“Bambi” The Walt Disney Signature Collection Blu-ray Review

Hi everyone!

Bambi has been released as part of The Walt Disney Signature Collection. Now celebrating 75 years, this classic animated film is as affecting as ever. There are also a few new bonus features here, which are combined with previously released ones.

I am not reviewing the film as almost everyone has seen it sometime in their lives. The animation looks beautiful here, and seeing the work that was put into it – including the multiplane camera that gives some of the scenes their depth – is a treat. If you haven’t every seen Bambi, it really runs the gamut from happy and romantic to dark and sad. In other words, it is very similar to most other Disney films in that way and one character dies (and even if you haven’t seen the movie, you likely know who it is).

On to the bonus features.

Studio Stories: Bambi – This is a feature that is in Walt’s own words. By far, this is my favorite of what is here, getting to see vintage footage while hearing Walt talk about making the film. Some of the footage includes deer being brought into the studio for animators to learn to draw, though they really needed to see how deer walked and ran in the wild as opposed to in captivity. The animators studied how to make the natural elements like rain and lightning look better. The multiplane camera is discussed. And one of the more poignant parts of the feature is learning that his daughter Diane, who had originally read the book before the movie was ever made, asked Walt why they killed one character. Walt said that it was “in the book”. Diane said yes, but other parts of the movie had been changed.

Deleted Scenes – Deleted scenes are hit-or-miss for me, but these are hosted by animator and Disney Legend Floyd Norman and include characters never used like a cranky grasshopper along with ants. And Thumper was originally called Bobo. Of course, this is more of a rough sketch deleted scenes, as animated ones often are.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit “Africa Before Dark“ – This is a previously unseen short from 1928, it was just discovered recently after being thought to be lost, with Oswald as a big game hunter in Africa. Honestly, I found this short boring. But being part of history, it is worth viewing at least once, more if you enjoy it more than I did.

The Bambi Effect – This is a very fast-paced short that feels like it is aimed for teenagers, talking about how Bambi influenced later animated movies, all the way through Moana. It’s a little too fast for me, but has some good information.

Bambi Fawn Facts – This short is aimed more at kids, and it’s facts about deer. Not too exciting for me, but kids will probably enjoy it.

Then there are classic bonus features, which would have been on a previous version of the Blu-ray/DVD. That includes a look at the Animation Research Library with longtime Disney animator Andreas Deja.

And here is our video of the original voice actors behind Bambi & Thumper, Donnie Dunagan and Peter Behn from this year.

Personally, I think the new version is worth having just for Studio Stories: Bambi. It’s really nice see hear archival recordings of Walt Disney while watching Bambi vintage footage and animation.

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