The deer call in the sequel. From a deer's perspective, it sounds like a soft, feminine voice calling out things such as "I'm here" and "Helloooo?" The brilliance comes in when you listen closely — there's a seductive note to it, but in a way that's very "off." It sounds exactly like a tool designed by humans to lure in large bucks might be expected to sound.
Not only that, but then the Great Prince rescued Bambi, he instantly knew it was a trap. Maybe he fell for the same trick back when he was a younger, less-experienced stag, following the strange voice thinking a potential mate was calling out to him...
When they appear for the last time in the movie, the hunters act like trigger-happy lunatics and complete amateurs in outdoor survival. Not only do they leave their campfire unattended, they try to shoot every single species of animal in the forest, even the smallest ones like chipmunks. This may be because they are different than the hunter(s) who killed Bambi's mother. Sure, to the animals of the forest, every human is "Man" but that doesn't mean that it is always the same human, or group of humans, that comes to the forest to hunt. For all we know, the "hunters" who started the forest fire could have been just a group of typical dumb teens taking their father's weapons and having fun with them.
This can also count as Fridge Horror. This means that those hunters could easily be a VERY sadistic group of poachers who are taking every animal they can shoot. Plus, there is the presence of the hunting dog pack. The dogs themselves look and act deranged, meaning they must have been trained to follow their master's orders to "kill everything that moves".
Why was Flower so accepting of the name Bambi called him? Skunks have a reputation for not smelling the best, so it was probably a compliment for him to be compared to something that smelled nice.
Ronno being the buck Bambi fought as an adult might seem like Contrived Coincidence but in real life, the white tailed deer of a specific area congregate into a close knit herd during the mating season. Basically, the likeliness of them running into each other became very high, even higher due to a battle between bucks happens when a buck follows a doe in heat into the territory of another buck.
Movie version only. It is sort of a dark example, but Bambi's father is explicitly referred to as the "Great Prince of the Forest". It is nearly said outright the only reason he is a "great prince" is because he has lived so long and gained so much wisdom. This would mean he is simply "great" for having lived a long time and not being killed, most likely a result of being distant from the main herd and secluding himself. It crosses over into Fridge Horror when this begs the question how many other deer could have been "great" princes if they lived long enough without being killed?
Crossed a bit with Fridge Heartwarming, but pay close attention to the melody that sounds the first times Bambi and his mom go out into the meadow. Sounds bit by bit like the chorus of "I Bring You A Song" later on. Considering how that's the official love song of the film, we can infer by it that Bambi's mom and his love for her stays with the young fawn even as he grows. After all, a mother is usually the person that introduces to their children what is considered feminine love.
The sequel features a scene during a montage of Bambi rescuing a ladybug from a spider's web. This seems like typical Predators Are Mean or What Measure Is a Non-Cute? logic at first, until you consider ladybugs are extremely toxic (hence their bright red coloration). Bambi was probably saving the spider from the ladybug instead of vice versa.
The movie going eerily silent after Bambi is told indirectly by his father, his mother has been killed is a mark of respect as it is traditional to have a moment's silence to remember those who died.
Let's start with the obvious fate of Bambi's mother's body.
That might actually be the more merciful fate. In the midquel, prior to Bambi waking up from his Disney Death, we see his father do two things; mourn him and then start to walk away miserably. It is made apparent that animals cannot bury or commemorate the bodies of their loved ones so they have no choice but to just leave their corpses to rot where they died. No wonder the Great Prince is so forceful that Bambi get up from his injuries in the first film. What else can he do to help?
Thumper is supposed to have five sisters, but for some reason, in the Direct to Video midquel and other tie-ins he now only has four sisters! Looks like Bambi's mother isn't the only one that didn't survive the winter...
Watching the Great Prince walk away at the end takes on a new meaning when you realize that in the novel he wonders off by himself to die. Probably to a deer graveyard
Watching Friend Owl shoo away the forest animals to give newborn Bambi a chance to rest is slightly creepy (but mostly just funny) knowing that he could successfully eat several of them. The chipmunk's disturbed expression in particular makes you wonder if the Carnivore Confusion was being silently contemplated by some of the smaller animals.
What's horrific about Bambi is that the threat of the hunters never disappears. They can show up at any time in their attempts to murder anybody unless of course, they were killed in the camp fire, which some fans infer.
It becomes quite unsettling in Bambi II, where Bambi is lured into a trap in the middle of the day only because his father looked away, and Bambi's would-be surrogate mother sets off a trap which prompts a group of hunter dogs to emerge only because she was lightly shoved into a bush.
Ronno's darkly presence in the original film only comes off creepier if you take the midquel's Character Development into mind. As a kid, Ronno feel victim to Always Someone Better against Bambi, becoming more and more obsessed with proving better than him, and even managing to take on a genuinely creepy presence when he goads him into a fight in the climax. His adult form is the result of his obsessive rivalry with Bambi embittering him into a grim sinister antagonist, willing to take possession of Faline (and even pull what almost comes off as Attempted Rape) if it gives him any means of besting him at last.
One has to wonder if the last defeat he suffered will cause him to snap even further. Will he continue with this obsession and with his stalking of Faline? Now that both she and Bambi are parents, this can lead to a severe case of absolute worry: the creepy bully who hasn't let go of his grudge towards your lover, who has had for the longest time an obsessive crush on you, AND who has become a LOT more dangerous over the years might just be thinking of taking revenge on your children...
Well, if you believe he survived that forest fire, anyway. After all, he is nowhere to be seen again in the first movie...
Bambi bucks a dog in the jaw. What if its dislocated?
Just imagine yourself, as a calf or an adult. Would you rather die? Or knock the lights out of that dog? In Bambi's case, it is either defend himself or be hunted down.
Why didn't Flower or Thumper have a rival for their mates? Well, aside from being the clowns, in the case of skunks a battle between males can be bloody and sometimes result in death.
Either that or the sole focus is on Bambi, not "Bambi and Friends".
Here's a fun little tidbit to make the death of Bambi's mother even more distressing: while hunting laws and tags vary from state-to-state (the films appear to take place in Maine, if I'm not mistaken) and does CAN be targets during specific seasons, most hunters either avoid killing does altogether out of moral obligation (as she may have fawns or be critical to keep the deer population at a steady number for future hunting) or because they aren't as desirable as stags. On the terms of hunting seasons, most deer seasons are over by the first thaw. When did Bambi's mother die? While they were eating the new budding grass in early February. Long story short: it's not hard to believe the possibility that Bambi's mother wasn't hunted, but poached.
