From the long line-up that Disney has had; from its early beginnings to its more recent outings, there had never been a movie quite like Bambi. Released as only Disney’s fifth animated feature, the film is now regarded as one of the greatest earlier Disney films, heralded as a classic, yet at the time of its release it wasn’t treated that way, with critics and especially hunters finding problems with Disney’s attempt at a realistic tale with no ounce of fantasy within. Because of this and coming out during World War 2, the film was a box office failure and even ended up facing a copyright lawsuit from the original book’s (Bambi: A Life in the Woods) current owners. With all this chaos occurring all because of this film, it would be bizarre to think that this film would later be heralded as a timeless Disney classic, but maybe its exactly that we cannot put a concrete thought onto it that makes Bambi so special. Its springtime and all the woodland creatures gather around to witness the birth of the new prince of the forest, a young baby deer named Bambi (voiced by Donnie Dunagan). Growing up under the careful watch of his mother (voiced by Paula Winslowe) and helped out by the other animals of the forest, Bambi slowly grows into the prince that the forest needs against the threat of man, facing all kinds of ups and downs all throughout his life.

That’s the basic premise of the film and one that can be taken either way; some can see it as a  beautiful look into life experience, struggles and the artistic merit behind it, while others can see a pretty picture with no connectable story holding it together. The funny thing about the dramatic style shift for Disney back in its early years is not only that it makes sense with a new property trying to revolutionize kids entertainment, but it was a change that happened over its five-movie life cycle. Snow White and Pinocchio were big hits and were heavily based on their respected fairy tales, then they went in a complete different direction with Fantasia going for more of a operatic narrative with musical pieces put to artistic visuals, then after that failed they tried out something more down to earth and less fantastical like Dumbo which did well but not nearly as much as the others, leading to this film with its heavy focus on realistic environments, creatures and situations. On the one hand, many may not get into this type of non-linear narrative-less direction for the film, as what occurs throughout the movie does not really work in a three-act-structure, rather a life experience piece. But thankfully, for this movie, that’s all it needs to be. It understands that sometimes life is interesting enough to make a story, and that’s what this film is; watching the story of Bambi growing up and facing all the joys and fears of his life. Its incredible simplicity and charming nature allow the film to be completely timeless and allows the film to be adult in its handling of a child-friendly movie.

The characters work in a very similar way to how the film’s lack of narrative structure works; all they need to be is charming and honest with their handling that it doesn’t need to be that complex. That is how these characters feel; they are not the most interesting characters, but it’s hard to pretend that they aren’t endearing and work exactly how they should work in a film like this. Bambi is more of a placement surrogate to bounce off emotional lessons to the viewers in a believable way and that works both within the movie as its experienced by him and outside as it conveys many adult feelings and issues in a way that makes sense to kids. With the example of one of the darkest and most memorable moments of the film (that will be kept secret for spoilers), it not only demonstrates that this is part of life and can happen out of nowhere, but also that in these moments it doesn’t need a grand resolution or even answers, it can just happen. With that said, the side characters are all still pretty likeable despite how minimal they are, the voice acting from everyone is really good, and it proves to be one of the few Disney or even animated movies to have ever shown off a positive mother and son pairing. Even with that, Bambi’s father also has a lot of great moments; with his limited but impactful dialogue allowing him to leave as much of an impression on the audience as he does to everybody in the film.

Even compared to other Disney movies that came out beforehand, the artistry in this movie is incredible. As much as the emotions felt within this movie make up a part of their own character, as do the visuals make up a good chunk of this film. Its an art style that’s incredibly stylistic but never too distracting that it takes the audience out of moments. It does a wonderful job at capturing the environment and nature as a whole; with all the seasons giving off distinct atmospheres and color palettes, as well as the lighting shining through so brightly in moments that it almost creates its own afterglow. With animation that has such rich atmosphere and clever boarding, it still shakes things up so that it has variety within itself; sometimes moments of tension can still feature a large quantity of colors, sometimes the depth and aspect of characters can meld into the backgrounds for its own dynamic effects, and every time the seasons change everything to the colors, the lighting, the framing and even the music change to perfectly match the mood. The music for the film does great with creating and molding the atmosphere of moments within the film and even handles the more intense moments rather well with a reused tune that feels like a prelude to the Jaws theme. Though sometimes, the sudden mood changes can be a bit off-putting in moments, especially when it cuts to an overly cheery melody after an incredibly dark somber moment, barely letting the intensity sit for more than a minute before throwing the safety googles back on. With that in mind, the film can be surprisingly intense, particularly in the final act of the film. The film doesn’t even have a villain; the threat is rather man itself and its what causes the fire to burst out during the climax. This moment is filled with harsh colors, pounding music and even a fair amount of injured or even killed animals. It certainly provides a harshness that while confronting does feel in line with how the film has set up its world.

Bambi is not going to be a movie for everybody; it’s got many qualities that make it vastly different to even animated films nowadays with a non-linear direction as well as having no real story holding it together. But for those that don’t mind that stuff and can appreciate this movie for what it is, there is so much to admire. The beautiful handling of an emotional tale that works for both kids and adults allows for charming characters, outstanding visuals and plenty of light and dark moments scattered throughout. While many can say that one particular scene within the film scarred them for life, they seem to forget that Disney’s previous work had plenty of moments that are equally as traumatizing. Definitely worth a watching to appreciate an older time for Disney and watch the story of a baby deer that becomes the prince of the forest.