SYNOPSIS: Donald is driving a little too fast in his car, and blows a tyre. (Tire?) His challenge then, is to change a tyre. Not that difficult, right? Nothing is ever easy for Donald Duck, especially since World War II has created a rubber shortage, and blowouts need to be patched rather than replaced. Hilarity ensues.
SHENZI: I love the slapstick humour in this, when everything just goes from bad to worse.
MALEFICENT: I love how he just keeps getting stuck in things!
IRVYNE: Poor Donald. The universe just doesn't love him.
PASCAL: I'm very glad we don't have a rubber shortage... and we have roadside assist. I didn't understand why the crank was so long.
IRVYNE: Maybe back then they just didn't understand how to do cranking properly. I like this cartoon. It's not Donald's greatest theatrical short, but there's some good laughs in here.
SYNOPSIS: In this extremely controversial cartoon, Donald wakes up one morning as a soldier in Nazi Germany. He is worked to the bone, given the bare minimum of food and rest, and every time he sees the face of his beloved Fuehrer he has to "heil."
Walt Disney was approached by the U.S. government in these war years to create propaganda cartoons that encouraged patriotism, as well as demeaning and demonizing the enemy - in this case, Adolf Hitler. It is a very touchy subject, and it's hard to actually put ourselves in the shoes of people who were living in this era. But it is fascinating to see a cartoon like this in this day and age. You have to applaud Disney's guts in making a funny cartoon out of something so political.
IRVYNE: I'd love to know if Adolf Hitler ever saw this cartoon! Someone would have brought it to him, surely. Whether or not he actually watched it, I have no idea.
WENDY: It's so clever how many ways they can fill the screen with swastikas!
MERRYWEATHER: Donald even made himself one while he was exercising!
MALEFICENT: The trees, the power lines, the windmills! They were everywhere!
IRVYNE: I bet that's what Germany really looked like during World War II! Heh!
MERRYWEATHER: By making it all into a joke, it's like taking away the
enemy's power. "We're aware of what you're doing, we're not scared of
you, we're going to beat you, and your ideas are so ridiculous we're
going to mock them and laugh at them." I think that's the thinking
behind this cartoon. And then at the end he's in his American pajamas.
IRVYNE: He's never been more patriotic!
MERRYWEATHER: That's probably the only time he wore pants!
SHENZI: Did you know that Donald Duck was banned in Denmark because he didn't wear pants?
IRVYNE: Really? Surely not! I shall research it... (This website explains the source of the urban legend - Finland, not Denmark - and it turns out it's completely false anyway.)
I have a strange disconnect in my mind when watching Der Fuehrer's Face. You always think of World War II, you know, this old war that happened so long ago. But cartoons like this really haven't aged that much. They're still incredibly entertaining and well-made by today's standards. But to think that this was made in the middle of World War II, and it was made in reference to World War II, as a current event... It just kind of blows my mind.
SHENZI: It's pretty trippy.
MALEFICENT: "Aren't you lucky to be chosen to work overtime?" Oh, those nasty Nazis!
WENDY: How did you like the way the Japanese man was portrayed? I don't suppose racial sensitivity was high on their priorities list.
MERRYWEATHER: So did Mickey have to do similar propaganda movies?
IRVYNE: No. He did not. Donald was the poster child for the war efforts.
One of Disney's strangest animated features, Saludos Amigos was released in Rio de Janeiro only a couple of weeks after Bambi got its initial theatrical release, although it was held off until 1943 for its American season. There were a number of issues that led to the creation of this movie. In the early 1940s the infamous animators' strike caused a big rift in Walt's otherwise happy studio. Suddenly Walt's number of studio employees was almost halved. (Read more about that here) Another fairly major reason for Saludos Amigos's creation was that Walt had been commissioned by the U.S. government to create it! Since some Latin American countries had ties with Nazi Germany, the American Government sent Walt and his animators on a trip to South America, with the intention of creating new Latin-flavoured cartoons to foster friendship between the two continents. The idea was to show South America in an attractive, modern and fashionable light. Here's Walt himself talking about how it all came to be...
It is the shortest "full-length" film in the entire Disney canon, lasting a mere 42 minutes, and it has been largely forgotten in the years since its initial run. While it did receive a DVD release, it is one of the few Disney films that is yet to make the jump to Blu-ray.
After the first five classic films, Saludos Amigos marks the beginning of a new era for Disney animation. From now until 1950, every Disney movie would be a "package movie," made up of smaller pieces, as opposed to one whole story. It wasn't until Cinderella that the studio would really find its way again.
There is no other Disney film quite like Saludos Amigos. It's actually part documentary, part animated shorts. There is no overarching story keeping the movie together, except for the fact that the Disney animators were visiting South America. It's really quite bizarre to be watching Disney's latest movie, which is showing you how they went about making Disney's latest movie. It's like Disney Inception!
In between the shots of the animators enjoying South America though, are four short cartoons. The first is called Lake Titicaca. It begins with lots of live action footage of the real location, and then introduces Donald Duck as the tourist experiencing this exciting new culture for the first time.
The second part is a stand-alone story about a little plane called Pedro, who has the difficult task of delivering the mail after his parents both become sick.
Part three introduces the concept of the Argentinian "gaucho" cowboy, and places Goofy in the shoes of one.
IRVYNE: It's a bit tricky to comment on the story and characters in Saludos Amigos, because there isn't really any story, the new characters are fairly forgettable and the returning characters aren't as funny as they had been in the past. The best way to describe this film is an introductory documentary on South America with some animation thrown in. The part that seems to fit the LEAST is "Pedro," since it's the only part of the film that isn't in the travel-doco style. It's actually quite a cute little short, but it still feels a little out-of-place with the rest of the film.
Saludos Amigos was created in a single year, and it shows. You won't find any of Bambi's rich backgrounds here. Nor will you see any of the incredible high-tech special effects created for Fantasia. All of the animation is a la basic, more in line with the animated shorts of the time. Artist Mary Blair was taken along on the South American trip, and some of her paintings and inspiration are nice and interesting to see, especially in the "Lake Titicaca" segment.
It's difficult to praise the visual style of an animated feature though, when entire chunks of it are essentially just live-action home movies taken on a very old camera.
Having said that, I do feel that the "Brazil" segment pushes the animation artform in an
interesting new direction. The concept of paint-and-paintbrush is an inspired one, which allows for a few
clever and creative visual tricks. I'm not sure if this was the first time a brush or pencil had been shown in the process of drawing or painting, but it's very effective here.
There's no denying that Saludos Amigos doesn't really hold up that well in 2014. It's fascinating to watch from a historical perspective, knowing exactly why it was being made. There are a few decent laughs in there, but it just really doesn't grab the imagination like the best Disney movies do. I suppose the only saving grace is that it's really short. Even though it's considered one of Disney's official "full-length" movies, it is less than half the length of some of the others.
PASCAL: That was a really long 42 minutes!
MALEFICENT: It was good. It was informative and clever. It's fascinating to see what the artists' impressions were of these countries in the '40s.
SHENZI: I thought it was odd. My favourite part was the water-colour painting at the end. That was really cool.
MALEFICENT: It reminded me a little bit of Fantasia.
IRVYNE: And that samba music is just so cool!
SHENZI: We did all give a good laugh at the "Frozen" reference. "No Pedro, let it go!" And suddenly we're all singing.
MERRYWEATHER: Pedro was very cute,
on his mail run. If he had a sister, she'd be able to do the female run! I thought he looked like the Aeroplane Jelly mascot as well! Anyway, you get value for money with this movie. It's really four movies in one!
IRVYNE: At 42 minutes long, I don't know that "value-for-money" is what this film is really about! It's like a travel journal. With cartoons. It seems strange watching the footage of the animators alongside the animation that they created. It's all very meta.
WENDY: They probably didn't have enough content and had to pad out the time somehow.
IRVYNE: Isn't it funny that this was released mere weeks after Bambi? I don't think you could get two more opposite films!
The final picture in the first era of full-length Disney animation, Bambi spent a very long time in development: 9 years, to be exact! Walt had intended it to be the second feature, but due to a difficult production process, it ended up being the fifth.
One of the greatest challenges the animators faced on this picture was animating animals realistically. There had been deer in Snow White, certainly, but they were very much "cartoon" deer. Walt was determined that the deer in Bambi move with absolutely authenticity, aside from their more human-like personalities and facial expressions. Years of studying animals and learning detailed anatomy from zoological experts resulted in animation more realistic than had ever been seen before.
Bambi did a respectable run on its initial release, but still did not make a profit. It is worth noting that this was right in the middle of World War II, and a majority of the European market was not available for Bambi's release. It did receive some criticism for its themes of death and survival, but these are themes from the book it is based on, and Walt was never one to shy away from darkness in his films.
Bambi's story is incredibly basic. There really isn't a great deal of plot to speak of. With only 970 spoken words, no other film in the main Disney canon has less dialogue. (I assume this is discounting Fantasia, but I haven't checked this myself) The film begins with a slow pan through the forest. It is clear from the beginning that the forest itself is going to be a character in this story. Soon we are introduced to all the different animals inhabiting this forest. They are all excited because "the new prince is born!"
It isn't long before they are introduced to our title character, the newborn deer Bambi.
It's also in this scene that we're introduced to everyone's favourite little bunny, Thumper!
Adorably voiced by a young boy named Peter Behn, Thumper is an outspoken, fun-loving little boy in the shape of a rabbit. He doesn't always make the most sensible decisions, but he's a loyal friend and will prove to be Bambi's closest companion outside of his family.
As the young prince begins to explore the forest, Thumper and his siblings help him to understand his surroundings, laughing hysterically when he doesn't understand something or falls over clumsily. As Bambi is sniffing a field of flowers, he discovers a new friend...
"Flower!" he exclaims. The little skunk doesn't mind being called a flower; he's likely been called much worse things in his life! Bambi, Thumper and Flower become good friends. It begins to rain, the first signal of the changing seasons. As the springtime shower soaks the forest, we see all the animals' reactions.
Once the shower clears, Bambi's mother takes him out on to the meadow where they are free to bound and frolic. She warns him of the dangers though. The meadow is completely open, there is no shelter from any potential threats. While spending the day on the meadow, Bambi meets another young faun named Faline.
The young prince is very shy around this new friend, not quite sure how to react to her. It isn't long before danger appears and the deer race to get back to the thicket. Bambi's mother tells him that "man was in the forest."
The seasons continue to pass, and soon it is winter. Bambi experiences snow for the first time, and Thumper shows him how to have fun on a frozen lake.
Soon tragedy strikes when the human hunters shoot Bambi's mother dead. We never actually see this event happening, but Bambi is approached by his father the Great Prince of the Forest, who tells him, "Your mother can't be with you anymore."
With a tear in his eye, Bambi follows his father through the snow storm. Time passes, and we see Bambi, Thumper and Flower all meeting up again as young adults. The owl tells them to watch out, because it's springtime, and they're likely to get "twitterpated." Although the friends all agree that this ridiculous behaviour will never happen to them, they are almost instantly struck smitten by three females, including the grown-up Faline.
Bambi falls head-over-hooves in love with Faline, and it looks like a match made in Heaven, until a rival comes along to steal Faline away. Bambi must fight for his love's honour, and a fierce battle ensues. No sooner has this finished than "man" makes a reappearance, setting fire to the forest. Bambi, Faline and the Great Prince stage a dramatic escape from the burning inferno.
They reach safety and breathe a big sigh of relief. More time passes, and in a scene that mirrors the film's beginning, Faline presents her new babies to the forest animals. Bambi has become a father. New royalty has been born.
IRVYNE: I think the main issue I have with the characters in "Bambi" is that they really aren't given any personality. They hardly speak, and most characters aren't given enough screen time to really develop their own stories. The main exceptions to this are young Bambi and Thumper. The young prince is just adorably cute and awkward, and it's wonderful to see him discovering his world. The little rabbit, on the other hand, is given so much personality with his magnificent animation and genuine voice acting, he is by far and away the highlight of the piece. All of the other characters: the mother, Flower, the Great Prince, Friend Owl and even Faline, are really just plot devices, given a minimum amount of screen time and not much personality at all.
The story itself is very, very basic as well. There were apparently lots of ideas for story sequences that were cut from the film. There was originally going to be an entire scene about two leaves that had to fall from their tree in autumn, and Walt had another idea about seeing an entire colony of ants that Bambi stepped on. But it was decided to keep the plot centred around the young prince and try not to deviate too far.
One thing that I do really like, is that the antagonistic threat of "man" is completely off-screen. Not a single human is ever seen. We're shown their camp in the distance, we're shown their attack dogs and we hear their gunshots, but we never actually see what "man" looks like, and neither do the characters in the story. He is just a very dangerous, very real threat, always off somewhere in the distance.
There is no denying it: Bambi is a stunning-looking film, and every single frame could be an individual work of art. The backgrounds were unlike anything ever achieved in animation at this point. Initially, since the project was to be so grounded in reality, the background artists created realistic replicas of real forests. These backgrounds really didn't work though. For one, it was time-sapping, painstaking work painting every leaf of every shrub. On the other hand, the backgrounds were so busy, it stole the audience's eye away from the characters.
An "in-betweener" animator named Tyrus Wong had an idea based on his native Chinese painting styles. He created some impressionistic paintings of forest scenes and showed them to Walt. Immediately Wong was promoted to head background artist on Bambi. His style didn't represent realism at all. Instead it was made up of suggestive shapes, strokes and colours that accentuated the characters brilliantly, while still giving the impression of a living, breathing forest. (Scroll up and look at the pictures I've posted, paying close attention to the background art. It is incredibly clever at how it directs your eye to the subject, while still giving the feeling that there is a detailed forest in the background.)
The animation of the animals is also mind-blowing, even in the 21st century. Back in 1942 this was a level of artwork unlike anything that had been attempted in animation before. The lengths that the animators went to to understand exactly how the anatomy of these animals worked is evident in every frame. Bambi is a masterclass in fauna animation.
Lastly, the effects animation is also top-shelf: fire, rain, snow, falling leaves... The effects add so much to the texture of the film, even though they mostly go unnoticed.
Unlike Snow White, Pinocchio and Dumbo, Bambi is not a musical. The characters don't sing, and there are only three songs in the entire film. The song over the main titles, "Love Is A Song," was nominated for an Oscar that year, but didn't win. As a standalone song, it's fine. But it's nowhere near as good as Frank Churchill's other classic Disney tunes, and it also has nothing to do with the movie itself.
"Little April Shower" is a catchy little ditty that takes place in the springtime montage. Again, it's okay, but it doesn't go down in the halls of Disney classics.
The third song, "Looking For Romance," is a schmaltzy 1940s love song that plays underneath the visuals of Bambi and Faline falling in love. Again, it works fine for the movie, but I wonder... could you hum me the tune?... I doubt it.
Edward Plumb's background score fares a bit better. It's actually quite good, matching each moment nicely. In particular, who could forget the simple three-note theme for "Man?" It's said this theme was inspiration for John Williams's "Jaws" theme.
The film is almost completely scored-through, with two exceptions. The first is where Bambi's mother explains that "Man was in the forest." The second is where Bambi is confronted by his father and told that his mother has died. These moments are played against absolute silence, and the effect is amazing. To suddenly have all background sounds gone, gives real focus and meaning to the moment. It's very effective.
Overall, while the music works well for the movie it was written for, it doesn't really exist very well outside of it.
There are elements of Bambi that are jaw-dropping. But does it stand the test of time as an entertaining movie in 2014? I'm not sure. It's certainly not my favourite Disney. Not even close.
PASCAL: I fell asleep.
WENDY: It's certainly slow-paced. I didn't find it as plodding as Snow White though.
HAKU: Yeah, I thought Snow White dragged more as well.
SHENZI: It's a different kind of movie though. Bambi laid the foundations for a lot of the future Disney movies starring animals.
HAKU: There's a huge similarity in the story with The Lion King.
IRVYNE: Well yeah. When they were making Lion King, they actually sold it to the studio by calling it "Bambi in Africa." And when it was released a lot of people noticed the similarities in the story structure. It's not accidental. Look, I can see how people might regard Bambi as a classic because it's extraordinarily beautiful to look at, but I can't see why kids would care for this movie. It's really slow and there's not much story.
PASCAL: But the little animals are so cute! Especially Thumper!
IRVYNE: Everyone loves Thumper. Probably because he's just about the only character with personality.
HAKU: What about the owl?
IRVYNE: Oh yes, the owl is a bit of fun. It's interesting that they reused the concept of a wise owl being the "guiding force" of the story again, 39 years later in The Fox And The Hound.
SHENZI: And there was an owl in Winnie The Pooh as well.
HAKU: My favourite scene in the film was where Bambi and Thumper go ice-skating.
WENDY: I liked them getting twitterpated.
SHENZI: All without social networking.
IRVYNE: It didn't take much for the twitterpation to set it. Bros before hoes, guys! ANYWAY. There is a lot to love about Bambi, and I fully respect that Walt Disney did something that no one was expecting, something that pushed the artform well and truly into the future. I just don't believe it holds up as well today.
