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The original “Bambi”

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Re: The original “Bambi”

#41

Post by dc-programmer »

derbOac wrote: post #10
senko wrote: post #6

Yes, Bambi is an utterly depressing story. Most original material Disney adapted was bleakier and more grisly than the adaptation. Most of the tales collected by brothers Grimm would today be horror stories. (Did you know that Cinderella's evil stepsisters had their toes and heels cut off so they could fit in the slippers? Or that the ravens pecked their eyes as punishment? Or that Maleficent ends up in a boiling cau…

Many of the Grimm tales in their original form were also somewhat bizarre or surreal. I agree with you, but sometimes think the Disney versions were crafted as they were in part just to make sense as much as anything.

The stories were probably much more coherent to the folks living in the cultures they were conceived. At least at an intuitive and visceral level.

There’s a theory that Hansel and Grettel represents a cultural memory of a time of famine where children were abandoned, left to starve.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#42

Post by ginko »

tut-urut-utut wrote: post #28
senko wrote: post #6

Yes, Bambi is an utterly depressing story. Most original material Disney adapted was bleakier and more grisly than the adaptation. Most of the tales collected by brothers Grimm would today be horror stories. (Did you know that Cinderella's evil stepsisters had their toes and heels cut off so they could fit in the slippers? Or that the ravens pecked their eyes as punishment? Or that Maleficent ends up in a boiling cau…

That's why Germans refuse to refer to Disney movies by the names of the original Grimm stories. Disney/Hollywood version is always Cinderella, and German that closely adheres to the original is called Aschenputtel. The same goes for Snowwhite and Schneewitchen, Sleeping Beauty and Dornröschen.

I wouldn't say this applies as a rule. Both Snow White (Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge) and Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen) kept their original titles in German. Cinderella is really the only exception which makes sense since it's more based on the Perrault version.

There's even a counter example. The 2010 film Tangled is called Rapunzel like the original fairy tale in German.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#43

Post by nicoburns »

brobdingnagians wrote: post #3
Ralfp wrote: post #2

I’ve grown watching „The Animals of Farthing Wood” (1993 cartoon). It has episode showing family of mice struggling to survive and worried about future for their babies. In following episode we get shot of same mice family impaled on needles by birds going to eat them. https://www.wykop.pl/cdn/c3201142/comment_EkpfJKfyX8WRKQnr7H... Entire story is told around forest dying out and animals struggling to survive in it.…

I've been split on this. On the one hand it is a bit unpleasant and can be traumatizing, and we tend to shy away from unpleasant things, but on the other hand lots of generations grew up on Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales and learned a bit about how difficult life can be and the consequences of moral failings or lack of hard work. It is important to prepare children for the fact that life…

I feel like part of the problem is the medium. I read a lot of books as a kid. And there were many stories that I had no problem reading, but I really struggled watching on screen, even if I already knew what happened. Lord of the Rings being an example that comes to mind.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#44

Post by ginko »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #24

If we're talking about bleaker topics in older Disney works, I'll ask you to take a moment and consider the entire premise of _Dumbo_ (1939). Why are the other elephants scandalized by the baby elephant with the big ears, asking what Mr. Jumbo would think? Why did they mean, just a few moments earlier when they said elephants are "a proud race "? Why would they shun him, declaring that he is not one of their kind? ..…

>What kind of elephant has big ears?

African elephants? But the original Jumbo[1] was also an African elephant.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo

Re: The original “Bambi”

#45

Post by chasd00 »

To me Bambi’s mom being killed is much milder than the death of Mufasa in The Lion King. In The Lion King you see the violence first hand and then the betrayal of a family member leading to a child’s self inflicted exile.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#46

Post by spacechild1 »

jihadjihad wrote: post #31
senko wrote: post #6

Yes, Bambi is an utterly depressing story. Most original material Disney adapted was bleakier and more grisly than the adaptation. Most of the tales collected by brothers Grimm would today be horror stories. (Did you know that Cinderella's evil stepsisters had their toes and heels cut off so they could fit in the slippers? Or that the ravens pecked their eyes as punishment? Or that Maleficent ends up in a boiling cau…

Don't forget about Pinocchio, who in the original Italian children's book is tortured and hanged for being such a "bad boy" [0][1]. 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio#Fictional_character_... 1: https://slate.com/culture/2011/10/carlo-collodi-s-pinocchio-... The part of the movie where all of the boys on Pleasure Island begin to turn into donkeys always freaked me out as a kid.

Judging from the plot summary (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Pinocchio#Pl...), the original Pinocchio book is pretty messed up as a whole!

Re: The original “Bambi”

#47

Post by lqet »

davidkuennen wrote: post #4

I've watched "Watership Down" as a child. It's one of my more vivid memories from back then to put it mildly.

I am still at a loss why my parents thought that a movie about bloodthirsty killer-rabits was good entertainment for an 8 year old.

To renew your trauma:

https://static.kino.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/watership-...

Re: The original “Bambi”

#48

Post by jeroenhd »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #25
Ralfp wrote: post #2

I’ve grown watching „The Animals of Farthing Wood” (1993 cartoon). It has episode showing family of mice struggling to survive and worried about future for their babies. In following episode we get shot of same mice family impaled on needles by birds going to eat them. https://www.wykop.pl/cdn/c3201142/comment_EkpfJKfyX8WRKQnr7H... Entire story is told around forest dying out and animals struggling to survive in it.…

I loved a cartoon growing up as a child, called Alfred J. Kwak [0], a Dutch / Japanese series about a duck and his adventures; I believe a lot of it is on youtube if you want. The first two episodes are about two anthropomorphised ducks that meet, fall in love, move into a clog and have a spawn of babies, happily ever after until the whole family but Alfred get killed by a car. That was err. a pretty brutal thing for…

Never thought I'd say this, but I really need to rewatch Alfred J. Kwak. I remember it as "that weird duck show from my childhood"…

It doesn't seem to be available on any streaming platforms, though.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#49

Post by bigDinosaur »

easytiger wrote: post #14
sentrysapper wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life will give those hard lessons out for free - why build a curriculum for it?

> Life will give those hard lessons out for free Does it?

Eventually. Other commenters have made note that you can coast for decades without encountering any though, so best be somewhat prepared by reading and listening to others.

Re: The original “Bambi”

#50

Post by washadjeffmad »

chasd00 wrote: post #45

To me Bambi’s mom being killed is much milder than the death of Mufasa in The Lion King. In The Lion King you see the violence first hand and then the betrayal of a family member leading to a child’s self inflicted exile.

I resonated with the fear and pain of those moments of not knowing after the shot and subsequent feeling of loss in Bambi much more acutely than the dramatized witnessing of the fall in TLK.

The conflict between Scar and Mufasa had a song and jaunty lead up, so the betrayal wasn't much of a surprise. The death of Bambi's mother felt senseless and shocking. What gain could her death have served her killer? Why did she have to die? Who would care for the innocent and vulnerable Bambi?

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