Bambi II

I honestly wasn't expecting Bambi 2 to be as good as it was. I found it it sweet, funny and adorable. The original Bambi is not only one of my favourite Disney movies, but one of my favourite movies ever. I thought this a very worthy sequel, well it was more of a midquel really, if a tad rushed in places. I liked the fact that they focused on Bambi and his father, after his mother dies, and the story itself was very sweet and well crafted. The animation was beautiful here, not quite as splendid as its predecessor. I have seen sequels like FernGully 2 and Secret of NIMH 2 where the animation is dull, tacky and choppy. Here it was colourful, vibrant and fluid, just look at the wondrous backgrounds. And I absolutely loved the soundtrack, that alone contributed to the film's charm. Of course I do slightly prefer the original's music, but the soundtrack here was so pleasant to the ears. The characters were every bit as likable as they were in the first- Bambi if you forgive the fact his facial expressions were overdone at times, was still adorable and appealing, and Thumper is hilarious. If there is one thing I prefer over the original, it is that the sequel is funnier than the original. The original, while having some very funny moments was more of a tearjerker and a genuine one it was too. In the sequel, there are five or six funny bits in the first fifteen minutes alone. The voice acting was most impressive, special mention must go to Patrick Stewart, who was perfect as the Great Prince. My final verdict is that it isn't quite as good as the stunning original, but along with King Of Thieves and Enchanted Christmas, this is in the top 5 of my favourite sequels. A solid 8/10 Bethany Cox

Well, kiddies......... those horrific visions I had of Bambi, Thumper and Flower line-dancing in their ghetto-rap outfits with some knuckle-headed "Poptart" caterwauling in the background were all for naught. I'm not gonna give away all the goodies-would'nt be fair to all my fellow "Mousies" to spew out any spoilers- but I can tell you this......aside from a few issues that sorta chapped my inner child, this is simply the best DTV that "The House of Mouse" has ever released. The animation is every bit as good as a lot of the recent theatrical films , with beautifully rendered background art and an overall "Technicolor" look that was for the most part quite dazzling .........and how about them voices? I gotta admit the casting is excellent.

Story-wise, well....that's one of the things that I still ain't all that thrilled about . Despite having been "kiddiefied" from a book that was essentially written for adults, the original "Bambi" was still a wonderful film that catered to both ends of the age spectrum, a talent that Uncle Walt had in spades. This midquel is squarely aimed at the lunchbox-tetherball set to the point that unless you're a complete animation nut like yours truly, you might find one or two scenes a bit too cloyingly ooky to your liking. Still, it's heads and tail above any of the previous DTV "Twosies" and even a few of the "Feature" flicks released over the past 15 years, and I honestly think it's gonna do quite well.

One other bone of contention I have however, are the songs.Granted, they used a few snippets from the original's score, but all the stuff produced exclusively for the current film was your typically weak, formula-laden "contemporary" numbers that are so cookie-cutter bland that you can't even distinguish one from the other. That was one of the most wonderful things about the first movie ...even more than sixty years after it's release, the songs were so well written that they sound just as good now as they did then. Sad to say, it's gonna "date" the film in a most unflattering way. Second b.o.c. I have is in regards to some of the character animation ie: Ronno, the porcupine and the groundhog, especially Ronno. Pretty average design that clashes terribly with the rest of the animation and the exactly the sort of quality you come to expect from a DTV.As said, the rendering of "Bullyboy"Ronno was the worst...at times his looked like they'd been lifted straight from "Balto III".....not impressive in the least. On the other side of the coin, The Great Prince looked gorgeous as did the other deer.......Friend Owl was drawn absolutely spot on, though Thumper and Flower did look nice they still did'nt look quite enough like their original incarnations to retain all their charms. As for Bambi himself, well.......let's just say that 90% was beautifully done, but unfortunately the animators' attempts to "modernize" his facial expressions in a lot of his scenes failed quite miserably and were very disappointing. Despite it's flaws, it's still better than all the previous Disneytoon releases and well worth at least one watch.

I'm an 18 year old guy, and I watched Bambi for the first time when I was 3 years old and I still remember how sad I felt when his mom died. I was thinking Bambi 2 was going to be another dumb Disney sequel.. but it was actually VERY nice to see how Disney kept to the "feeling" of the original movie.. very innocent. I loved that about the original. I bought the 2nd movie the day after it came out for my two brothers who are 7 and 10.. and they loved it! So.. I have to say, GOOD JOB Disney! :) We're proud to have Bambi 2 on our shelf with the rest of our Disney classics.

sincerely, "A guy raised on Disney" lol!

Whenever I think about seeing movies that are sequels, I get some fear of what I'm going to find. This film, rendered directly to video, was never intended for the big theaters and has the disadvantage of following up on a film that was released decades earlier. In spite of all that, I confess that I liked what I found here, and I even find it difficult to understand why this film was never released in the big theaters.

The strongest and most favorable point of this film is the script, which is much more elaborate and interesting than the original film. In this film, set in the times immediately following the death of Bambi's mother, the young deer will try to adapt to living with a father he admires, but he doesn't know well and seems to maintain an aristocratic distance from everything and everyone. For this, he will try to respond to his father's wishes and prove to be more courageous and mature. It's a funny story, light, well-balanced and doesn't feel too sugary.

On a technical level, I think it is really necessary to highlight the good performance of the voice actors, in particular Alexander Gould and Patrick Stewart. The quality of the drawings, the elegance of a careful and well-defined line, the vibrant colors and the good light are the characteristics that most caught my eye in terms of visuals and cinematography. The soundtrack is quite good and does an excellent job.

I grew up watching the old Disney movies, and Bambi has always been one of my favorites. When I first saw that they were making a new Bambi movie, I was really torn. I hoped that it would be a good follow-up, but was afraid that it would ruin the whole Bambi experience.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the movie, though not as good as the original is far surpassing many Disney sequels.

The animation quality is good. Not only is it much better than most of Disney's recent sequels, it is is actually up to, and at some points even surpassing, the animation in the original. The songs were beautiful, and to my immense relief, they are all sung in the background in the style of the original. There is only one point at which any of the animals sing. It was extremely cheesy, but mercifully short.

The only real failing of this movie is that it lacks the fresh, genuine feeling of the original. While Bambi I felt unique and novel, Bambi II often feels cliché and it seems like they are recycling some material from The Lion King. The addition of Ronno as an antagonist adds nothing to the story but goofiness and low-quality humor. The Great Prince's character seems to be the caricature "single dad" struggling to understand his kid. And while Bambi's character has always been humanized (as are all animals in Disney movies) he seems far more "human" and much less "animal" than he did in the original.

Overall, I liked this movie, and was able to get a few nostalgic moments. Although it does not quite live up to the original, it is nevertheless a sweet and enjoyable movie.