Bambi Meets Godzilla

'Bambi Meets Godzilla' is almost two minutes filled with smiles and laughs. We start with the opening credits rolling on our screen while we see Bambi eating and simply standing there. The credits themselves are pretty funny. Then Bambi meets Godzilla, again, funny. We end with some written words and you will laugh once more.

This little animated film, in black and white, shows how easy it is to make an entertaining piece of work. Although there is a good chance you expect the events shown on the screen it is the timing that makes it funnier than it might be. The music plays a part as well. A hilarious comedy short created by Marv Newland (the credits tell you this and more).

The first time that I saw this amazing film, I wasn't really paying much attention. I didn't notice the title, and I was casually glancing at the screen every now and then just waiting for something to happen. Then it did. Life just hasn't been the same since...

A sweeping epic of monumental proportions, "Bambi Meets Godzilla" combines a lyrical script, stellar performances by the entire cast, the most outstanding special effects available at the time and a score which is a classic in its own right to produce a spectacle that is as memorable as it is lengthy. Not many movies can command an audience's attention for as long as "Bambi Meets Godzilla", but here the performances are so engaging, and the visuals so stunning, that it feels as if the movie is over almost before it has begun. Even so, it is just barely sufficient to contain the entire sweep of the grand drama it has embraced. Truly a magnum opus in every sense of the word.

Seeing as this cartoon is very short (I wouldn't be at all surprised if the opening title and closing credits run longer than the body of the cartoon itself), there are probably more laughs per second here than anything else ever done. The music is perfect, the credits are hilarious and if I write much more, this comment will come dangerously close to taking longer to read aloud than the running time of the cartoon. Bambi should have prepared more for this meeting. Highly recommended.

I remember watching this short when it was bonus material for the video "Godzilla 1985." It was shown right before the feature presentation started. In the video, as "Bambi Meets Godzilla" was shown before "Godzilla 1985," which is the first Godzilla film I've watched, this cartoon was actually the first Godzilla I've encountered, strangely enough. For anything Godzilla-related, this cartoon was the first to bring it to me. What a first impression of Godzilla!