It’s hard to think of Bambi II as a sequel because it actually gives an in-depth look at the part of Bambi’s life missing in the first film. Bambi II looks back at Bambi’s “fawnhood” from the time immediately following his mother’s death until the arrival of his first little antler nubs.

Bambi’s father, The Great Prince of the Forest, initially wants to find a good doe to raise Bambi because he’s too much of a sexist to think to raise Bambi himself. The Great Prince has lots to learn, and he does learn that a father can mother a young fawn without female intervention. Bambi, of course, worships his father and yearns for the buck’s approval.

This all sounds very serious – and it is. But, the scripting and animation are done so well that this is not a depressing movie. The storyline is helped out by the presence of Bambi’s old bunny buddy Thumper, who is being constantly trailed through this film by his adoring, pesky little sisters. Bambi also has a rival for Faline’s attention in the form of the dashing, over-confident young Ronno, who loves to bully the passive Bambi.

Bambi – like all youngsters – is in a big hurry to grow up. This story focuses a lot on learning courage and self esteem. At just 70 minutes long, it is well paced and flies right by and ends up redeeming many of its own shortcomings through entertaining sequences and beautiful animation.

Video

So, just what is a “family friendly” widescreen format? Not sure why Disney insists on that terminology, but it translates into a 1.78:1 viewing ratio that does look good on the 16 x 9 televisions. The color balances are wonderful throughout and despite its contemporary release date, it manages to tie in nicely with the 1942 Bambi’s visual appearance.

Audio

As Disney movies go, the soundtrack for Bambi II is just not that impressive. Sure, it sounds good in Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1, but there’s not one tune that truly stands out. The vocal work, however, is outstanding. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with the voice of Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek Next Gen fame) leading the way as the Great Prince.

Special Features

This was a straight-to-DVD release and is the initial offering of Bambi II. Special features include a surprising lack of details about the film’s technical production, etc. You do get a nice “making of” featurette, but no long, detailed analysis of the film’s production, For the kiddies there is Thumper’s Hurry and Scurry Game and they may enjoy the sketch pad. There is also a trivia track to watch along with the film.

Presentation

This is being touted as one of those “limited time only” releases from Disney, which is probably our cue to discern that a special edition release of some kind will probably follow. Nevertheless, Disney rarely skimps, and the result here is a nice set of well-designed menu screens and slightly above-standard packaging.

Overall Comment

I was not totally excited about the prospect of a Bambi sequel. I sat down expecting to be highly critical and miserable. Instead, I actually found myself getting caught up in this cute little telling of Bambi’s childhood. So, kudos to Disney for making this an entertaining follow-up to a classic.