Bambi 2

Renorei · Post by **Renorei** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:15 am

http://www.animated-news.com/archives/00003101.html

You can probably find better info elsewhere about this, but to be honest I wasn't really looking too hard. The best info can be found on the special edition digitally restored 2 dvd set of Bambi, which one of my friends has that I watched today.

It is essentially a 'midquel'. You know that part in Bambi where the Prince of the Forest says "Your mother can't be with you anymore....come, my son", and then they walk off into the forest? The next time we see Bambi, he's grown. This is basically what happened to Bambi as he was raised by the Prince during that time.

From what I saw of it on the DVD, I have my doubts. Bambi's head is too big. Also, they shaded and highlighted the characters in places where shadows and highlights would naturally occur, due to light sources. It wasn't like that in the original Bambi, and it really bothers me that they shaded the characters in this version.

Also (even though Patrick Stewart is hella cool), I don't think I'm gonna like the new Prince of the Forest. The old Prince of the Forest was so damn cool...so proud, noble, and silent. I'm scared they're gonna 'Mufasafy' him too much...we'll see. It comes out in February, I plan to at least rent it, if only to satisfy my curiosity.

Ink · Post by **Ink** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:35 am

I think that this might be another additional kick to Walt Disney. The man, not the company.

Disney, while amazing a lot of areas, is just... I think it's gone so amazingly commercial now I hold no sanctity to it as far as things go. Walt was horribly upset when Bambi came out and it spurred Anti-Hunting themes and I believe he made a few quotes on how he'd wished he'd never made the movie. Walt himself was an Avid outdoorsman and sportsman. He was a man of that era.

Plus the art that was produced in making Bambi was so not how we do it today. Bambi was a pain staking process. I can't even imagine what they're going to do to the music and the art besides massacre it.

This ... digging up of all the projects to cull more Disney themes drives me nuts. Disney gets under my skin a lot. Granted, our culture does that -- we 'modernize' everything. Rather than leave it to understand the old and cherish it for what it is.

To me I think this might just be like taking a literal crap on top of Walt Disney's grave.

But I have a fueled hatred for these kind of antics...

EDIT: I just went to see the trailer... I'm going to hate it. They, and I can't lie about this, they literally dumbed Bambi down.

... It makes me wanna cry.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:18 am

DVD release date 02-07-2006

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000B8 ... 6610?n=130

Renorei · Post by **Renorei** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:32 am

Ink wrote: EDIT: I just went to see the trailer... I'm going to hate it. They, and I can't lie about this, they literally dumbed Bambi down.

Where did you see a trailer? I wanna see it.

Lupin · Post by **Lupin** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:29 pm

Yeah, I am going to stay far away from this movie. But I do that with a lot of direct-to-video sequels.

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:35 pm

Is there anything they won't make a sequel for?!!

I would've figured there'd be some kind of unnoficial code of conduct for sequels, like not making sequels for movies that have been untouched for 50+ years (Bambi: 1942), but noooooooooo, not if a quick buck can be made.

And people wonder why CG is doing so much better than hand-drawn these days. Hey Mr. Eisner, here's a thought: why don't you try writing an original every now and then.

Ink · Post by **Ink** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:49 pm

Excelsia wrote:
Ink wrote: EDIT: I just went to see the trailer... I'm going to hate it. They, and I can't lie about this, they literally dumbed Bambi down.

Where did you see a trailer? I wanna see it.

Go here: Hell/ Bambie II trailer

I re-watched it and realized that they screwed with the old style music. The re-casting of Bambi sounds like some moronic 12 year old saying cliche lines. And worst yet they make the Prince act like a freakin' moron.

And since when did it take courage to reveal love? AHHH!

Crapping on Walt Disney's grave. A GINORMOUS pile of crap.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:27 pm

Terastas wrote:

Is there anything they won't make a sequel for?!!

I would've figured there'd be some kind of unnoficial code of conduct for sequels, like not making sequels for movies that have been untouched for 50+ years (Bambi: 1942), but noooooooooo, not if a quick buck can be made.

And people wonder why CG is doing so much better than hand-drawn these days. Hey Mr. Eisner, here's a thought: why don't you try writing an original every now and then.

LOL!!!! Quick buck? That "buck" is 50+ years to late.

(A buck is a male deer.) I love puns!!!

Terastas · Post by **Terastas** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:11 pm

Figarou wrote:LOL!!!! Quick buck? That "buck" is 50+ years to late.

(A buck is a male deer.) I love puns!!!

Eh. . . Ah. . . I. . . You know what I mean!!!

*watches the trailer*

If Walt Disney really was frozen, it wasn't so they could bring him back to life. It was to prevent him from coming back from the grave to exact his revenge. After all, Walt did say he loved the mouse more than any woman in his life. Imagine how he'd feel about Mickey's job at the nightclub.

vrikasatma · Post by **vrikasatma** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:25 pm

I haven't seen the original in a long time, mostly because I have a standing boycott of it (for precisely the anti-hunting themes). I have the original Felix Salten book too, which is so harsh and cynical. It's a very down story full of flat-out suffering. You get a glimpse into the poisonous rivalry between Ronno, his toadie Karus, and Bambi — Ronno and Karus totally ranked on him. They should have focused on that and left the *poacher* (not a hunter) as a peripheral and transitory character like he was in the book. Instead, they had Ronno as a silent character and I don't even remember Karus being in there at all.

Some of my other gripes about the film:

=> Bucks in hard antler in the springtime!

=> Spotted fawns in the dead of winter!

Aigh!

I mean, grant you, the art is beautiful. But it's better for the art value than for anything else.

Renorei · Post by **Renorei** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:36 pm

After having watched the trailer...I don't think it will be too bad. In fact, I'll probably enjoy it. But, by no means will it even remotely live up to the original. I expect about the same quality here as with the Lion King 2...not keeping with the high standards of the original, but nonetheless, worth the hour and half it takes to watch it.

Figarou · Post by **Figarou** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 11:37 pm

Terastas wrote:
Figarou wrote:LOL!!!! Quick buck? That "buck" is 50+ years to late.

(A buck is a male deer.) I love puns!!!
Eh. . . Ah. . . I. . . You know what I mean!!!

Of course I do. I just couldn't resist.

Renorei · Post by **Renorei** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:04 pm

Alrighty....I rented this and watched it. And you know what? I liked it. I liked it A LOT.

I might even buy it. Of course, there are plenty of criticisms that can be made of it, but it's definitely worth watching.

Criticisms:
-Modern, poppish music in several places in the film
-the characters occasionally due things that are completely un animal-like (i.e. blowing raspberries)
-the young deer (Bambi and Faline...however you spell that) don't look quite like they oughtta look. They don't look bad...but they don't look exactly like how they looked in the original...which isn't necessarily a terrible thing.
-overall a bit more modern than I'd like it to be

Positives:
-fantastic story
-the background scenery is about on par with the scenery in the original
-the score is on par with the original (except of course for the aforementioned pop songs...but I guess that's soundtrack, not score)
-introduction of Ronno, a fascinating new character...and his voice actor, Anthony Ghannam, is great
-multiple allusions to the original film, which make you appreciate it more
-several hilarious moments (sure they're cheap laughs, but I like them anyway)

Further elaboration:

The overwhelming majority of characters look almost identical to their 1942 counterparts (except Bambi and Faline, but they're not too far off). I'm not entirely sure about the Prince of the Forest, because you don't really get to see him very well in the original.

Ronno is a really cool character. He's essentially a young deer who is desperately seeking attention and and perhaps, friendship. But, he has a huge ego and no social skills. I enjoyed Ronno quite a lot.

In this movie, Thumper is actually his sister's big brother. I don't know if it was like that in the original, but I kinda like it this way. His relationship with his little sisters is interesting, and I like the way it develops.

The porcupine in the movie is totally ripped off from the Fox and the Hound.

I really like this new take on the relationship between the Prince of the Forest and Bambi. I find it...dare I say...heartwarming. There's an emotional high point near the end of the film between the two of them that I found to be much sadder than the part in the original when Bambi's mother died.

Cool Allusions:

-in this film, Bambi is a great jumper. This made me appreciate Bambi's huge jump towards the end of the original film a lot more.

-the part in the original film when Bambi has been shot and the Prince is telling him to get up is also alluded to.

-another allusion occurs in this film, to the part where Ronno (in the original) tries to drive Faline away from Bambi, before the big fight scene

So, sorry about this review being so scattered and unorganized. I thought about organizing it well, but I'm too lazy. Ultimately, this film is a good movie on its own rights. It's not as spectacular as the original, but I think it complements it well.

Silverclaw · Post by **Silverclaw** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:33 pm

I wanna see it! I'm a sucker for animated movies. Especially animated movies featuring animals

I'm thinking about blind-buying it.

Hamster · Post by **Hamster** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 9:29 pm

Poor Walt Disney. His sprit is crying of what Disney has become today.