Bambi II
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| Bambi II | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Brian Pimental |
| Produced by | Jim Ballantine Jeffrey Moznett Dave Okey |
| Written by | Alicia Kirk Ben Gluck (Head of Story) |
| Starring | Alexander Gould Patrick Stewart Brendon Baerg Nicky Jones Andrea Bowen Anthony Ghannam Keith Ferguson Eli Linnetz Brian Pimental Carolyn Hennesy Cree Summer Ariel Winter McKenna Cowgill Emma Rose Lina |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures Buena Vista Home Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | January 26, 2006 (theatrical release in Argentina) February 7, 2006 (video premiere in the United States) April 24, 2006 (theatrical release in United Kingdom) May 26, 2006 (theatrical release in Australia) |
| Running time | 72 min. (in the U.S.) 75 min. (in France) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | N/A |
| Preceded by | Bambi (1942) |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Bambi II is a Disney animated feature that premiered on January 26, 2006 in Argentina. Although it was eventually released in theatres in 25 countries, in the USA and some other countries it was a direct-to-video release (released on February 7, 2006). It broke the world record for the longest span of time between two consecutive installments of a franchise, being released 64 years after the original.
The film is a midquel, the story taking place in the middle of Disney's original Bambi, with the Great Prince of the Forest dealing with the now motherless Bambi. It was first titled Bambi and the Great Prince, but was renamed Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest and later Bambi II.
While the film was a direct-to-video release in countries like the United States, Japan, Canada, mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, it was a theatrical release in some countries like the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Australia and some other European countries.
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[edit] Plot
The story begins just after Bambi's mother is shot. Bambi wanders out into the forest calling for her, and comes across the Great Prince of the Forest. Knowing that Bambi's mother is dead, the Great Prince leads Bambi back to his den under a fallen tree. The Great Prince asks Friend Owl to find a doe to raise Bambi, but Friend Owl points out that due to the harsh winter the does can barely care for themselves. The Great Prince has no choice but to look after Bambi until the spring. Soon after, spring slowly begins to return to the forest. On top of the Great Prince's den, a small green shoot appears.
That morning, Bambi wakes up late. After Bambi eats, he and the Great Prince travel to a cliff to check on the other deer. Bambi finds it hard to maintain the grace and dignity expected of a prince, but the two eventually arrive at a cliff overlooking a meadow below, where a herd of deer is grazing. Bambi begins to talk about his mother and the Great Prince - evidently still grieving over Bambi's mother's death - tells Bambi that the past should be left in the past.
As the Great Prince and Bambi walk through the forest, Bambi walks through a snow drift and comes out covered in snow. As he shakes it off he comes across a lump of snow on his leg that he can't shake off. Eventually, the snow falls off and reveals Thumper clinging to Bambi's leg. The two talk, and Thumper is forced by his mother to take his sisters to see the Groundhog, whose shadow will foretell if winter will end soon. The Great Prince allows Bambi to go too.
After catching up with Thumper, Bambi assures him that he and the Great Prince are "best pals," as Bambi has doubts about the Great Prince's affection. The two then wake up the hibernating Flower and go to see the Groundhog together, where Friend Owl is presiding over the event. The nervous Groundhog is eventually coaxed out of his hole, only be scared back in again by Ronno. Ronno laughs, but is the only one doing so as the other animals leave. Ronno catches up to them, desperate for their attention, which ends in an argument with Bambi. Ronno's mother eventually calls Ronno away, and Bambi is left alone to sleep under a tree and wait for the Great Prince to return.
Bambi has a dream about his mother, and finds himself in a shining golden meadow with bright yellow butterflies. As he explores he hears his mother's voice call him. He runs towards her and nuzzles her lovingly, with Bambi's mother assuring him with the words "I'm here." As the dream fades, Bambi continues to hear her voice saying "I'm here," which confuses him. He finds the source of the words in a meadow, but discovers that it was a trick and finds hunting dogs racing towards him. The Great Prince rescues Bambi and is furious that his son fell for one of Man's tricks. The Great Prince leaves to reflect on the situation, and finds Friend Owl. The Great Prince notes that winter is ending and that Friend Owl should have no trouble finding a doe to be Bambi's new mother.
The next morning, the Great Prince tells Bambi to stay in the den where it's safe. Bambi is crestfallen, as he wants to be with his father. Thumper and Flower ask Bambi what's wrong, and Bambi says he wants his father to see how brave he is. Thumper decides to teach Bambi how to be brave (you have to be scarier than what's scaring you), and Bambi, Thumper and Flower walk through the forest practicing their new skills until they come to a log guarded by a grumpy porcupine who calls Bambi a squirrel. They flee back to the bank, and Thumper sees the Great Prince. Since Bambi is supposed to be back at the den, Thumper suggests they leave. But Bambi realizes that this is a good opportunity to show his new-found bravery. Bambi goes to confront the porcupine which results in quills in Bambi's rear and the porcupine calls the Great Prince a big moose. As Thumper pulls the quills out, Bambi yells in pain, alerting Faline who is with a flirtatious Ronno. Bambi accidentally headbutts Ronno. Ronno then chases Bambi who manages to leap over a chasm and evade him. The Great Prince is impressed by Bambi's jump and the next day Bambi tries to repeat it.
Bambi tells Thumper that the Great Prince has been standing around and contemplating a lot. After some encouragement from Thumper, Bambi asks the Great Prince about his duties, and the two eventually form a bond over their duties.
One morning as Bambi and the Great Prince play, Friend Owl arrives with Mena, the doe he has found to be Bambi's new mother. The Great Prince now seemingly regrets the decision to pass on his parenting duties, but resolves to do so despite Bambi's protestations. After saying goodbye to his friends and the Great Prince, Bambi leaves with Mena. On the way to his new home, Bambi fights with Ronno, causing Mena to stumble backwards into a hunter's trap. As the hunting dogs approach, Ronno runs and Bambi does too, but decides to be brave instead and distract the dogs. With some help from Flower and a steep cliff, Bambi manages to drive off all of the dogs. The Great Prince arrives and is pleased with his son, but as Bambi goes to meet him, the cliff crumbles beneath him. The Great Prince finds Bambi's seemingly lifeless body at the bottom of the cliff and nuzzles him, crying. Bambi wakes up and father and son share a poignant moment.
A while later, Thumper tells the exaggerated story of how Bambi defeated the dogs. Bambi arrives, now with a pair of antlers starting to grow in and without his spots. The porcupine pricks Bambi's legs with his quills, causing Bambi to leap forward and accidentally engage Faline in a kiss. Ronno arrives and say he will come back to get his revenge, but steps on a turtle and is bitten on the nose, making him run away, screaming for his mother. Bambi leaves as his father is calling him.
The Great Prince takes Bambi to a forest glade, saying that this was the place where he first met Bambi's mother. Bambi asks what the Great Prince was like when he was Bambi's age, and the Great Prince says that he was a lot like Bambi.
Above the Great Prince's den, another small shoot has grown beside the first one, reminiscent of a large stag beside a smaller one.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Characters from Bambi
- Bambi, voiced by Alexander Gould, is the protagonist of the story. Saddened and traumatized by the loss of his mother, Bambi copes with his new life without her. Throughout the film he constantly tries to win the attention, support, and love he needs from his father.
- Flower, voiced by Nicky Jones, is a bashful skunk and Bambi's other best friend. Flower also helps Bambi try to impress his father and is scared of turtles.
- The Great Prince of the Forest, voiced by Patrick Stewart, is Bambi's father. The Great Prince feels that a father is not what Bambi needs, and he tries to send Bambi away rather than teach him the ways of having the crown of the forest. Things are not helped much by the fact that he is used to a solitary, quiet life. In spite of this, he learns how to become a loving father and friend to Bambi.
- Thumper, voiced by Brendon Baerg, is one of Bambi's two best friends and helps Bambi try to impress his father. Thumper also spends much of his time fleeing from his four sisters as he reaches a more or less teenage mentality and finds them irritating.
- Bambi's mother, voiced by Carolyn Hennes, makes one appearance in a dream sequence in which she comforts Bambi. She is also present in an emotional sense throughout the movie; whenever she is mentioned, Bambi's father becomes crestfallen.
- Faline, voiced by Andrea Bowen, is one of Bambi's childhood friends and eventually grows up to become his mate (as seen in Bambi.) Her effect on Bambi has changed little since the first movie. Whenever she is around, Bambi generally becomes tongue-tied and very clumsy. However, when Ronno tries to force Faline to leave, Bambi stands up for her. You also see Ronno pushing away Faline in the original Bambi.
- Friend Owl, voiced by Keith Ferguson, is a friendly but irritable old owl. Friend Owl is asked by The Great Prince to find a suitable doe to raise Bambi.
- Ronno, voiced by Anthony Ghannam, fights Bambi for the affections of Faline and is generally full of bluster. According to production notes, Ronno was the unnamed deer who fought Bambi in the original movie for Faline as well.
[edit] New characters
- The Groundhog, voiced by Brian Pimental, is the focus of the forest's Groundhog Day celebrations. On February 2 each year, the Groundhog comes out into the forest square and determines whether or not winter will last a few more weeks. Ironically, he hates the job and is scared of his own shadow, complaining that his "nerves just can't take it any more."
- The Porcupine, voiced by Brian Pimental, is a minor character who is extremely territorial and vindictive. As the forest's resident grouch, he regularly takes pleasure in keeping animals away from his log home. Bambi's first encounter with the Porcupine ends in a painful and humiliating defeat for Bambi. Their second confrontation leads to the Porcupine being used as catapult ammunition. The porcupine also causes Bambi to accidentally kiss Faline at the end of the movie.
- Mena, voiced by Cree Summer, is the doe Friend Owl finds as a surrogate mother for Bambi, in order to allow the Great Prince to focus his attention on protecting the forest. Friend Owl found her just when Bambi and the Great Prince were beginning to bond, nearly ruining the relationship. She grew up with Bambi's mother.
[edit] Critical reaction
The film generally received an average rating from professional critics.[1] It was praised for its animation - regarded as some of the best among the Disney direct-to-video sequels - but the plot was determined to be lackluster and too easily accessible.[2]
Movie fans were much more positive, according to ratings on Amazon.com. [3]
[edit] Home video
The film was released on home video at differing dates, due to it being a theatrical release in some countries.
As major studios continue to phase out VHS, this was the last Disney animated film released on VHS.[citation needed]
The film sold 2.6 million DVDs in its first week in the United States.[4] Following its moratorium strategy, in which releases are made available for a limited time only, Disney gave the DVD a 70-day window for its initial US release.
[edit] Soundtrack
Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack CD on February 7, 2006. The executive producer for the soundtrack album is Matt Walker.
[edit] Soundtrack listing
- There is Life - Alison Krauss
- First Sign of Spring - Michelle Lewis
- Through Your Eyes - Martina McBride
- The Healing of a Heart - Anthony Callea
- Snow Flakes in the Forest - Bruce Broughton
- Bambi's Dream - Bruce Broughton
- Being Brave (Part 1) - Bruce Broughton
- Being Brave (Part 2) - Bruce Broughton
- Bambi and the Great Prince / End Credit Suite - Bruce Broughton
- *Sing the Day - Anika Noni Rose, Harrison Chad, Marcus Carl Franklin, Leon Thomas and Chorus
- **Main Title (Love is a Song) - Frank Churchill
- **Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song - Frank Churchill
- * Sing the Day was originally used in the "Being Brave" sequence
- ** These tracks are from Bambi, the original film
[edit] Songs used in the film
- "Love is a Song" (silent version) (Note: This version of this song was not on the soundtrack disc.The only version of this song on the soundtrack disc was the one from Bambi.)
- "There is Life" - performed by Alison Krauss
- "Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song" (Groundhog's version) - performed by Brian Pimental (Note: This version of this song was not on the soundtrack disc. The only version of this song on the soundtrack disc was the one from Bambi.)
- "First Sign of Spring" - performed by Michelle Lewis
- "Through Your Eyes" - performed by Martina McBride (featured in end credits)
- "The Healing of a Heart" - performed by Anthony Callea (featured in end credits)
[edit] Continuity changes
In the original book on which Bambi was based, Ronno was already a stag when Bambi was born, as opposed to being mere weeks-to-months older than him as in the movie. An additional twist is that in the book, Ronno was quite respectable (though a bit of a whiner as he is portrayed in the movie), and there was nothing at all personal about his rivalry with Bambi over Faline.
Ronno's character is never named in the original movie. However, documentation from Disney clearly indicates that the Ronno in Bambi II is the same deer which Bambi fought in the original, right down to the same moves each deer makes during their fight in the sequel.
Many of the backgrounds used in the movie are the exact same that were used in the original 1942 movie. The old backgrounds were put through the computer to create a clearer image.
The age of the Great Prince changes as compared to the original movie. In the original, the Great Prince is said to be twice as old as the oldest deer. In this movie, the Great Prince is said to have been the same age as Bambi's mother.
[edit] Double-Takes
There several scenes in Bambi II which are noticeably similar to scenes from the first movie, Bambi. For example:
- In one scene Bambi is shown following his father through snow that, while barely knee-deep on the Great Prince, is neck-deep (and at one point even deeper) on Bambi. The scene is reminiscent of Bambi's first encounter with snow in the original movie.
- The scene where Bambi and Thumper wake Flower up for Groundhog Day is quite similar to the scene in Bambi where the animals all go to see Bambi in the beginning. "*Friend Owl* Well... [chuckle] this is quite an occasion." In this film, he says "Oh! The young prince! This is a special occasion." Also, when Bambi and Thumper wake up Flower, the entire background painting used for Flower's den is the same painting used when they woke him up in the original movie.
- When the song "Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song" was played in Bambi, Friend Owl was annoyed by all the singing birds keeping him awake. In Bambi II, after the groundhog announces that spring has come, all the gathered animals start singing the song, to which Friend Owl moans, "Oh, not that song."
- When Ronno meets Bambi and Faline, he says "Where's everybody going? Forest on fire?" This was similar to the end of the first movie when Bambi and The Great Prince escape the forest fire.
- In Bambi II, Ronno finds himself buried in snow when a great heap of it falls on him from a branch, similar to what happened to Bambi in the first movie. The difference is that Bambi suffered it only by curiosity, whereas Ronno quite literally brought it upon himself.
- While trying to teach Bambi to growl, Thumper adjusts the position of Bambi's front legs much as he did while trying to teach Bambi to ice-skate in the original movie.
- Following Bambi's less-than-fortunate encounter with a porcupine, Ronno attempts to drive Faline along with his budding antlers, much the same as he did in Bambi when he tried to break up a romantic scene between the pair.
- Bambi's jump across the small chasm over a stream while fleeing from Ronno mirrors his jump across a larger chasm in the first movie after he buried a pack of dogs in a rockslide.
- After Bambi's fight with Ronno and Mena's encounter with the trap in Bambi 2, she shouts at Bambi the same words that his mother spoke before she was shot: "Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running! Keep running!"
- When Bambi is trying to escape the pack of dogs later in the movie, after deterring them from Mena, he struggles and jumps up a cliff which is reminiscient of the cliff that Faline tried to escape the dogs from in the original.
- A scene in which The Great Prince repeatedly tells Bambi to get up is reminiscent of a scene in the original movie when Bambi had been shot. The Great Prince says the same words as the forest fire closes in.
- Towards the end, as Bambi's antlers begin to emerge, they are momentarily snagged in a low-hanging branch laden with what appear to be cherry blossoms. This directly mirrors the scene where he becomes "twitterpated" in the original movie.
- After Bambi and Faline kiss, Friend Owl says "Oh, twitterpated!" Flower wonders what "twitterpated" is, and Friend Owl responds "I'll tell you when you're older." Naturally, Friend Owl did explain what "twitterpated" is when Bambi, Thumper, and Flower got older in the original movie.
- The scene in which Bambi and Ronno fight mirrors their fight over Faline in the original movie.
[edit] Smokey the Bear Wildfire Prevention PSA
In late 2006, the Ad Council in partnership with the United States Forest Service started a series of Public Service Announcement ads that feature footage from Bambi and Bambi II for wildfire prevention. During the ads, as the footage from either of the films is shown, the screen will momentarily fade into black with the text "Don't let our forests...become once upon a time.", and usually (but not always) ending the ads with Bambi's line "Mother! What we gonna do today!?" followed by Smokey the Bear saying "Only you can prevent wildfires" as the Smokey logo is shown on the screen.
The ads aired often throughout the day on various television networks, and the Ad Council also put them on Youtube.
[edit] See also
[edit] External Links
- Bambi II at the Big Cartoon DataBase
[edit] References
- ^ Bambi II - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ LVJeff Reviews: Capsules for 2006
- ^ Amazon.com: Bambi II: Movies & TV: Patrick Stewart,Cree Summer,Keith Ferguson,Brian Pimental,Andrea Bowen,Alexander Gould,Carolyn Hennesy,Ariel Winter,Nicky Jones,Anthony Ghannam,Brendon Baerg,McKenna Cowgill,Bruce Broughton
- ^ Bambi II Dominates with 2.6 Million Units Sold - ComingSoon.net
