Bambi (Disney film)/YMMV

""Do you see how he's lying there dead, like one of us? Listen, Bambi. He isn't all-powerful as they say. Everything that lives and grows doesn't come from him. He isn't above us. He's just the same as we are. He has the same fears, the same needs, and suffers in the same way. He can be killed like us, and then he lies helpless on the ground like all the rest of us, as you see him now."
 * Adaptation Displacement: "There was a book?" Yes there was, and it's actually very good. It's also rather strange that few people know it was based on a book since it mentions in the opening credits that the movie was based on Felix Salten's story...
 * The poster for the movie was a picture of the book
 * Badass Decay: The midquel did a pretty good job of doing this to the formerly solemn and dignified Great Prince.
 * On the other hand it boosts his Papa Wolf tendencies and has him directly take on a pack of vicious hunting dogs to save his son. Not to mention he is voiced by Patrick Stewart this time round.
 * Ear Worm: "Drip drip drop, little April showers..."
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Thumper got his own merchandise line.
 * Family-Unfriendly Aesop: In the original novel, Bambi learns that he must live all alone to live long and safe. He learns this one from the (supposedly) wise Great Prince, of all deer.
 * Faux Symbolism: The scene where Bambi goes with his father after learning about his mother's death symbolizes the end of his childhood and innocence. This was exatly what Disney was going for with that scene.
 * It was revealed in the Making of Bambi II that the butterflies seen in Bambi's dream sequence and at the end of the movie are meant to symbolize Bambi's love for his mother in the former and his father in the latter. D'awww.
 * Foe Yay: In Bambi II.
 * It Was His Sled: Bambi's mother dies.
 * Nightmare Fuel: The "deer call" scene from Bambi II.
 * The time Faline licked Bambi. And how he promptly went crazy.
 * The forest fire.
 * There's also the scene in the first film where Bambi wakes up at night and walks through the forest and looks down a cliff showing Man's camp.
 * The scene from the original where three birds are hiding from the hunters in the bush and one of them gets scared, flies up and gets shot and the body falling down to ground is shown.
 * The most obvious Tear Jerker also overlaps with this.
 * From the book, Bambi and his father see a man who accidentally shot himself and examine his body:

There was a silence.

"Do you understand me, Bambi?" asked the old stag.

"I think so." Bambi said in a whisper.

"Then speak." the old stag commanded.

Bambi was inspired and said trembling, "There is Another who is over us all, over us and over him.""

"Ronno: Bambi? Isn't that a girl's name?"
 * Sequelitis: Either averted or played straight with Bambi II, depending on the viewer.
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: Arguably Disney using the trope at its most extreme. The midquel, with more humanized characterizations and 'zanier' humor, is toned down slightly, though it's hardly even close to a subversion. Of course, this is considered the draw appeal to many fans.
 * Tear Jerker:
 * The death of Bambi's mom is one of the most famous tearjerkers in the history of film, to the point it's been parodied relentlessly in the seventy years since its release (q.v. the Animaniacs episode "Bumbie's Mom"). Watching the scene in context, seeing his mother give up her own life just for Bambi to survive, as well as Bambi being told by the Great Prince what happened to her is the cinematic equilivent of a punch to the gut.
 * The midquel also has a bit of well executed Tear Jerker, specifically in Bambi's dream sequence and the aftermath of the "Deer Call" scene, when Bambi finally comes to accept that his mother is never coming back.
 * Arguably Bambi's Disney Death. Yeah, everyone in the audience knew he would come back, the Great Prince however sure didn't...
 * Viewer Gender Confusion:
 * Like you cannot even imagine. It can be especially easy to miss the single reference to Flower's gender early on. And then puberty kicks in, and their genders are much more obvious.
 * Lampshaded by Ronno in the Midquel:

"Bambi: I wish Mother was here instead of YOU!"
 * There is the picture book of the Disney movie that actually called Flower a female, and made "her" a mother!
 * Vindicated By History: Thanks to extremely mixed reception from critics of the time period, not to mention the war going on at the time, Bambi, along with Fantasia and Pinocchio before it, was a huge box office flop when it first unspooled in theaters. Nowadays, it's one of Disney's most financially successful and critically well received movies.
 * Wangst: Bambi has this moment in Bambi II when he discovers his father was planning to send him off to live with another doe. And this is after they actually began to develop a bond with each other! And why? All because it's what a prince would do. It actually gets Bambi so upset that he basically tells his dad that he wishes he was dead.


 * What an Idiot!: In Bambi II when Bambi's father is telling off Bambi about having to accept living with another doe, it builds it up just as Bambi is about to leave to live with Mina as if he was going to say "Remember, you are my son." What does he tell him instead? "Remember, you are a prince." However, It's made clear throughout the film that The Great Prince is a slow learner, and he never had any experience raising children before. Also, he may have been trying to sever his own bond with Bambi at the same time while saying that line. And it doesn't stop Bambi from running back and nuzzling up near him before he leaves, though.
 * Look at the Prince during this scene, while he can't bring himself to say anything to his departing son, facial expressions speak very loud.