Bambi

More than 60 years before The Lion King, Walt Disney and his original dream team of animators illustrated the circle of life with this classic coming-of-age fable based on the book by Felix Salten. Bambi traces the seasons in the life of a young deer prince, from his birth and adolescence through the birth of his own two fawns. This masterpiece ranks near the top of the Disney pantheon, with some of the most memorable characters (Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk), loveliest songs ("Love Is a Song" and "Little April Showers"), and its most haunting and harrowing score--listen to how the ominous "Man's Theme" anticipates the incoming shark music from Jaws. It's hard to imagine a scene--live-action or animated--that more effectively depicts joy and wonder than Bambi's first skittish skate on the frozen pond; of course, there's heartbreak here as well, with Walt Disney's first-ever death scene ("we'll tear [the audience's] hearts out," the animator famously and accurately predicted). This beautiful-looking two-disc set will leave Disney and animation buffs "twitterpated" with its wealth of archival rarities and unprecedented features. Chief among these are--in lieu of a commentary--audio reenactments of the actual story meetings that chart the film's production, never-before-seen deleted scenes, plenty of "making-of" featurettes and games, a “DisneyPedia” on the animals used for the film, and the classic 1937 cartoon “The Old Mill.” Bambi is truly one for the ages, and this platinum edition will en-deer it to yet another generation. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (D. Liebenson)[Blu-ray Review—Mar. 1, 2011—Walt Disney, 2 discs, 70 min., G, $39.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1942's Bambi (Diamond Edition) sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras carried over from the previous DVD release include an intro by Walt's daughter Diane Disney Miller, the “Inside Walt's Story Meetings” picture-in-picture mode offering a behind-the-scenes look at production, a “making-of” featurette (54 min.), deleted scenes (4 min.), an “Inside the Disney Archive” featurette (9 min.), a “Tricks of the Trade” animation featurette (7 min.), “The Old Mill” 1937 animated short (9 min.), and the “DisneyPedia: Bambi's Forest Friends” interactive segment. New to the Blu-ray release are additional deleted scenes (4 min.), a deleted song (2 min.), interactive art galleries, a “Big Book of Knowledge” game, a bonus DVD copy of the film, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a beloved Disney classic.][Blu-ray Review—June 13, 2017—Disney, 70 min., G, $39.99—Making its latest appearance on Blu-ray, 1942's Bambi features a great transfer and a DTS-HD 7.1 soundtrack. Extras new to this release include deleted scenes (8 min.), the 1928 animated short “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: Africa Before Dark” (6 min.), “Studio Stories” (5 min.), “Fawn Facts” (4 min.), and “The Bambi Effect” (3 min.). Previously released bonus features include “A Prince is Born” making-of featurette (53 min.), “Inside the Disney Archives” (9 min.), the 1937 Silly Symphony cartoon “The Old Mill” (9 min.), “The Golden Age” (7 min.), a “Tricks of the Trade” featurette (7 min.), more deleted scenes (5 min.), the deleted song “Twitterpated” (2 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: owners of the previous Blu-ray release do not need to upgrade, but for those who don't have the earlier edition, this is a must-have Disney classic that sparkles on Blu-ray.]