and its midquel "Bambi II". A deer living in an animal forest, he's best friends with Thumper (a rabbit) and Flower (a skunk). However, he was closest to his mother, who was shot on his first winter. Raised into a buck by his father, the Great Prince of the Forest, he falls in love with his childhood friend (possible cousin) and love interest, then wife Faline, and they end up, later on, having two fawns - a son and daughter named Geno and Gurri.

Bambi originated as the main character in Felix Salten's Bambi, A Life in the Woods. He has made cameos in several Disney cartoons. In the Disney films, his species was changed from the roe deer to the white-tailed deer, which would be more familiar to American audiences. His image is a Disney icon comparable in recognition factors to Mickey Mouse and he is even shown on Disney stock certificates. He appears as a summon character in Kingdom Hearts, and as one of the guests in House of Mouse. He also makes cameo appearances in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Lion King 1½, plus a brief appearance in The Rescuers.

Bambi was voiced by Bobby Stewart in the first film and Alexander Gould in the midquel as a fawn, and Hardie Albright as a young buck.

Background

Personality

Bambi is not very strongly characterized. This was one of the film’s key strengths as an environmental film, the point because Bambi---as with most of his friends---is similar to any deer in any forest. In his early youth, Bambi has the full measure of charm that many young mammals display, with his wide eyes, spindly legs, curious nature and a good cute voice. As he grows he gradually becomes more mature, but even in young adulthood he always seems a very young buck, with a graceful build and a fairly naïve, shy nature. He was nicer than his mean rival, Ronno who was jealous of poor Bambi. When he had two fawns, Geno and Gurri, he was a carefree father, happy and sweet to his children.

Physical appearance

As a fawn, Bambi had a fur coat of safety orange and wheat spots and underbelly with a brown stripe that ran from his head down to his tail. He had brown hooves and wide red eyes. He had a large head with fuzz on it.

When becoming a teenager, Bambi remains the same except he no longer has spots and has budding antlers.

When a young adult, Bambi has brown fur and has antlers with 2 points. His eyes change from red to brown as well.

Appearances

Bambi

Bambi in the original film

In the first film, the chronology of Bambi's life from birth to young adulthood is showcased. At his birth, all the inhabitants of the forest gather to greet the new prince with open arms. Among them are Friend Owl (who acts as an adviser to Bambi's father, the Great Prince of the Forest), and Thumper.

As the months go by, Bambi creates bonds with Thumper and a bashful skunk by the name of Flower, forming a strong trio. He also builds a weak friendship with Faline, a fawn who he fell in love with, despite being disgusted by her at first glance because of her overly bubbly personality. Aside from friendships and romance, Bambi's primary concern is his mother, who he loves deeply, often learning life lessons that stick with the young prince. One of those lessons involve being conscious of "Man"; the forest's most feared enemy. Man is known for being a ruthless hunter, killing animals for the sake of sport, having no regards for anything else. One day, while out during the winter, Bambi's mother is killed by Man; though the young deer manages to escape before he falls victim, as well. Without a parent to care for him, the Great Prince of the Forest arrives and raises Bambi himself, tragically confessing the loss of his mother and taking him from his old home.

Young Adult Bambi

Years later, Bambi grew into a strong young adult buck, dashing, but still as shy and somewhat clumsy as ever. He retains his friendship with Thumper and Flower and, as predicted, falls in love with Faline; or as Friend Owl likes to put it; becomes "Twitterpated". Now experiencing true love for the first time, Bambi began his life with Faline as his mate, exploring the forest together, proclaiming their love, and battling the vicious Ronno for her affections, eventually coming out victorious. This also signifies dominance and maturity on Bambi's part, which comes in use, as he's slated to take the role as Great Prince of the Forest, following his father's footsteps.

With life seeming as peaceful as ever, Man returns to the forest with more men and with a pack of bloodthirsty dogs. Several forest dwellers are killed by the invasion and Faline is attacked, but was rescued by Bambi before it's too late. Even so, back at Man's camp, a fire accidentally breaks loose, setting the forest ablaze. Bambi and his father rush through the woodlands to escape the devastation as the other creatures do the same, finding a small island off shore of the forest where they're sheltered until things settle down. And although they barely survive, Bambi and the Great Prince manage to escape the catastrophe, as well.

Some time after the forest's restoration, Bambi, now ruling the lands alongside his father, watches in the light of the sun as Faline gives birth to two young fawns, causing a celebration echoing Bambi's birth and ushering in a new chapter for the prince and his forest.

Bambi II

Bambi in Bambi II.

In Bambi II, Bambi is much more distinctly personalized. In this film, which fills in the gap between the death of his mother and when he was next shown as a young adult, Bambi finds himself faced with a number of challenges. First, there is the death of his mother and his consequential move to live with his father, the Great Prince of the Forest. Connecting with that, there is the fact that his father has no knowledge of raising children and is reluctant and slow to learn. In addition, Bambi begins to develop romantic feelings for Faline, and comes into conflict with his present and future rival, Ronno.

Throughout all of this, he shows much more personality than he did in the first film. Whereas before he essentially followed life where it led him, now he grabs life by the horns in one attempt after another to bond with and impress his father. In the first film, Bambi's status as the young prince had little impact on the flow of the story. But now his rank becomes a key part of the situation as he sets out to prove to himself and others, most of all his dad, that he deserves to be prince and can live up to his father’s name.

Close to the end of the film, Bambi has lost his spots, and gets prickled by the porcupine and kisses Faline. He then leaves with the Great Prince who takes him to the meadow where he and Bambi's mother first met as children.

Kingdom Hearts

Bambi's unnamed (as of yet) world was destroyed by the Heartless. However, the strong sense of courage, innocence and purity in the young fawn's heart allowed it to be preserved in the form of the Naturespark Gem. It somehow ended up in a torn page in the 100 Acre Wood.

After Sora finds this item in the Hundred Acre Wood and takes it to the Fairy Godmother, she restores Bambi's spirit and Sora gains the ability to summon him in battle.

After sealing Kingdom Hearts, Bambi returns to his world and keeps his memories of his time as a Summon (hinted by Mushu and Simba knowing the trio while they were Summons).

Bambi's role in battle is to prance about the area, dropping huge amounts of MP orbs by hopping around the area. Any enemy defeated while Bambi is summoned drops more orbs than usual. Also, the more enemies Sora defeats while Bambi is summoned, the more orbs Bambi drops. If a certain amount of enemies are defeated while Bambi is in play, Bambi will make a great leap and drop a special item, usually mega-potions and elixers.

Despite being warned of humans before his world was destroyed, Bambi already becomes Sora's friend as expressed on his cheerful expression and reaction to the keyblade wielder's summoning. Bambi dances around Sora, then approaches him, and allows the boy to pet him on his head before continuing to assist Sora in a battle.

Cameos

Bambi with his mother in No Hunting

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Bambi and his mother make a brief cameo in the Donald Duck short No Hunting.

In The Rescuers during the song "Someone's Waiting For You", Bambi is seen eating the grass in Devil's Bayou with his mother.

In Who Framed Roger Rabbit he has a cameo appearance during the final scene with the other Disney and non-Disney characters.

Bambi received numerous cameos in the series often seen with Thumper and Flower in House of Mouse. In the episode "Dining Goofy", he showed to be unamused with the fact that he was seated with Big Bad Wolf. His only speaking role is the episode "Mickey vs. Shelby". In the film Mickey's Magical Christmas, Bambi was seen singing during the ending song, and in Mickey's House of Villains, Bambi was seen walking, next to Piglet, with the Disney Villains in the opening only.

In The Reluctant Dragon, Doris presents a completed cel of the titular character at the the ink-and-paint department during a Technicolor-showcasing montage of the paint-making process.

Disney Parks

Bambi and Flower in World of Color

Like most characters from the film, Bambi makes no live appearances in the parks but being one of Disney's most iconic characters, can be seen in several shows and merchandise. During the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, Bambi has his own exhibit and topiary.

World of Color

In Disney California Adventure, Bambi was briefly seen during the So Close segment with Flower and Faline. He also appears in a segment of the winter rendition "Winter Dreams", with his friend Thumper.

It's a Small World

In Hong Kong Disneyland's version of the ride, Bambi was seen alongside Thumper as a puppet.

Fantasmic!

Bambi makes a somewhat notable cameo in Disney's Hollywood Studios' version during the bubble sequence.

Quotes

Bambi

• "Twitterpated?"
• "Terrible!"
• "Me neither."
• "Faline!"
• "What happened, Mother? Why did we all run?"
• "Mother! Mother!"
• "Whatcha wanna do that for?"
• "He stopped and looked at me."
• "Why was everyone still when he came on the meadow?"
• "Bur... Bur!"
• "Bur!"
• "Bur."
• "Bur!"
• "Bird!"
• "Bird!"
• "Butterfly? Butter... [Bambi sees the butterfly has now gone; he then runs over to a big yellow flower among some other wildflowers] Butterfly!"
• "Flower?"
• "Purty. [Bambi starts smelling the flowers, and comes nose-to-nose with a little skunk] Flower!"
• "Purty. Purty flower!"

Bambi II

• [Nervous] "I... don't know..."
• "Mother! Mother! Moth..."
• "She's not coming back, is she?"
• "It is?"
• "I'm a... I'm a bear! Maaa!"
• "It was mother. I heard her voice."
• "But I thought..."
• "I'm... I'm sorry."
• "Uh, yeah."
• "I didn't even know this place was here."
• "Really?"
• "What were you like?"
• [Bambi has a dream in which he meets his mother] "I miss you so much."
• "Why'd you have to go?"
• "But I feel so alone."
• [trying to master his dad's advice, he walks along with his eyes closed] "Feel the forest. Feel the forest."
• "Feel the - OOF![walks headfirst into a tree] Heh, heh. Felt it. "
• "That's all you care about! Not about me!"
• [running off] "I wish Mother was here instead of you!"
• "Oh! I gotta go! My dad's waiting for me!"

Gallery

Bambi as a young adult

Bambi with his best friend Thumper

Teenage Bambi with Faline

Bambi andSora.

Bambi's smile

Bambi threatened by Ronno

Young Bambi fighting Ronno

Bambi facing Man's dogs

Bambi with his father The Great Prince of the Forest

Bambi and Faline embrace

Bambi as the new Great Prince of the Forest

Bambi with his mother

Bambi reunited with his mother in his dream

Trivia

• Bambi is similar to Simba as both fall in love with their female childhood friends (Bambi with Faline and Simba with Nala) and later have children with them (Bambi and Faline had Geno and Gurri whilst Simba and Nala had Kiara and Kion (whilst in The Lion King: Six New Adventures, they have a son named Kopa). Both also lose a parent to their film's villain (Bambi's mother is killed by Man whilst Simba's father Mufasa is killed by Scar). They also have a dream/nightmare about their dead parent in their second film.
• Bambi is also similar to Rudolph from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie as both are deer and both fall in love with their female friend (Faline and Zoey. Both their father's are important figures (Bambi's father is The Great Prince of the Forest and Rudolph's father Blitzen is a lead reindeer on Santa Claus's sleigh team) and later take over from them (Bambi becomes the new Great Prince whilst Rudolph becomes lead reindeer). Both also have a love rival who has opposed them since childhood (Ronno and Arrow). However whilst it seems Bambi and Ronno still dislike each other, Arrow reforms and now likes Rudolph. Another two differences Rudolph's mother Mitzi doesn't die and unlike Bambi and Faline, Rudolph and Zoey don't have children together (due to the fact they are teenagers rather the young adults Bambi and Faline are).

Similar Heroes

• Simba (The Lion King)
• Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Littlefoot (Land Before Time)
• Arlo (The Good Dinosaur)
• Mowgli (The Jungle Book)
• Bongo the Bear (Fun and Fancy Free)
• Popeye

External Links

• Bambi (character) on Disney Wiki