Yet Another Disney Classic Is Getting The Little Mermaid Treatment
Disney is making a live-action remake of Bambi.
Get ready for more of your childhood nostalgia (and trauma) to come to the big screen, because the Disney classic Bambi, as revealed on Twitter, is getting a live-action remake. Oscar Award-winning director Sarah Polley is in talks to direct the new film that will adapt the 1942 animated movie of the same name. We’re hoping the live-action film will look a little less weird than the new The Little Mermaid.
Nearly everyone knows the classic story of Bambi, the young deer who tragically watches his mother get shot and killed by a hunter—all within the first few minutes of the movie, right? But Bambi’s mom doesn’t die until about halfway through the film, which is a common misconception. The rest of the film offers a heartwarming tale of friendship and growth as Bambi learns to survive with his new friends Thumper, the bunny, and Flower, the skunk.
When Bambi was first introduced on the big screen, it was only Disney’s fifth animated feature film and yet, it went on to get three Academy Award nominations for Best Sound, Song, and Original Music Score and has since grossed over $267 million worldwide. Audiences weren’t particularly fond of the film when it was first released, but it has become a family classic and has even been inducted into the Online Film & Television Association Awards’ Hall of Fame for Motion Pictures.
Fans of the classic animated film might cringe when they hear that Bambi is going to get the live-action treatment. That’s because the term live-action is supposed to refer to a movie that is based in reality and uses real humans, animals, and props, like Homeward Bound or Milo and Otis. However, Disney seems to have a different idea of what live-action movies are supposed to look like.
Most recently, Disney has released “live-action” movies like The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Pinocchio that don’t use real lions, fish, or puppets. Instead, the company is using computer-generated images to try and make the movie seem as life-like as possible. This use of animation is a bit odd and is making critics and audiences alike feel that the movies look weird and unsettling.
The live-action version of Bambi is still in early development, so we aren’t sure what kind of visuals Sarah Polley will be using for the film. The actress-turned-director doesn’t have many projects under her director’s belt just yet, but after winning an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking, we have high hopes for her skills.
However, some folks on Twitter don’t have the same high hopes or expectations and instead are demanding Disney stop creating these “live-action” movies. Bambi is just one of several other films getting the live-action treatment since Hercules, Moana, and Lilo & Stitch are also in development. But since Bambi is officially happening, we’re just going to have to buckle up and see how the creators handle the tragic death of Bambi’s mom in our modern, sensitive world.
