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Having generated billions upon billions of dollars at the box office despite wild fluctuations in quality, Disney isn’t going to give up on its plans to remake every notable animated classic it has at its disposal, even if Bambi of all things could end up becoming the latest to stoke an unnecessary firestorm.
The backlash to greet The Little Mermaid was unsavory to say the least, and the fact the majority of it came from grown adults voicing their displeasure with the creative changes being made to what’s ostensibly an all-time classic children’s film is another conversation and debate for another time.
Rachel Zegler’s Snow White is getting it just as bad, too, with the son of the original’s director weighing in to claim both his father and Walt Disney himself would be rolling in their graves over the Mouse House’s decision to “go woke.” Needless to say, you can only imagine how the more rabid Disney adults out there are going to fare after Bambi writer Lindsey Anderson Beer hinted to Collider that the incoming do-over prospectively set to be helmed by Sarah Polley could sand down the edges of its most unforgettable scene.
“What’s interesting about Bambi to me is it absolutely is a classic and it’s a beautiful love poem, such artistry to it. I do think there’s an entire generation of children who have never seen the original and that’s very different from, say Little Mermaid or Aladdin or the ‘90s heyday films that they’ve definitely already seen. I can’t tell you how many kids I’ve seen who’ve never seen Bambi, which is such a shame. The thing is, [Bambi] is such a gorgeous film. It’s a little bit different tempo than I think modern audiences are used to.
Not to spoil the plot, but there’s a treatment of the mom dying that I think some kids, some parents these days are more sensitive about than they were in the past. And I think that’s one of the reasons that they haven’t shown it to their children. I do think there is a way to update Bambi and our take on it was… did give a little bit more of a scope to it. And I just think that to be able to bring it to life for kids these days in a way that maybe they relate to a little bit more would be of service to the original.”
If you want Bambi with its viciousness kept intact, then maybe the horrendous-sounding Blood and Honey-inspired The Reckoning is the movie for you. Should Disney’s blockbuster maintain its desire to avoid scarring a brand new generation of children for life, though, then you’d best brace yourself for even more unpalatable discourse.