Author Topic: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)  (Read 7902 times)

Offline Abomine

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Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« on: April 14, 2013, 05:00:31 pm »
Up until recently, I had no idea that this movie:



was based on this book:



Don't get me wrong, I still love the Disney movie. It will always be one of my all-time favorites, but this book...this book...it just blows my mind. It takes subjects that were only touched on in the movie (The Circle of Life, dealing with loss, growing up in a dangerous world, Survival of the Fittest, Nature Red in Tooth & claw, Man's role in Nature), and cranks them all the way up to eleven.

It also cranks up the violence and tragedy factor quite a bit. If you thought the death of Bambi's mom in the movie was depressing, just wait 'till you read the novel. I'm telling you, the death of Bambi's mom is only the beginning. Bambi was originally intended to be a novel for adults, until Disney made it into a relatively tame animated film, so now you always see copies of this book in the children's sections in libraries and bookstores.

Fun Fact: this book was burned by the Nazi Party when it was first published because the relationship between the poachers and the deer was seen as a commentary on the relationship between the Nazis and the Jews. And Felix Salten was Jewish, so that was just another reason to burn it. This is why first edition German copies are ridiculously hard to find.

So anyway...this book needs more fans. It is a beautiful piece of literature that everyone ought to read at least once in their lifetime.

You can read the entire ebook here: http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/Bambi/ and discover the awesomeness that is Bambi for yourself! :D

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Offline Lady_Alizarin

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Re: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2013, 08:47:21 pm »
I actually read this book when I was in 7th grade. I found it in my school's library and decided to borrow it and read it. It is definatly different from the kid friendly movie, I can tell you that. When reading it, I was kind of surprised at how violent the story actually was.... "and it became a kids movie how?" is what I wondered. I would say more, but I don't want to put a whole bunch of spoilers on here for the people who want to read it and have not read it.

I really enjoyed reading it. That whole bit about the Nazis banning the book, someone actually told me about it on Deviant Art. Now that you mention one of the reasons why they banned the book, I can now see the message Felix Salten was trying to convey in this story.

I would recommend reading this book. But be warned if you are tender-hearted, you may not want to read it. It's not like the cute innocent Disney movie we all know and love.



Also, the book kind of has me confused as the where the setting of the story takes place. In the book, the species of deer Bambi is supposed to be is a Roe Deer, which is a deer commonly found in Europe. It looks like this...



However, there are animals in the story that aren't native to Europe. The story talks about elk, and has an illustration of these kind of elk.


Europeans call these kind of animals "Moose" whereas Americans just call them "elk". In Europe, they call what we know as moose, "elk". Also, there are other animals mentioned in the story that are not native to Europe.
So I am really confused as to where the story takes place. Does it take place in Europe, or North America. If it is in North America, were the Roe deer imported from Europe to be hunted by people, or were the Elk imported from America to be hunted by people? Or am I just a confused floof?
My guess is that it takes place in Europe, since that is where the author is from.



As for the Disney movie, it seems like Bambi appears to be a white-tailed deer (since he holds his tail up like a Whitetail would). Roe deer fawns and white-tail fawns do look similar in appearance.

Roe deer fawn

Whitetail fawn

So it seems that the Disney movie changed settings for the story. Since many of the characters in the movie are American animals; skunks, racoons, possums, etc, they must have changed Bambi from a Roe deer to a White-tailed deer. What do you think?
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 09:11:04 pm by Lady_Alizarin »
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Offline Abomine

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Re: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2013, 10:18:13 pm »
I think they changed the deer species to make these animals more familiar to an American audience, because your Average American Joe isn't going to know what a roe deer is. Personally, I kind of prefer the image of Bambi as a whitetail deer to a roe deer, simply because whitetails are more majestic, more 'princely'-looking than roes (in my opinion). But whitetails and roes are very similar animals anyway, and they both occupy similar niches in their respective ecosystems.

I think the novel takes place in Europe (safe bet, seeing as Salten was Austrian), and the 'elk' Salten was talking about are probably red deer.



Again, your Average American Joe isn't going to know what a red deer is, so to make it consistent with the 'American' setting and the use of an American species like whitetail deer, the translators just turned Salten's Austrian red deer into American elk, which are very similar animals anyway so not much meaning is lost in the translation.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2013, 10:22:04 pm by Abomine »

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BouncyLion101

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Re: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2013, 02:52:00 am »
Looks like a good read, I'll try and find it in the library tomorrow after school.

I'm interested in how different the movie and the book are, hopefully it's not too emotional, because I'm a little baby when it comes to those things. XD


Offline Lady_Alizarin

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Re: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2013, 03:47:59 am »
I think they changed the deer species to make these animals more familiar to an American audience, because your Average American Joe isn't going to know what a roe deer is. Personally, I kind of prefer the image of Bambi as a whitetail deer to a roe deer, simply because whitetails are more majestic, more 'princely'-looking than roes (in my opinion). But whitetails and roes are very similar animals anyway, and they both occupy similar niches in their respective ecosystems.

Again, your Average American Joe isn't going to know what a red deer is, so to make it consistent with the 'American' setting and the use of an American species like whitetail deer, the translators just turned Salten's Austrian red deer into American elk, which are very similar animals anyway so not much meaning is lost in the translation.

You got a good point there. That would make sense when it comes to the whole elk thing.
By the way, have you noticed the pheasant birds in the Disney movie. This may be a little off topic, but I recently found out that those ring-necked pheasants aren't naturally native to North America. I recently found out those birds were imported from China. And here I thought they were all American birds. o3o




Also, the one thing I like about the movie is how good the animators did the motions of deer movements. They looked so realistic and believeable. You know they had to take some time to study the movements of deer to really make some good authentic animation shots.





Looks like a good read, I'll try and find it in the library tomorrow after school.

I'm interested in how different the movie and the book are, hopefully it's not too emotional, because I'm a little baby when it comes to those things. XD

Well you might want to take some of these when you read it -hands over a box of tissues-. There ya go. Enjoy the book.
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Offline Abomine

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Re: Bambi (the original novel, not the Disney movie)
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2013, 01:17:59 am »
Also, the one thing I like about the movie is how good the animators did the motions of deer movements. They looked so realistic and believeable. You know they had to take some time to study the movements of deer to really make some good authentic animation shots.

Truly, the artistry of this film is incredible. The realism that went into the deer anatomy and movement is amazing, on a level that I have not seen in very many animated animal-themed "kiddie flicks". Not even The Lion King has that level of realism, though it comes pretty close.

Looks like a good read, I'll try and find it in the library tomorrow after school.

I'm interested in how different the movie and the book are, hopefully it's not too emotional, because I'm a little baby when it comes to those things. XD



It's pretty emotional. You're definitely going to need a box of tissues for this one, because like I said, the death of Bambi's mom is only the beginning.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2013, 01:22:08 am by Abomine »

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