Intrigue

The story of a young deer growing up in the forest.

It's spring, and all the animals of the forest are excited by the forest's latest birth, a buck fawn his mother has named Bambi. The animals are more excited than usual as Bambi's lineage means he will inherit the title of prince of the forest. Along with his mother, Bambi navigates through life with the help of his similarly aged friends, Thumper, a rabbit kit who needs to be continually reminded by his mother of all the lessons his father has taught him about how to live as a rabbit properly, and Flower, a skunk kit who likes his name. As different animals, they have their own issues and challenges which may not translate to the others. Being similarly aged, Bambi, Thumper and Flower may have to experience the uncharted phases of their lives without the knowledge or wisdom unless gleaned from those who have gone through them before. Bambi has to learn early that the lives of deer and of many of the other forest animals are not without their inherent dangers, for deer especially in the beautiful albeit exposed meadow. Bambi will also find that his ascension to prince of the forest is not a guarantee as other buck deer and situations may threaten that ascension.—Huggo

In this Disney classic a young deer named Bambi joins his new friends, a rabbit named Thumper and a skunk named Flower, in exploring his forest home. As a boy, he learns from his doting mother and his father, The Great Prince of the Forest, that there are dangers in the open meadows where hunters can spot the animals, and he meets a beautiful young doe named Faline. As Bambi grows up, he learns that there is tragedy as well as beauty and joy in his forest world and on the path to adulthood.—maschzentertainment

The jungle is a happening place with all sorts of big and small animals living together. A few drowsy birds were just beginning to greet the new day as a huge old owl swooped silently towards the hollow tree where he made his home. The world was waking up all around him. A little wood-mouse slipped out of her nest to wash her face in a dewdrop. Three baby sparrows cheeped shrilly as their mother brought them their first meal of the day: A cluster of berries. And with every second, the pale sunbeams grew brighter.

The young rabbit Thumper, who was always the first of his family to arise, was waking up slowly, yawning and scratching as he did every morning. But the owl was ready for bed. With a sigh he alighted on a branch, waddled into his hole, and fluffed up his feathers. His drowsy eyes dipped shut, and he fall asleep. A bluebird darted through the air to perch on the tree next to the owls. He twittered and flew off. From every corner, animals popped out of their hiding places and raced after her. Mrs. Quail moved swiftly along the forest floor, her babies trailing after her as if they were on a string.

Bambi, a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. The entire forest gathers to celebrate the occasion. The prince was a tiny fawn, only two hours old. When the animals reached the thicket where he had been born, he was curled up, sound asleep, next to his mother's warm side. He didn't even stir as the creatures of the forest gathered into a circle around him. The owl keeps an elderly eye on Bambi. Bambi is kind of wobbly at birth as he tries to get up and say hello to the friends in the jungle. The owl asks everyone to leave as it was time for Bambi to rest. There was a murmur of protest from the younger animals. But the owl leaned over and fixed such a school master type glare on the crowd that they began to melt into the woods without another word. As the mother and child settled down together, high on the hill above the thicket the Great Prince of the Forest kept watch.

Bambi was three days old now. As far as he was concerned, he was the best walker the forest had ever seen, though sometimes his legs did get tangled. And he was proud that so many of the forest creatures had gotten the chance to see him. As Bambi grows, he makes friends with the other animals of the forest. The Quail and its little folk, the possums, the hedgehog, the rabbits including Thumper who continues to make fun of Bambi despite being pulled up by his mom. She says that "if you can't say something good about someone, then don't say it".

Bambi learns to walk, and to hop (with the bunnies), and to talk while talking to all the other animals that he encounters while playing in the jungle. The animals of the forest help Bambi in making him learn how to walk and hop.

Thumper and the birds help Bambi say his first word which is "Bird". He learns about Birds, butterflies, flowers, Skunks. Bambi calls a skunk a pretty flower by mistake and makes a friend for life.

During his first shower Bambi learns how different animals save themselves from the rain and also save their young. He is afraid of the lightening. He Back at the thicket, Bambi and his mother lay down, listening to the sound of the rain. Bambi yawned, ready for sleep, but just couldn't take his eyes off the falling raindrops. The wood mouse scurried along toward her home, stopping under toadstools whenever she could. A mother robin landed on her nest and quickly covered her three drenched fledglings with her wings. It was dark now, but flashes of lightning kept illuminating the forest with eerie clarity.

Thumper and the other rabbits huddled together under the roots of a tree and stared out fearfully at the storm. High up in his hollow tree, the owl grumbled a little and turned his back on the weather. And as the storm passed, Bambi fell asleep beside his mother.

He learns the skills needed to survive when his mother takes him to the meadow. Bambi had never seen anything like the sight that greeted him on the other side. Stretching out in front of him was what looked like a whole world's worth of long, golden-green grass studded with wildflowers. On one side of the meadow a marshy pond so unlike the rushing streams Bambi knew from the forest was reflecting the peach-colored light in the dawn sky. And the sky! Before this, Bambi had only caught glimpses of the sky through the trees. Bambi is told by his mother to never rush out to the meadow as out there the deer are unprotected.

Bambi's mother calls him into the meadow to play when she ascertains that it is safe for him to come out. Bambi runs into the bunnies again and eats clover, although Thumper's mom makes him eat the greens as well as the blossoms.

Bambi had chased a frog to the pond's edge when he noticed something strange. He had two reflections in the water. He bent closer to the pond's surface. To his surprise, only one of the reflections moved. The other stayed still, staring mischievously at him. Bambi finds love, he meets Faline for the first time near a water hole. Faline is a long-lashed, delicate-looking fawn who giggled when their eyes met. Bambi is shy and runs back to his mother. Bambi's mother introduces him to Faline, although Bambi is not very happy to meet her. The silly young Faline giggled and danced around Bambi, who was so shy and confused by her that he fell into a small pond. Faline darted in and out of the pond's cattails, giving Bambi little kisses on his cheeks. Finally, forgetting his shyness, Bambi gave a surprising whoop and charged after her.

Bambi's dad is the king of deer & well respected, but he keeps his distance from Bambi. Bambi first met his father when he was leading a herd of bucks through the jungle. Then, as he watched, the bucks grew still. As one, they turned to face the woods. They had all sensed someone coming. It was a mighty stag, far bigger than the rest, with massive antlers fully a yard across. And something about the grave, unhurried way the stag moved toward the meadow told Bambi without any words that he was in the presence of majesty. He was about to pass on by when instead he turned his great head and stared down at little Bambi in silence. Bambi stared back, frozen with awe. Not a flicker of expression crossed the stag's face. Only his ears twitched a little, as if he were surprised at Bambi's daring. The stag continued his slow, stately procession through the meadow and did not look back.

He has lived twice as long as any other deer. He is able to sense danger from the slightest of movements. He is wise & experienced & saves the herd from human hunters. The old stag looked down on the meadow from a high ledge. He moved deeper into the forest, then halted, sensing something was wrong. Suddenly he turned and raced back through the forest and onto the meadow. Bambi saw the Great Prince charging back toward the other deer as if to warn them. Above him, a flock of crows was screaming crazily in the sky. Before Bambi could ask what was the matter, the other deer were crashing past him, running toward the forest. "Faline!" Bambi heard Ena scream, and Faline raced up to her mother's side. The two of them dashed out of sight. A panic-stricken pheasant whirred up into the air directly in front of Bambi. All about him were the thundering of deer hoofs and the screams of terrified birds.

Bambi is separated from the herd and is alone in the forest. Then, without any warning, the great Prince was at his side. Together they raced toward the edge of the forest, where Bambi's mother caught up to them. His father arrived in the nick of time and takes him away from the approaching hunters. It was sunset before Bambi's mother felt it was safe to come out of hiding. Bambi's mother told him about how man was a dangerous animal.

Autumn crept in so gradually that year that he hardly noticed the trees changing colors until they began to lose their leaves. The next morning Bambi woke up early, with a sense that something had changed in the night. The air was frosty and cold, and the thicket was filled with a strange bluish-white light. That winter morning, Bambi sees his first snow fall and is super excited. He runs outside and plays with Thumper who take him to the frozen lake to skate along. They also find a skunk hibernating.

As the days grew shorter and the snow grew deeper, winter stopped being fun and became wearisome. Now it seemed to Bambi as though he were always limping along through the snowdrifts, always trying to catch up to the rest of the deer, always fighting the icy wind, always hungry and cold. The deer in the forest had banded together to look for food. For hours every day they struggled through the woods in search of the scraps of bark and twigs that were all the forest offered them now. When Bambi's mother had first torn a piece of bark off a tree and gave it to him, he had been shocked at how dry and tasteless it was. And later even the bark grew scarce. Sometimes the two of them could only find enough for one. When that happened, his mother always went without. Then came the day when they found no bark at all. In every direction, every tree they could see had been stripped higher than Bambi's mother could reach.

Finally, spring arrived. Bambi drifts into the open in the meadow to eat some fresh spring grass. Bambi's mother had barely started to eat when abruptly she stopped and lifted her head to sniff the air. Bambi's mother sensed humans nearby and yelled at Bambi to run into the thicket.

But Bambi's mother is caught outside in the meadow & is shot by hunters while saving Bambi. The forest had become dark and ominous. The trees seemed bigger and taller and less friendly. The snow was coming down harder now. Bambi tried to retrace his steps, but his tracks were already completely covered. In the muffled silence of the new snow, there was no sound other than his bewildered cries. Bambi's dad takes him away from the thicket where he was hiding, saying that his mother can never be with him again. Bambi gave one wild, beseeching glance up at the stag. Then, stricken, he bowed his head. A single tear rolled down his cheek and vanished into the snow.

Spring arrives in full bloom. The plants in the forest, freed from winter's icy grasp, were springing joyously into life. Sun poured through the new leaves and splashed down onto the wildflowers. The trees were filled with blossoms and birds, the air with fragrance and birdsong. There wasn't a crevice or a cranny in the forest that spring had left untouched.

Bambi grows up and now has a pair of antlers & even falls in love with Faline. Thumper was just as changed as Bambi himself. Gone were the baby roundness of his face and the fluffiness of his little body. He was trim, lean, and sleek now - the perfect specimen of a wild rabbit.

Bambi learns about the concept of love from the Owl who tells him about how animals get "Twitterpated" every spring. when one runs into a pretty face, you get weak in the knees and lose your head, and you feel like you are walking on air. The skunk gets Twitterpated first, followed by Thumper. Bambi meets Faline and experiences all the symptoms that the Owl spoke about. The forest suddenly seemed to Bambi like a cloud-filled sky and he felt as though he could fly, Faline scampered across the stream, paused to look back at Bambi teasingly, then sprang up the bank. Bambi leaped after her, and the two of them bounded off through the forest.

But Bambi has to fight a fellow member of the herd, who has the hots for Faline, to earn the right to court her as mate. Ronno scowled fiercely at Bambi and shook his antlers threateningly and began pushing Faline up the path into the forest. Suddenly anger blazed through Bambi and burned his fear completely away. He began to paw the ground with his hoof. Ronno pawed the ground himself and thundered toward Bambi. They grappled antlers for only a second before Ronno flung the younger buck over his shoulder.

Again, they grappled and again Ronno threw Bambi into the air. Bambi pulled himself up painfully and stood on his hind legs as Ronno charged. This time the bucks fought with their front hoofs, slashing viciously at each other while a trembling Faline watched. At first, she was sure Ronno was going to win the battle. But, little by little, the bigger buck began to tire. He had never before had to fight so long or so hard. Bambi exulted as he pushed Ronno backward yet again. They were fighting on the edge of a rain-filled gully now. Bambi gritted his teeth and hurled himself into the air, hitting Ronno with the whole of his weight. Ronno stumbled backward and lost his footing. With a furious shout he tumbled head over heels down the gully and into the water. Ronno shook his head as if to clear it. Then he rose and gave Bambi a bewildered look. He shook his head again and stumbled away through the water.

Bambi beats his competitor & Bambi & Faline spend the night together.

One autumn night Bambi discovers a group of hunters in the jungle and left Faline in the thicket (as she was sleeping) to investigate. It was the smell of smoke. Moving more quickly, he trotted up a narrow path that led to a cliff. From the cliff, he knew, there was a clear view of the valley. And there below, a thin, curling line of smoke was rising from a campfire.

His father tells him that it's the same group that killed his mother. He had to warn Faline, but she is alarmed with Bambi's absence & runs in a different direction as the hunters start shooting, which causes mayhem and confusion in the jungle. Searching desperately for Bambi, Faline dashed up a rocky path. Suddenly, she turned and ran back in the other direction, chased by a large pack of snarling, barking dogs - Man's dogs.

Bambi heard the ominous howling and barking of the dogs and above the noise, Faline's terrified voice. He followed his senses to the spot where the vicious dogs had Faline cornered and without a moment's hesitation, he plunged into battle. With lowered head and strong thrusts, Bambi flipped one of the dogs over his antlers, but the rest of the snarling mass instantly turned on him. He triggers a rock avalanche to save Faline and himself but is shot by the hunters in the process. Meanwhile the hunter campfire sets the jungle on fire. Bambi's dad arrives to encourage Bambi to get up & run from the oncoming fire. They both jump off a waterfall & survive.

In the middle of the river there was a tiny island where the creatures of the forest were taking refuge. Faline was standing at one end of the island, watching the water anxiously. Since she had fled from the dogs, she had seen no sign of Bambi. Bambi meets up with Faline.

In time, Bambi becomes the new king of the deer & has twins of his own. Bambi's heart was full. Sadness at the old stag's passing mingled with joy at the birth of his children and his love for Faline. He straightened his shoulders and lifted his head proudly. In the golden sunrise, he was a majestic figure indeed, the new Prince of the Forest.

The whole jungle arrives to see the new princes and the circle of life repeats itself.