Bambi (Disney Special Platinum Edition) (1942) review on movielords.com

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Today is May 17, 2008

Bambi (Disney Special Platinum Edition) (1942)

Gorgeous. Just..gorgeous.

I already owned Bambi on VHS, but when I saw the DVD edition was going to come out, I had to own it. The difference when compared to the VHS is amazing. Add the features and this 2-disc set is well worth it. The hand-restoration is just gorgeous, it brings the film to life with vibrant color, as it was so long ago on those screens in 1942, but still preserves the spark and innocence of the film as well, even keeping a little bit of 'grainy' feel to it.

One can also really appreciate the care and technique of this set due to the fact that Disney has fired all of their 2-d animators, instead relying on computers for animation now.

First, when I was viewing the trailer of the movie, I realized that the fight scene between Bambi and the other buck was nearly similar to the animation style of The Lion King, showing its timelessness and influence today. And of course, there is the birth/circle of life scene influence as well.

Anyhow.

'Inside Walt Disney's Story Meetings' is a fascinating look at the conception of Bambi. Disney well-known to act out the entire story for his animators and share with them his vision. Here, a recording ( with actors ) of the meeting is played and the artwork he is speaking about is shown as the recording plays. You get to see the process of idea translate to final product and the whole piece is really worth a look. This is to replace an audio commentary, and includes split-screens and this really is a gem to see, especially for any hard-core animation fan or Disney fan.

'Deleted Scenes' contains two sequences that are comprised of storyboards, animated, and pulled from the Disney archives.

'Games and Activities' is just that. A collection of games. Each clustered under a season, they range from catching falling objects, to manuvering Thumper off the ice before time runs out.

'DisneyPedia' is a segment of real-life nature clips interspersed with clips from the film, and provides various nature facts and trivia.

'What's Your Season' is a personality quiz that lets you take a simple test and determine your 'season' much like other personality quizzes.

'Thumper Goes Exploring' is another addition for the children. It consists of a read-a-long about Thumper.

'Virtual Forest' is a segment of a forest animated throughout the seasons.

'Making of Bambi: The Prince is Born' is a great documentary that is divided into segments about the construction of the film. The Lion King parallels are touched on here, as is the importance of story, the loss of life, etc, as well as the revolutionary ( at the time ) animation process, the voice casting, the score, backgrounds, etc. It employs film clips, interviews, audio, animation and more to be a very interesting piece.

'Restoring Bambi' is a look on how the film was hand-restored for DVD from an original print.

'The Legacy Continues' is basically a teaser for straight-to-video release of what is essentially Bambi 2. The film will fill the gap between his relationship with his father and will be out in 2006.

'Disney Time Capsule: The Year of Bambi' is a look at the events of 1942, the year the film was released.

'The Art of Bambi' is a collection of images, 100s, of storyboards, sketches, concept art, backgrounds, posters, character design, etc. Pretty and worth a look.

'Tricks of the Trade' features Walt Disney introducing and explaining the mechanics of the multi-plane camera which was a revolution in animation, allowing the artists/camera operators to split cels into different planes, and achieve better performances with panning scenes - such as Bambi's opener sequence. It is best to watch this, then the Old Mill or the opening of Bambi, to really appreciate this innovation.

'Inside the Disney Archives' features another look into the archives, with cut art and concepts from the movie.

'The Old Mill' is a classic cartoon that features the use of the multi-plane camera, and is just fun to watch, being one of the great 'Silly Symphonies' from way back when.

'The Original Trailer' is the 1942 technicolor trailer that lured audiences to the film. It shows a great number of clips from the film and is a nice gem to have on DVD, considering its age.

All in all, if you're a Disney fan, an animation fan, Bambi's 2 disc set was well worth the wait. The discs are a treasure trove of things for adults and kids alike, and really provide some great insight into this classic. Without which we wouldn't have films like 'The Lion King' of 'Finding Nemo'.

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