Walt Disney’s 5th animated film, Bambi was added to the Disney’s Diamond Edition roster today. Like its predecessors in the collection, Bambi is being sold in a combo pack that includes the film on both Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD. No digital copy is included but you can purchase it separately on iTunes.
It was a pleasure to watch this film in 1080p high definition. In this age of computer animation, I truly appreciated the painstaking attention to detail in each frame and the amount of time it must have taken to produce this hand-drawn, inked-and-painted classic film. The images on my television looked like paintings that had come alive!
The BD boasts a new 7.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Audio mix, which sounds crisp.
The DVD/Blu-ray combo boasts many new bonus features:
– Inside Walt’s Story Meetings-Enhanced Edition – A fascinating, multi-tiered, interactive story-telling experience. This feature, with audio re-enactments based on stenographers’ notes, is one of the main bonus attractions. It’s a new twist on the DVD commentary that dramatizes how the movie evolved from story to screen.
– 2 Never Before Seen Deleted Scenes and a deleted Song: “Twitterpated”
– Blu-ray Galleries—A collection of the extraordinary images originally created as part of the design process for Bambi.
– Disney’s Big Book of Knowledge: Bambi Edition— An interactive educational gaming experience that uses the film as a learning tool. Players can customize their own Big Book of Knowledge and learn all about forest creatures, seasons and more! Each time a player completes a task, they are rewarded with new stickers to decorate their Big Book of Knowledge.
– The Making Of Bambi: A Prince Is Born—A comprehensive look at the making of Bambi covers the story, the characters, the actors, the art design, the music and the history of Walt Disney’s classic film using behind the scenes footage, production stills, animation, artwork and multiple interviews with performers and behind the scenes participants.
– Tricks of the Trade (excerpt)—In an episode from the 1957 Disneyland TV show, Walt narrates the story of the multiplane camera, an animation innovation crucial to the production of Bambi.
– Inside the Disney Archives—Disney Supervising Animator Andreas Deja guides viewers through Disney’s Animation Research Library, where artwork from past Disney animated feature films is stored, including early story sketches of Bobo the rabbit,” (who became Thumper), glass paintings made for the multiplane camera and more.
– The Old Mill—Winner of the 1937 Academy Award for Best Short Subject/Cartoon, The Old Mill was a testing ground for several techniques critical to Walt’s artistic vision for BAMBI, including the multiplane camera, animating realistic animals and experimenting with such natural occurrences such as wind, rain and lightning.
– DisneyPedia: Bambi’s Forest Friends
Bambi also marks the introduction of Disney Second Screen. By downloading the free Second Screen app onto an iPad or Mac/PC, viewers can access artwork, flip-books, games and more on their device; either in-synch with the movie or in an ‘explore on your own’ mode.
I tried it on my Mac and it worked seamlessly. The synching feature was much easier to set up and use than I anticipated.
The Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-ray is available today, March 1, 2011. Enjoy this masterpiece again. Your children will love this beloved coming-of-age story, filled with breathtakingly beautiful animation, soaring music and characters who will touch your heart.