Bambi (character)

Bambi is the main protagonist on his title character which is the 1942 hit. A deer living in an animal forest, he is best friends with Thumper (a rabbit) and Flower (a skunk). However, he was closest to his mother, who was shot on his first winter. Raised into a buck by his father, he falls in love with his childhood friend (possible cousin) and love interest Faline, and they end up, later on, having two fawns.

Bambi is the main character in Felix Salten's Bambi, A Life in the Woods and in the Walt Disney movies based on the book. He is in probably one of Disney's most famous characters. He has starred in two movies, Bambi and has had cameos in several Disney cartoons, and has been parodied on occasion by other animation companies. In the Disney films, his species was changed from the roe deer to the white-tailed deer, which would be more familiar to American audiences. His image is a Disney icon comparable in recognition factors to Mickey Mouse, and he is even shown on Disney stock certificates. He appears as a summon in Kingdom Hearts, and as one of the guests in House of Mouse. He also makes cameo appearances in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Lion King 1½, plus a brief appearance in The Rescuers.

Personality
In his early youth, Bambi has the full measure of charm that young mammals display, with his wide eyes, large head, spindly legs, curious nature and childishly cute voice. But as when he grows into a buck, he becomes the image of a full-grown mammal, with his bold nature, strong limbs, and his antlers, which represent his sign of maturity.

Fawn
Bambi has a fur coat of safety orange and wheat spots and underbelly with a brown stripe that runs from his head down to his tail. He has brown hooves and wide orange eyes. He has a large head with fuzz on it.

Buck
Bambi has brown fur without his premature spots. He has antlers with 2 points to represent his maturing youth. His eyes change from orange to brown as well.

Bambi
In the first film, Bambi is not very strongly characterized. This was one of the film’s key strengths as an environmental film, the point because Bambi, as with most of his friends, could be any deer in any forest. In his early youth, Bambi has the full measure of charm that young mammals display, with his wide eyes, spindly legs, curious nature and childishly cute voice.

As he grows he gradually becomes more mature, but even in adulthood he always seems a very young buck, with a light build and a fairly naïve nature. Some have asserted that it was only after having defeated Ronno in a fight that he could truly be said to have really reached adulthood.

Bambi II
In Bambi II, Bambi is much more distinctly personalized. In this film, which fills in the gap between the death of his mother and when he was next shown as an adult, Bambi finds himself faced with a number of challenges. First, there is the death of his mother and his consequential move to live with his father, the Great Prince of the Forest. Connecting with that, there is the fact that his father has no knowledge of raising children and is reluctant and slow to learn. In addition, Bambi begins to develop romantic feelings for Faline, and comes into conflict with his present and future rival, Ronno. Throughout all of this, he shows much more personality than he did in the first film. Whereas before he essentially followed life where it led him, now he grabs life by the horns in one attempt after another to bond with and impress his father. In the first film Bambi's status as the young prince had little impact on the flow of the story. But now his rank becomes a key part of the situation as he sets out to prove to himself and others, most of all his dad, that he deserves to be prince and can live up to his father’s name. Close to the end of the film, Bambi kisses Faline.

Kingdom Hearts
Bambi's unnamed (as of yet) world was destroyed by the Heartless. However, the strong sense of innocence and purity in the young fawn's heart allowed it to be preserved in the form of the Naturespark Gem. It somehow ended up in a torn page to the 100 Acre Wood.

After Sora finds this item in the 100 Acre Wood and takes it to the Fairy Godmother, she restores Bambi's spirit and Sora gains the ability to summon him in battle.

After sealing Kingdom Hearts, Bambi returns to his world and keeps his memories of his time as a Summon (hinted by Mushu and Simba knowing the trio while they were Summons).

Bambi's role in battle is to prance about the area, dropping huge amounts of MP Orbs by hopping around the area. Any enemy defeated while Bambi is summoned drops more orbs than usual. Also, the more enemies Sora defeats while Bambi is summoned, the more orbs Bambi drops. If a certain amount of enemies are defeated while Bambi is in play, Bambi will make a great leap and drop a special item, usually Mega-Potions and Elixers.

Despite being warned of humans before his world was destroyed, Bambi already becomes Sora's friend as expressed on his cheerful expression and reaction to the keyblade wielder's summoning. Bambi dances around Sora, then approaches him, and allows the boy to pet him on his head before continuing to assist Sora in a battle.

Thumper
Bambi and Thumper have always been the best of friends since his birth. It is Thumper who takes it upon himself to teach Bambi various tricks, notably that of speech. Even though a good friend, Thumper is rather mischievous and can sometimes misinterpret certain things, like bravery to which he believes it means to scare your enemies rather than standing up to your fear.

Flower
After being accidently called flower, the fairly bashful skunk has been one of Bambi's best friends. Countering Thumper's mischievous nature, Flower is very gentle and shy to which symbolizes Bambi's gulible and docile nature. Because of their friendship, when Flower has a family, he names his son after Bambi in his honor.

Bambi's Mother
Since his birth, Bambi always loved his mother as she has loved him. He has learned much from her, from learning about the joys and dangers of the meadow to winter, from knowing about his father, the Great Prince of the Forest, to the fears of Man.

Bambi's Mother has cared for her son so much that she wishes him to be happy and to survive. This is displayed from when she calls to him when Man arrives, worrying deeply. Then, she comforts her son when food is scarce by reassuring him. When she is shot by Man, Bambi sobs over her death, knowing he will miss his mother but that she will always love him, and remember her love for him. In a dream he has, Bambi is reunited with his mother, who reassures him that she will always be with him, even if she is not seen.

The Great Prince of the Forest
Bambi's father. Bambi never meets him until he comes to the meadow for the first time, where the mighty stag looks upon him while walking past the stags. Bambi is so entranced by the Great Prince's magnificence that at first he smiles at him for a short while before he returns to staring at awe. It may seem that he wants to be like him. When Man arrives, Bambi is separated by his mother, only to be reunited when his father comes to the rescue.

When Bambi's mother is killed by Man, the Great Prince reluctantly watches over his son despite that the role is for the does. Nevertheless, he watches over Bambi. But when Bambi is lured by one of Man's tricks after watching the groundhog, the Great Prince rescues him from Man's dogs, and becomes furious for Bambi falling for Man's deer whistle, even freezing when the dogs were advancing on him. While reflecting on the situation, the Great Prince believes it is obvious that he cannot raise his son while protect the forest at once, so he tells Friend Owl to find a doe to raise Bambi.

At first, the Great Prince doubts about his son, telling him to stay in the den where it's safe. But after he sees Bambi leap over a large chasm, he becomes quite impressed as he mentions that he never made such a jump until he had his antlers. The one time when the Great Prince finally realizes the joys of being a father is when Bambi asks him the duties as Prince and the two bond over the conversation. Over time, Bambi's father even learns himself to be free from his duties when he plays with Bambi. But he is still doubtful of keeping Bambi. Then, when Friend Owl finally delivers a doe to raise Bambi, the Great Prince, even after a short arguement with his son, when he too realizes what's happening, carries out his original decision for Bambi's future. But he begins to doubt again, this time on his decision on letting Bambi go.

Finally, the Great Prince makes his final choice, and after he nearly loses Bambi, who was trying to lure Man's dogs away from Mena but falls off a cliff in the process, that no matter what his duties declare, he will raise Bambi as the father he truly is.

Faline
Bambi's friend (possible cousin) and love interest. When Bambi first meets her, he becomes very shy to be near another fawn (and a very pretty one at that). But after a little nudge, he overcomes that shyness when he plays with Faline. In some books though, Bambi and Faline are cousins and share a great deal of a friendly relationship. Cousin or not, Bambi and Faline remain the best of friends.

But upon meeting her again, he develops romantic feelings for her, thus gaining back his shyness. Through his new feelings, he tries to impress Faline by telling her that he is maturing as his spots are fading and his new antlers are coming in, despite they are not. Then, after being pricked by a porcupine, he feebly tries to cover the quils in his rear from Faline, believing that she would laugh at him, even though she worries about his situation. But his heart begins shine more when he tells Ronno to stop bothering Faline when he forces her to come with him. Little does Bambi know, to his luck and love, Faline too grows romantic feelings for Bambi and will be at his side at times to comfort him, while trying to show her love to him.

Ronno
Bambi's rival. At first, when Ronno told his wild tale of facing a man, Bambi was quite impressed of how a mere fawn could defeat a human being single-handed, and while Faline, not wanting to offend Ronno's false story, says it's unbelievable, Bambi, to his own fascinated opinion agrees. But Ronno, not interested in Bambi's opinion, thinks he is making up about the story, and begins to bully Bambi, from goading him into a spare to making fun of his name. This sparks their rivalry.

Man and his dogs
Bambi's most feared enemy. Even though he does not encounter the secluded villain, Bambi knows eerily well that Man is the most evil animal in the forest. Man was first mentioned to Bambi by his mother, and was informed of his heinous tricks by Ronno and the Great Prince. Bambi does face Man's devilish hunting hounds, first he is frozen on sight, only for his father to save him by fending them off, then he distracts them away from Mena, and faces them in battle as a stag when they advance on Faline. But after all that, Man finally hits the Young Prince by shooting him in the side, though he survives and rests from the fiery pain inflicted upon him. But then, fire attacks the forest, and burns it down. Bambi and his father escape in the nick of time, and the wounded stag is reunited with Faline. Man and his dog henchmen's fate is unknown; it is likely that they were engulfed by the forest fire. Even so, out of all the enemies Bambi has ever faced, Man is possibly the worst of them all.