After the back-to-back billion dollar successes of Aladdin and The Lion King, you had to know more live-action adaptation of classic animated Disney fare were coming. And now you can add Bambi to the list. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story of the little deer who lost his mama and made friends with the forest critters is getting another chance at the big screen. Disney has hired writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider) and Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) to write the screenplay for this newest reimagining.
The Walt Disney Company
The original Bambi was one of Walt Disney’s passion projects after the incredible success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But due to the outbreak of World War II in Europe, both Snow White follow up films Bambi and Pinocchio lost money for the studio, with the entire European market now closed off to them. But nevertheless, Bambi garnered several Oscar nominations, and thanks to many re-releases and home video, became the classic we think of it as today.
Unlike later Disney animated films, Bambi is a relatively simple story. The actual original film is barely over an hour in length, coming in at just 70 minutes. So that means that this new version will have to have a very padded out screenplay to make it closer to a traditional two hour running time that most big movies have these days. I imagine we will see more of Bambi’s parents, and get way more screen time for scene stealing characters like Thumper and Flower the skunk.
The Walt Disney Company
Although it’s not specifically stated in the original report, it could be that Bambi goes the same route as the recent Lady and the Tramp re-do, and is released straight to Disney+. According to the report, Peter and Wendy, a live action remake of Peter Pan, is heading straight to the streaming service.
Considering there are no humans seen in the original Bambi, this could wind up being another controversy similar to this past year’s remake of The Lion King, which was criticized for being an animated film posing as live-action. Unless we suddenly see the hunters who killed Bambi’s mom—who are largely off-screen characters anyway—I don’t see how this new iteration of Bambi will really be able to be considered “live-action.”
The Walt Disney Company
Regardless, the live-action remakes of classic animated Disney fare has been a major franchise for the studio, on par with Star Wars and Marvel. While they might run out of the original 2D animated classics to remake in the next few years, it’s only a matter of time before the Pixar films like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. get the treatment. And with all the money that The Nightmare Before Christmas rakes in via merchandise, that one has got to be on the docket as well. Personally, I’m hoping for Hercules. That one doesn’t get nearly enough love, and could be perfect given the right casting.
This new Bambi doesn’t have a director attached yet, or a release date. But we expect the Walt Disney Company to reveal that very soon.
Featured Image: The Walt Disney Company
