History Heartwarming / Bambi

* While Donnie Dunagan has been quiet about voicing Bambi during his youth. In later years of his life, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d-yQhRlB-Y he's become very open about voicing the character and actually proud of playing the role.]]

** Flower names his son Bambi. That's how much Bambi's friendship meant to him. Even ''Thumper'', Bambi's best friend since birth, didn't name any of his four children after him.
*** Though Thumper's children could all be girls.

--> "...Hullo."

-->'''The Great Prince:''' Come....my son.

* In interviews, Donnie Dunagan loves talking about veterans from UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and former soldiers who served with the United States Marine Corps discovering that their [[DrillSergeantNasty drill sergeant]] was actually the voice of Bambi (which he kept a secret for 50 years). Every Veterans Day, he would receive letters and mail from former veterans and children thanking him not only for his service but for voicing Bambi. who has been a childhood icon for many Americans. During the 75th anniversary of the film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUv6j-5LS18 he and Peter Behn discussed how the film has impacted their lives.]]

* In interviews, Donnie Dunagan loves talking about veterans from UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and former soldiers who served with the United States Marine Corps discovering that their drill sergeant was actually the voice of Bambi (which he kept a secret for 50 years). Every Veterans Day, he would receive letters and mail from former veterans and children thanking him not only for his service but for voicing Bambi. who has been a childhood icon for many Americans. During the 75th anniversary of the film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUv6j-5LS18 he and Peter Behn discussed how the film has impacted their lives.]]

** During the first scene involving Man, Bambi is separated from his mother while the rest of the animals are fleeing for their lives. The Great Prince arrives and personally escorts him out of harm's way until his mother catches up to them. This is also the only time we see all three characters together on screen as a family unit.

* Even without [[Disney/BambiII the midquel's]] expansion, there are subtle details in the Great Prince's behaviour that make it clear he cares for Bambi:

* The birth of Bambi's children (Faline gives birth to boy-girl twin fawns) at the end of the movie.
** One of them nibs their sibling's ear.

** One of them grabs their sibling's ear with their mouth.

* [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N12dH1lIE74 The scene where Bambi's friend Thumper starts falling in love with a female bunny]]. Especially the way she notices Thumper staring at her and starts singing and tries making herself look good around him. While the scene is funny, its also one of the most heartwarming scenes in the film.

** Flower names his son Bambi. That's how much Bambi's friendship meant to him.

* Bambi and Faline's tender reunion after the fire, made even better because Faline had spent the entire 'evacuation' frantically looking for him, seeing all the other families finding each other and slowly losing hope of the stag she loved surviving the blaze. And then he shows up.

** Flower names his son Bambi. That's how much Bambi's friendship meant to him. Even ''Thumper'', Bambi's best friend since birth, didn't name his only child after him.

!!''Bambi''

!!''Bambi II''

* The entire premise of ''Bambi II'' is very heartwarming when you really get down it.
* During the ColdOpening, Friend Owl arrives before the Great Prince to offer comfort over his and Bambi's loss. When the Great Prince asks him to find a ParentalSubstitute for Bambi, he makes a less than subtle inkling that the Great Prince himself would probably take the role better than anyone.
* The baby otter that's whimpering in its sleep while "There Is Life" is playing. Its mother then gently wraps her tail around it, and the baby calms down and smiles.
* A baby flying squirrel going out on its first flight with its mother. Riding on her back at first, it looks really scared, but when it finally comes down to it it takes to it like a duck to water, smiling in a "I did it!" sort of way at its mother.
* When Bambi's [[spoiler:temporary adopted mother]] is caught in a snare and you start to hear dogs in the distance, she snaps Bambi out of his frozen terror and tells him to run for his life. He starts to, but then realizes her exact words--"[[MeaningfulEcho Faster, Bambi! Don't look back! Keep running. Keep running!]]" He freezes, gets a determined look on his face, and goes back to save her.
* Though the moment after it is definitely a TearJerker, Bambi and his father playing with one another in the forest, including the Prince knocking Bambi onto his back, then fuzzy-kissing his belly.
* And then he finally accepts him as his son when he believes [[DisneyDeath Bambi died from a fall.]]
** It's an easy to miss detail, but throughout the movie, Bambi has addressed the Great Prince indirectly or in formal manners such as "Sir" out of timidness. After the Great Prince was convinced he had lost both members of his family, the first sign of life he hears from Bambi?:
-->'''Bambi:''' Dad?....
* Kid!Ronno picking on Faline in what is a ''creepily'' good recreation of his attempted claim in the original movie. Faline tells him to stop, in a tone of voice that suggests he's done this before. Ronno swipes at her "playfully" with his baby antlers, and she stumbles back. Bambi then stutters "L-L-Leave her ''alone!''" His righteous indignation at the way Faline is being treated is wonderful.
* The ending, where Bambi is taken to a beautiful clearing by his father, who reveals that it's where, in the Prince's fawnhood, he'd first met Bambi's mother. Then this exchange takes place.
-->'''Bambi:''' What were you like?\\
'''Great Prince:''' Me? Hm...let me think. Actually, I was [[LikeFatherLikeSon a lot like you.]]
* Thumper and Flower's reaction to seeing Bambi and The Great Prince reuniting with each other after Bambi's apparent death. Thumper reacts by slowly tearing up and starts crying into Flower's arms. Flower then starts comforting Thumper and smiles similar to how a mother would comfort a child.
* Even though it almost led to his death after he woke up, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Z8NWln6Sw dream sequence]] Bambi has of his mother also counts as this, with its warm colors and the lilting score provided by Bruce Broughton, which incorporates part of "Love is a Song" from the first film. And then there's the meaningful speech she gives him near the end.
-->'''Bambi's Mother:''' Everything in the forest has its season. Where one thing falls, another grows. Maybe not what was there before, but something new and wonderful all the same.\\
'''Bambi:''' But I feel so alone.\\
'''Bambi's Mother:''' I'm always with you, even when you can't see me. I'm here... (echoes) I'm here... I'm here...
* The scene with Bambi and the Great Prince in their den at night. Bambi is wide awake, and the Great Prince, though clearly wanting to sleep, decides to talk with his son until he grows tired.
** With some hesitance, the Great Prince leans up to his son to sleep beside him. Bambi, makes a nervous peer back (much as he did at the start of the film when the Great Prince first took him in) only this time he goes to sleep with a huge content smile on his face.
* Thumper spending most of the movie trying to help Bambi impress his father. While it was obvious in the first film that Thumper was close with Bambi, the midquel makes clear how devoted he is to him, especially considering the little bunny isn't big on family responsibilities like dealing with his own little sisters.

!!Other/Meta

* [[EvilIsSexy Ronno]] definitely has his share of DracoInLeatherPants going on in the fandom, but it's not terribly uncommon to find fanart with a rather sweet milder take where he's portrayed as being on [[FriendlyEnemy friendly terms with]] Bambi and sometimes even Faline as well.
* The sheer fact Bambi's second film, unlike many other Disney sequels, was invested a good budget and team to work on it, leading to competent animation supervision and professional voice acting. The "Making Of" documentary shows practically everyone involved wanted it to do the original justice. In regions such as Europe, it even avoided the Direct-To-Video status and was released in theatre with a fair amount of promotion. At the very least, Disney understood that Bambi's return had to be special.
* Creator/PatrickStewart had in fact wanted to voice for a Disney movie for almost two decades, though other projects such as ''LiveActionTV/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had intervened with schedules. He finally got roles for both ''Bambi II'' and ''Disney/ChickenLittle'' almost simultaneously.

* The sheer fact Bambi's second film, unlike many other Disney sequels, was invested a good budget and team to work on it, leading to competent animation supervision and professional voice acting. The "Making Of" documentary shows nearly everyone involved wanted it to do the original justice. In regions such as Europe, it even avoided the Direct-To-Video status and was released in theatre with a fair amount of promotion. At the very least, Disney understood that Bambi's return had to be special.

* The sheer fact Bambi's second film, unlike many other Disney sequels, was invested a good budget and team to work on it, leading to competent animation supervision and professional voice acting. In regions such as Europe, it even avoided the Direct-To-Video status and was released in theatre with a fair amount of promotion. At the very least, Disney understood that Bambi's return had to be special.

** And then he finally accepts him as his son when he believes [[DisneyDeath Bambi died from a fall.]]

!!Other

-->'''Thumper:''' Whacha gonna call him?
-->'''Bambi's Mother:''' Well...I think I'll call him...Bambi.
-->'''Thumper:''' Bambi...[[SureLetsGoWithThat Yep, I guess that'll do alright.]]
-->'''Bambi's Mother:''' Bambi... My little Bambi...

* When Bambi's [[spoiler: temporary adopted mother]] is caught in a snare and you start to hear dogs in the distance, she snaps Bambi out of his frozen terror and tells him to run for his life. He starts to, but then realizes her exact words--[[MeaningfulEcho "Don't look back! Keep running. Keep running!" ]] He freezes, gets a determined look on his face, and goes back to save her.

* Kid!Ronno picking on Faline in what is a ''creepily'' good recreation of his attempted claim in the original movie. Faline Tells him to stop, in a tone of voice that suggests he's done this before. Ronno swipes at her "playfully" with his baby antlers, and she stumbles back. Bambi then stutters "L-L-Leave her ''alone!''" His righteous indignation at the way Faline is being treated is wonderful.

-->'''Bambi''': What were you like?
-->'''Great Prince''': Me? Hm...let me think. Actually, I was [[NotSoDifferent a lot like you.]]

-->'''Bambi's Mother''': Everything in the forest has its season. Where one thing falls, another grows. Maybe not what was there before, but something new and wonderful all the same.
-->'''Bambi''': But I feel so alone.
-->'''Bambi's Mother''': I'm always with you, even when you can't see me. I'm here... (echoes) I'm here... I'm here...

* The birth of Bambi's children at the end of the movie.

* A butterfly lands on Bambi's tail. Then he calls a big flower a "butterfly".
* [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N12dH1lIE74 The scene where Bambi's friend Thumper starts falling in love with a female bunny]]. Especially the way she notices Thumper staring at her and starts singing and tries making herself look good around her. While the scene is funny, its also one of the most heartwarming scenes in the film.

* The entire premise of ''Bambi II''.