Bambi II

I saw this movie at Mikey's (Sarah's nephew's) 4th birthday party this past Sunday. It's a cute movie for little kids. The animation is colorful and beautiful to look at. I just don't recommend this movie to anyone over double digits in years since it really doesn't have anything to appeal to them, unless they are watching it with their own kids.

The movie is a direct sequel to the original Bambi movie.

A bit of trivia: This movie breaks the record of the longest interval between a sequel and it's predecessor, previously held by The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Return to Oz (1985). Bambi (1942) was released in 1942, "Bambi II" in 2006, 64 years later.

Plot: It's the first day of spring. The Groundhog doesn't see his shadow so he officially declares it Spring. After Bambi's mother's death, his dad, the Great Prince of the Forest, raises him. At first, the Great Prince is a little annoyed at his son's rambunctious nature. He thinks of him as merely a nuisance.

Bambi tries really hard to please his dad, but he's a bumbling woosy. He gets picked on by his old archenemy, Ronno, who is a bully, but a coward at heart. He makes fun of him for having a girl's name, --a name particularly popular with blonde bimbos. Faline, is the ingenue, who plays Bambi's love interest. Ronno is jealous and wants pretty Faline for himself.

Bambi's old buddies, Thumper the Rabbit and Flower the Skunk, try to help him impress his dad. Bambi gets confused by Man's evil whistle that makes Bambi think his mom is calling him. He freezes like a "deer in a headlight" when the Hunter's vicious dogs come charging after him. The Great Prince has to come and save his ass. Afterwords, his dad scolds him for not running when being told to run.

Bambi then challenges a porcupine when he tries to cross a log to get to the other side of the stream. He then gets his ass kicked by the porcupine.

Finally, Bambi scores some points with his pop when he jumps over a cliff after running away from Ronno. His pops finally sees Bambi as his son and not just as the heir apparent. They start goofing around as father and son.

One day, Bambi gets chased after the Hunter's sinister dogs again. He climbs on top of the cliffs. His dad tries to save him by clobbering some of the dogs. Flower the Skunk pharts in front of one of the dogs and knocks him out with his stink. When one of the dogs manages to come near Bambi, he kicks the dog off the cliff. Bambi falls as well and the Great Prince thinks he's dead so he cries. But, Bambi's alive and all the forest animals party hard to celebrate.

This movie is strictly for kids. It's great for them. It gets Mikey's seal of approval. Mikey likes it. Not recommended for adults, especially for singles.

The Highs: Bambi lives. Great colorful animation. Cute and innocent storyline.

The Lows: No parodies of other stories like other Disney movies such as Finding Nemo and Shark Tales. So, nothing of interest for older folks.

The Verdict: Bambi and dad. A modern family story of dad's raising their kids. Times have changes since the 40's when mothers were the primary figures who looked after the kids. Where's mommy?

My rating: A for young Children. C for Adults.