Dumbo vs. Bambi

[Dr Frankenollie]

-

[Flanger-Hanger]

I'm gonna say Bambi, which is weird considering how lackluster I've thought of the movie in the past. For some reason when I re-watched the movie after buying the Blu-ray I found myself loving it more than ever and liking it not only more than Dumbo, but Fantasia, Pinocchio and Snow White too.

Compared with the other four, the production overall is more impressive than Dumbo, it's not as padded as Snow White, more even in quality than Fantasia (which could never have that kind of consistency by default of its multiple sequence design) and I find the main character more appealing than Pinocchio.

I adore the music (both score and songs, especially "I Bring You a Song"), but I also enjoy how oddly quiet it is. Compared with animated features over the last two decades where characters never shut up, to have just pictures and choral music tell so much of the story is really impressive.

[DisneyAnimation88]

For me the two films are pretty even.

I think the animation in Bambi is perhaps among the best that Disney has ever done, you can definitely see the artistic detail that Disney strived for at any cost in the pre-war years. I think both stories are excellent and have a good mix of humour and drama, though I prefer the characters in Dumbo. If I had to choose one, I think Dumbo might just shade it by a tiny margin but I love both films.

[David S.]

Dumbo in a landslide for me! Dumbo is not only my favorite Disney Animated Classic, but it's also my favorite Disney movie, favorite Animated Movie, and Favorite Movie of All Time!

Bambi, on the other hand, is not only my least favorite of Walt's famous "First Five", but one of my least favorite (if not the least) of ALL of Walt's DACs, and towards the bottom of the list of all 51 DACs. (for my taste). Don't get me wrong, there are things about the movie I like, but as I like all of the DACs on some level, and love most of them, it has some stiff competition.

NOTE - I am NOT attempting to speak universally or saying one is better than the other as if such things were black and white factual truths. My opinions represent only my taste, and my emotional reactions to the films. Bambi is, musically and visually, a stunning film, but there are parts that are painful for me to watch. I love everything in the first half, and if it ended with the ice skating sequence, I'd enjoy it much more!

[Disney's Divinity]

I actually always thought Dumbo and Bambi were extremely similar, so it's difficult to choose. I enjoy them both, but I suppose I would have to go with Dumbo because, for me, it's more emotional. Bambi is as good a film, if not better, but it leaves me cold mostly. Bambi's mother dying has less impact on me than Mrs. Jumbo simply being locked up, for example. They both feature some strong characters though, but one of my favorite aspects of Dumbo was the elephant herd's snobbery (Verna Felton was a great voice actress, btw). There's a definite sense of euphoria for Dumbo by the end.

That said, I do occasionally enjoy watching Bambi. The animation is beautiful. Perhaps my favorite scene in that film is Bambi's first meeting with the Great Prince (with all the male deer).

[Super Aurora]

Only thing i like in dumbo was the Pink elephants on Parade. The rest didn't really capture my attention, so I'm going to say Bambi.

[Disneykid]

Bambi. Both are more character-driven than plot-driven, and I feel the characters in Bambi to be more charming. I also like the varied emotions Bambi brings to the table. Dumbo basically toggles between two things: cute and depressing. Bambi brings both of those along with better humor and goosebump-inducing drama and pathos. At the end of the day, I just feel like more happens in Bambi than Dumbo, and I feel more satisfied for it.

[Dr Frankenollie]

-

[Disneykid]

Dumbo, to me, is far depressing because the story basically craps on its title character again and again. Yes, Bambi's mother dies, but it's a single scene. Any other scenes having to do with hunters aren't depressing; they're thrilling and gripping. Depressing is having a baby who is shunned by others of his kind, gets his mother (the only character who cares about him) taken away, and is mocked and abused by society. Only Cinderella and Quasimodo have such comparable lives, and at least they had people they were able to turn to for support. Dumbo has Timothy and that's it.

Also, your example for Dumbo having better animation than Bambi isn't an example of better animation; it's an example of perhaps better storytelling. The animals in Bambi feel more rooted in reality than the ones in Dumbo, and Bambi has just as many moments of visual storytelling in place of dialogue as Dumbo does.

I'll give you that Mrs. Jumbo is a more proactive character than Bambi's mother, but the latter is no slouch, either. Twice in the film she puts herself at risk to protect her child, the second time costing her her life. I feel like we get to see and understand Bambi's relationship with his mother a bit better than Dumbo and Mrs. Jumbo since we actually see Bambi's act as a parent that teaches her child the ways of the world. Mrs. Jumbo shields Dumbo from the world, but doesn't prepare him for it, which makes the things that happen to him all the more horrific.

[Jay]

I love both films but if I had to pick I'd say Dumbo because I like elephants lol. I also connected more with Dumbo as a character than Bambi personally. However I love both films and they are two of my favorite films from Disney.

[Dr Frankenollie]

-

[DisneyAnimation88]

Fine, but whilst I gave no specific examples for it, I said that the animation was less cutesy and fluffy. Bambi's animal characters are pure over-the-top cutesiness, and there's nothing particularly endearing about Bambi's design, whilst Dumbo has the eyes (as well as, in soms ways, the face) of an innocent child; his animator Vladimir Tytla based Dumbo on his infant son.

I'm not saying that your opinion is wrong but I kind of think there's a contradiction in Bambi having over-the-top cutesiness when you say Dumbo was based on a baby child. The production of Bambi underwent several delays as Walt kept pushing for more realism in the animal characters, going so far as to establish a makeshift zoo at the studio so I don't think the animation is unrealistic or too cartoonish. There's no doubt in Bambi that artistic license has been used to make the animal characters more appealing but no more so than in Dumbo, at least that's what I personally think. I don't agree where've you said in the first post, that Dumbo is superior in every way to Bambi, but I agree with some of the things you've said regarding the two films.

[DisneyAnimation88]

[quote][/quote]

[Dr Frankenollie]

-

[DisneyAnimation88]

I understand what you're saying, I feel the same about other Disney films. I'm actually surprised you feel like that about Bambi because I've haven't heard anyone say that about the film, though I know that you're probably not alone in this thinking. I don't necessarily agree with this particular point but it's an interesting viewpoint.

I never said that the animation in Bambi was unrealistic or cartoonish, by the way.

That was just how I interpreted some of your points, apologies if I was mistaken.

[sunhuntin]

dumbo most certainly! it holds many memories [was always mums favourite] and its one of 2 films that make me cry. tangled is the other one... i got choked up during the lantern scene.
as a kid we only had a taped off tv copy, so there was quite a bit missing where they had adverts. it was like seeing a whole new movie when i got the dvd.

i read somewhere that bill peet did most of the animation for the bath scene as the guy working on it wasnt happy with how he was doing. any proof to that?

i adore the backgrounds in bambi. the opening forest scene always gives me goose bumps and im always amazed that it was done by hand and not a computer. but dumbo comes out on top simply for the memories tied to it.

[Big Disney Fan]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't really care for either one, but if push came to shove, I would probably go with "Dumbo".

And I thought Bill Tytla, not Bill Peet, animated Dumbo in the bath. This is the very same Tytla best regarded for animating big, powerful, villainous characters like Stromboli in "Pinocchio" or Chernabog in the Bald Mountain scene of "Fantasia". Maybe that's why he was less enthusiastic about animating something so simple as this.

[Dr Frankenollie]

-

[Big Disney Fan]

Just out of curiousity...why don't you care for Dumbo (one of Disney's best) and Bambi (which is a little flawed but still excellent)?

I don't know, I just like different movies. "Bambi" in particular is something that is kind of sad to me, and not just because of the death of Bambi's mother, either. It's just not one of my favorites.

[carolinakid]

Love them both, but I'll go with Bambi!