Bambi II (2006) [Thoughts 2024 #21] 🐰
Hey! 🐰 I recently watched the movie Bambi II (2006). Here are my random thoughts from said watch!
⚠️ Spoilers for the whole movie ahead. ⚠️
Movie thoughts
(Animals come out opening sequence)
The opening song "There is Life" was great; sweet and soothing to the ear. It was SO GOOD when paired with the beautiful, breathtaking sequence of the forest animals – showing that, well, there is life flourishing everywhere in the forest.
This sequence was so pretty. The sunlight pouring in on the white snow, the cute cartoon animals scurrying out to take on the day.
—
I really appreciate how much the art style and animation have improved since the previous Bambi movie over SIXTY YEARS ago. I always enjoy art-style improvements / evolutions in animated media (e.g., the art style of a cartoon show improving as time goes on and animation technology becomes more advanced)!
The characters' movements are more exaggerated, fluid, cartoony; the character designs are cleaner, smoother, more colourful; and the art style just looks better overall.
The writing has also become better. It's more witty, less “stiff”, and the comedy is funnier and more punchy.
The art-style and writing improvements definitely reflect how much they have evolved in the past 60 years (at the time this movie was made).
Thumper's sisters were evil, tricking him into thinking he was in the clear hiding behind Bambi… They are pretty cute, though.
—
Thumper was the BEST part of this movie for me. He was a well-written comic relief character – he was absolutely adorable and funny in a lot of his scenes. And his character in this movie is a massive improvement from the first movie's Thumper.
"If I don't want to [take my annoying ahh sisters to see the groundhog], Momma can't make me." You tell ‘em, Thumper! 🔥
And then him slowly realising in horror, that Momma was standing right behind him. LOL.
—
(Bambi bails on his best friend) Aww, poor Thumper, now he has to fend off his sisters alone.
(Bambi and Thumper wake up Flower sequence)
Flower might be the most pleasant skunk I've seen in animation thus far. (Apparently Flower is a boy??? Whar? He was so feminine in this movie.)
He is polite and gentle. He loves flowers – good scents and smells, which is quite the opposite of how skunks are often portrayed in animation.
His character design is adorable as well, hence why it is pleasant to look at. Love his light-blue eyes and smooth, black-and-white design.
Look, he has long, girly-looking eyelashes! How. is. Flower. a. boy.
—
Flower sleeping soundly in his den is quite relatable. I, too, find it hard to leave my bed sometimes.
(Groundhog sequence)
It was sweet seeing Thumper's sisters hugging him and wanting to sit next to him. Not out of malice, but it seems like they genuinely love their brother, and their teasing is just a weird way of expressing that sibling love.
—
Faline has a nice character design too. A vast improvement from her 1940's design.
—
*sighs* Ronno is here now. This character, as we'll soon see, is such a pain to watch. One may think that he's just a naughty and rebellious, but ultimately harmless kid. But oh man... he is certainly going to do some harmful things later on.
(Bambi dreams of Mother sequence)
In all honesty, I thought that this was going to be a bait-and-switch type sequence, where Bambi would rush to his mother in a seemingly happy scene, only for his mother to suddenly vanish and the dream starts turning into a nightmare.
Disney would DEFINITELY pull something like this in their other animated movies. Hence why there are lists on the Internet like “Top 10 Darkest Moments in Disney Movies”.
—
I'm very glad that I was wrong; this was just a sweet and tender sequence!
(Bambi gets lured into the meadows at night sequence)
Ah. NOW Disney is going to show me that nightmare sequence. I see what you're doing Disney, I see the games you're playing :>
This sequence was kind of uncomfortable to watch. It's quite tame compared to other dark Disney movie scenes that I've watched (*cough cough* Clayton’s hanging scene in Tarzan *cough cough*), but it still wasn't a very fun watch.
The way Bambi froze wide-eyed like that, paralysed with fear, exactly like the saying "Deer in headlights"... wow. I am NOT watching that again. *fast-forwards 10 seconds*
(Flower and Thumper hide in a log sequence)
Man, am I glad to see and hear those cute sisters of Thumper's! After that terrifying nightly ordeal between Bambi and the hunter's dogs? I needed some sweetness after that.
—
"I think [your sisters] are sweet."
"Well you don't have to live with them." Trueee. It's easy for Flower to say that because he's never seen their inner evil!
—
"I'm ready for danger, for adventure!" Um, no you're not, Bambi. Did you just forget about your whole “freezing-up” thing last night at the meadow? 😂
(Thumper teaches Bambi how to be brave sequence)
"Arrr!" Um... what? 😂 Thumper, you should totally audition to be part of Captain Hook's crew, what with that mighty pirate impression!
"I think he's got a hairball." Hahaha.
—
GRR!!!
—
Lol, Thumper and Bambi looking at each other in worry, after learning that Flower is apparently afraid of turtles.
(Thumper leads The Great Prince to Bambi and the porcupine sequence)
Thumper's frantic and ridiculous gestures here were so cute and hilarious, my gosh. And then Thumper peeks through the bushes, sees that Bambi was failing at his task, then was like, "Oh SHOOT! I've got to stall him!".
(Ronno and Faline meet up with the trio sequence)
"Leave her alone! ...Please?" Lol. Yeah, that "please" at the end will definitely make Ronno leave, frfr.
—
Thumper is so sassy, and is such a good friend. Helping Bambi attack Ronno, then gloating in front of him.
His bold and energetic scenes (like the gesturing he did to lure The Great Prince to Bambi earlier) really contrast his other scenes where he was a soft-spoken and gentle bunny kid.
(Thumper continues training Bambi sequence)
"Nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh nyeh..." (Bambi actually jumps) "...AHHHH!"
LMAO. Thumper is amazing.
—
"Go on, I'm right behind ya."
That is NOT "right behind ya" 😭😭😭
(Bambi travels with The Great Prince sequence)
"First Sign of Spring" was such a nice song when paired with this sequence! A positive (and uplifting) song for a positive father-son bonding sesh.
The golden sunlight, the charm of the forest, the two having fun together (especially The Great Prince learning how to let his fur down and be more joyful).
(Bambi says goodbye to his friends sequence)
Noooooo. This is like The Fox and the Hound all over again: Best friends having to part ways, possibly forever. Poor Thumper. Bambi's (valid yet hard-to-watch anyways) crash-out earlier didn't help my mood.
—
Ah, this is when Ronno evolves from simply being a jerk, to an outright nightmare to watch. He went WAAAAY too far with that line about Bambi's father. When I first heard that line, I went, "WOW. That insane statement just came from a kid's mouth."
I will make a note to skip this sequence the next time I watch this movie. I ain't got time for Ronno or the hunter's dogs.
(Hunter's dogs chase Bambi sequence)
"Make the bravest face you've ever made!"
"That's the one..." *facepalms* Oh my gosh 😭😂 At least this skunk-spray actually did something useful, I guess.
—
I'll admit, the red-coloured sky when Bambi reached the meadow, was actually kind of cool to see.
Actually, thinking about it now, much of this sequence was quite nice visually. Obviously not "nice" for Bambi, or nice to watch, but nice visually. The lightning strikes, the dark purple-illuminated mountains, the wine-red sky.
Thumper where are you?? Please cheer me up from this stressful scene!
(Ending sequence)
The "There Is Life" reprise, as the golden butterflies swirl into the sky, was soo good. Also, the scene of the two plant stalks – one big one small, representing The Great Prince and Bambi – was beautiful, my gosh.
(End credits sequence)
"Through Your Eyes" had me thumping my foot like Thumper. It was such a good song in the credits!⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⎯⎯⎯⎯
Thoughts after finishing the movie
Although this movie was quite simple in plot, I loved how cute and funny it was – the forest animals and Thumper. Thumper stole the show (and my heart) for me. He's such a great and fun character, and I always looked forward to his scenes!
—
I would've liked it if Flower had a more active role in the movie, as he mostly took a backseat compared to Thumper's upbeat personality.
—
Besides that though, this movie was solid 👍🏻The comedy was great, there were lots of adorable talking-animal moments (one of Disney's strengths for sure) like Thumper's, and the songs were wonderful. Not to mention the art style & animation, which were a significant step-up from the previous movie.
See my thread on Space Jam: A New Legacy, another movie I liked!
https://hypixel.net/threads/space-jam-a-new-legacy-2021-thoughts-2024-7.5853315/➔ Find ALL of my Thoughts 2024 threads here: https://shorturl.at/5PmSd
This thread is thread #21 in my Thoughts 2024 thread series.
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