According to a former writer of the project, Disney’s live-action remake of the 1942 animated classic Bambi could adopt some measures to tone down the tragic impact of the original film.
The film narrates the life of Bambi, a young deer who loses his mother in the forest and has to grow up without her. The original film is widely regarded as one of Disney’s quintessential animated works, but it also features the shocking and sorrowful death of Bambi’s mother.
Lindsey Beer, a former writer of Disney’s live-action remake of Bambi, reveals to Collider the approach she would have taken with the film. The writer hints that her remake would have dealt with the death of Bambi’s mother in a different way to make it less traumatic for contemporary viewers. The following is Beer’s full statement:
“Not to spoil the plot, but there’s a treatment of the mom dying that I think some kids, some parents these days are more sensitive about than they were in the past. And I think that’s one of the reasons that they haven’t shown it to their children.
“I do think there is a way to update Bambi and our take on it was… did give a little bit more of a scope to it. And I just think that to be able to bring it to life for kids these days in a way that maybe they relate to a little bit more would be of service to the original.”
Disney has been remaking its animated classics in live-action for several years. The live-action remake of Bambi was announced in early 2020, but there has been little information about the project since then. However, the company’s previous live-action remakes could give some clues about what to expect.
It is likely that the live-action film will use a lot of CGI, as previous live-action remakes like The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, and The Jungle Book did. Since the main characters of Bambi are all talking animals, the remake will probably use the same technique. The film is likely to be similar to The Lion King, which also featured only anthropomorphic animals. In this context, one can compare the tragic death scene in The Lion King with the one in Bambi.
In The Lion King, Mufasa’s death was portrayed like it was in the original. We also experience Simba’s trauma following his father’s death, which forces him to run away from Pride Rock. In the case of Bambi, the writers seem to be more sensitive about the issue by changing the scene because the murderer is a man.
While Mufasa’s death is one of the most tragic incidents in The Lion King, the perpetrator is a lion too, so it does not focus on the ugly side of humans or the dark truth of human’s treatment of animals. But Bambi’s mother’s death might be more traumatic for children to watch because the perpetrator is a human.
Moreover, Bambi’s mother is killed solely for hunting purposes. In this case, an innocent animal is murdered by a hunter for entertainment. In The Lion King, Mufasa dies as a result of his brother being jealous of him and the fight between the two is a fight between equals. But Bambi’s mother is helpless in front of a man, who is far more powerful than the poor animal. This might be one of the reasons why Bambi’s mother’s death may be altered in the live-action version, while Mufasa’s death is depicted similar to the original animated version.
Bambi’s potential cast is still unknown, but previous remakes have featured some impressive talent, including in voice-only roles. Many of Disney’s live-action remakes have been criticized for not adding anything new to the animated originals, a criticism that the live-action The Little Mermaid seems to have mostly avoided.
It is unclear whether Bambi will be able to captivate audiences like the original has for decades, but it seems that the mother’s death will be less distressing this time.
About Bambi
Bambi is a 1942 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fifth Disney animated feature film is based on the 1923 novel, Bambi : A Life in the Woods by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten. The film was produced by Walt Disney and directed by David Hand and a team of sequence directors.
The main characters are Bambi, a white-tailed deer; his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother); his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit); and Flower (a skunk); and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline.
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