MovieChat Forums > Bambi (1942) Discussion > Darkest Animated Film Ever?

Darkest Animated Film Ever?

posted 15 years ago by rainfyre66
77 replies | jump to latest

If you go on the Pinocchio message boards, you get a lot of debate over whether or not Pinocchio is the darkest animated film ever. It didn't occur to me until today that Bambi is probably the darkest animated film ever (anime doesn't count, fyi). I don't know about the rest of you, but even with all the cute and charming characters, it used to depress the hell out of me when i was a kid! I rewatched it today, and I still have to agree it's probably the darkest animated children's film ever.

Reasons?

Bambi's mom of course, and the whole tense "don't go on the meadow" set-up, that's a notorious Disney-traumatizes-you-for-life scene. The whole hunter killing animals thing is pretty dark overall. When the quail freaks out and gets shot out of the sky while trying to escape has disturbed me since i was a kid. The forest fire caused by man. The buck trying to take Faline by force and the intense fight that follows. The scary looking dogs that look like they could be from the Resident Evil films. Bambi's distant relationship with his father.

What makes this all the more dark is that the film is going for realism, it's not a fantasy like Pinocchio or The Black Cauldron, or the other fantasies that get named. It's a story about man vs. nature, and man is the enemy.

Your guys' thoughts?

[–] beautyinabreakdown 15 years ago

It is truly dark, maybe not the darkest ever, but true to disney form it has traumatic undertones. I was traumatised as a child when I heard Bambi innocently pleaing, 'Momma! Momma!' Even now, I can still go into hysterics if I watch that scene and I *don't* cry at films. Never have, apart from Bambi.
I think this is the film that secured my loathing of hunters, fur and animal cruelty. It's probably the key instigator for making me a vegetarian when I was ten as well. You may call hunting 'sport' but I call it cold-blooded, mindless MURDER. I would never think hunting is anything but stripping innocent lives from harmless animals.

An idea is only relevant if it's being thought apon.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheLittleSongbird 14 years ago

I think contenders for the darkest animated film ever are Black Cauldron, Watership Down and Hunchback of Notre Dame. Also, The Secret of NIMH has a very dark tone to it and so does Princess Mononoke.

"Life after death is as improbable as sex after marriage"- Madeleine Kahn(CLUE, 1985)

[–] rainfyre66 14 years ago

I'm pretty sure this film is what set off my 3 year old daughter's decision to become a vegetarian...(Yes, her decision,not mine!). She was absolutely traumatized by the fact that people will kill animals for any reason. The look on her face when we watched it... :(

[–] three-amigos 14 years ago

The film's genious is to have the never seen on screen man as the enemy who disturbs the other wise peaceful life of the animals by means of gun shots and forest fires caused by carelessness.

For 1942 the concept was ahead of it's time.

The death of a parent subplot (redone is such films as Land Before Time, Lion King and Finding Nemo) can be traumatic for young children.

My 5 year old actually liked the film as it was about real things that actually could happen to animals.

In think I saw it for the first time in a theater at age 6 or 7. I remember feeling sad and happy watching it, but not traumatized.

One of the best annimated films ever, holds up well after all these years.

The dark moments create the emotional response which results in the film always being a part of you.

[–] Idril_Celebrindal 14 years ago

I would never say this is the "darkest animated film ever", because I have seen animated films such as Felidae, Watership Down, Plague Dogs, and Grave of the Fireflies - and all are extremely darker films than Bambi. Bambi is excessively mild in comparison. Granted, Bambi MAY be the darkest DISNEY film directed towards children, but it is not even close to the league of morbidity that can be seen in other animated films.

"...and she fought, alone as she was, like a tigress for all her beauty and slenderness."

[–] Sufi633 14 years ago

absolutely... The Plague Dogs... very dark movie.

[–] wermargaret 14 years ago

Felidae, The Plague Dogs and Watership Down have already been mentioned by other posters, but please let me include The Cunning Little Vixen, Allegro Non Troppo, and The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird.

Oh, and just about anything from Japan, bless their hearts. Especially Alakazam the Monkey King, The Littlest Warrior, and The Adventures of Unico.

And now the one that still creeps me out the most: The Snow Queen, circa 1959/1960. I remember begging begging begging to see 101 Dalmatians, and my mom took me to see this instead. Why? Don't know. I hope she didn't think that all cartoons look alike to a kid. I suspect that one of her wretched ladyfriends told her oh, take her to this, it's cuter.

Clark, stop it! I don't want to spend the holidays dead!

[–] irina2km 14 years ago

I completely disagree because the darkest animated film EVER is Hunchback of the Notre Dame. Seriously people never look into it because they say it's "too dark". It's completely ridiculous that people always underrate movies and HOTND is definitely one of them. The pain and suffering that Quasimodo goes through is immense and can't be compared to any other characters.

Another VERY dark animated film (Japanese anime) is Full Metal Alchemist. It has awesome humour but is very dark and emotional because it deals with death all the way until the end. It's honestly very good and there are a lot of other Japanese animes which are very dark.

[–] PimSollieFilm 14 years ago

I think Snowwhite and the seven dwarfs is the darkest...
Seriously, as a kid, some scenes scared the living crap out of me.

[–] horst-kackebart 14 years ago

hehe Water Ship Down is by far the darkest animated film I've ever seen. Excellent movie btw, can't wait till my daughter's old enough to watch it! :D
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/

[–] horst-kackebart 14 years ago

Water Ship Down is by far the darkest animated film I've ever seen. Excellent movie btw, can't wait till my daughter's old enough to watch it! :D

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078480/

Tagline: "All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you."
Rated PG. Need I say more?

[–] wrs6565 14 years ago

The darkest, as far as I'm concerned, are the first hour of "WALL-E" and a good deal of "The Secret Of NIMH," which gets AWESOMELY dark towards the end. Honestly, if you're little and impressionable enough, "The Secret Of NIMH" could be downright traumatizing.

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 14 years ago

But "murder" is a term reserved for the killing of human beings, and by applying it to animals you mark yourself as a radical who doesn't deserve a spot in an honest conversation.

I think you elaborated too much on a very narrow-minded point of view. There's two different kinds of hunting practices: hunting for food, and hunting to fulfill a twisted need to kill and thus feel superior or good about one's self. The first is hunting for necessity, and as someone who eats meat I'd be a hypocrite to condemn it, but the second is reserved for people with very sick, but unfortunate legal, mental issues. So there's a big difference, and the former kind is also 'murder,' and of the worst kind, as there is no justification for it. I find it more inhumane to kill an animal for the thrill of it, than to kill a human in self-defense, or in other 'reasonable' situations.

Back to the topic, I don't think the film is dark at all. The film is overall light-hearted, a metaphor of life, growth and revival, and it has one of the cheeriest finales of all, showing that the circle of life carries on and resumes after death and destruction. This is not dark at all, it is the opposite.

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[–] Drakonikus 14 years ago

People have said it, but Felidae and Plague Dogs are DARK films. However I love them so much :D

[–] mjwatts1 13 years ago

Bambi's scenes do have their dark moments:

The scene were Bambi's mother stops him going into the meadow and the music at that point when she jumps in front of him and the intensity of it when she ventures out on the meadow and it is such a strong scene because you can almost feel the tenseness and the wariness.

I always found the scene where Ronno and Bambi meet to be quite a dark scene. Not only does Ronno look a bit scary to me but the colours during the fight stresses once again the intensity of the fight.

When Bambi is running around the meadow looking for his mother when the hunters come on the meadow is also quite dark just because of the impending danger that's so near to the panicked fawn.

But the worst in my opinion is before the forest fire begins and the terrified quail goes flying out of the long-grass and gets shot down. The way that the quail reacts is very much like as to how a person would probably feel and probably react if they were being stalked by a murderer with a machete. The way you can compare these two scenarios is very disturbing.

I also get shivers whenever I hear the 'Man' theme. That can turn any scene in that film dark and disturbing in a second.

Sorry for rambling if I have done lol.

[–] CosmosX9 13 years ago

I used to think "Bambi" was dark too, but I think "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" had much darker realism, and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", in my opinion, is Disney's darkest film (that and "The Brave Little Toaster").

"I got in one little fight and my mom got scared"- Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

[–] mjwatts1 13 years ago

I will agree that The Hunchback of Notre Dame is dark too. It shows discrimination of Quasimodo when the townspeople start to torment him just because he's different and also Frollo's corruption. I've only seen 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'The Brave Little Toaster' once so I can't really make comment lol.

Can't rain all the time...

[–] lordofalldormice 13 years ago

No mention of Animal Farm yet? The bit where the horse gets taken to the glue factory is terrifying.

Also, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, due Frollo being fantastically twisted, and the fact that the girl ends up with the tall, handsome captain rather than the main character.

My top 5 darkest children's animated films would be...
Plague Dogs
Watership Down
Animal Farm
the Hunchback of Notre Dame
Toy Story 3

I'd put Felidae on there but that is NOT a film for children, under any stretch of the imagination.

I know its a series (so technically not a film), but did anyone ever watch the Animals of Farthing Wood? Similar themes to Bambi in that man is the main enemy. Seemed like one of the characters died off every other episode, from crossing roads/having its hole filled in by a digger/being shot/starving/being eaten by another animal.

Cheers

"You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off"

[–] doowopfan 12 years ago

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