MovieChat Forums > Bambi (1942) Discussion > I watched Bambi when I was 8 and it scar...

I watched Bambi when I was 8 and it scarred me for life.

posted 13 years ago by lpv_84
44 replies | jump to latest

I am now 26 and still can't bring myself to watch it again. I just can't. Parents are so worried about violence or sex on TV... let me tell you something: The death of a parent is far more traumatizing to an 8 yr-old, than watching someone get his eye drilled off in some horror film. I just think it's funny how we've grown up with these seemingly "innocent" films, that turned out to be a lot darker than anything shown today. This is rated G? Funny. But show any hint of sexual activity (kissing/ implied sex scenes), or profanity, or minimal violence and that's a no no.

[–] w0304577 13 years ago

Maybe it's because, as far as children are concerned, sexual activity and profanity are WRONG. They should not be exposed to that stuff at a young age. The death of a parent on the other hand, however sad it may be, is unfortunately sometimes a part of life for children. There's your difference. And it's not as though they showed the mother getting shot or lying in a pool of blood. I could see how that might be upsetting for a child to see, but they show nothing. You must be an extremely emotional person for this movie to have scarred you for life. I watched this when I was younger than 8 and although I did find that scene very sad, I got over it just fine. Give me movies like this any day over some of the crap that's out there now :-)

[–] Sean_Pierce 13 years ago

^That is what I stand up for in this movie too. Though I will say, seeing the panicked bird drop dead gives me the chills every time. I just rediscovered that horrified feeling again when watching this on Blu-Ray. And thanks to the life-like animations - lol - it was like seeing a real bird drop dead.

O and I watched this repeatedly like from 4 years old 'til 8. Didn't scar me though I can't really say how you (OP) felt is something I'd argue about. Everyone's different I guess.

[–] andyp1986 13 years ago

Bambi was the first movie I ever saw. I was, at most, 2 years old when I first saw it. I know there's a lot of material in it that would shock kids. In fact, the OP is far from alone. I've heard so many people say exactly the same thing about being scarred for life.

Yet somehow, it never had that affect on me. In fact I kept watching Bambi over and over again, probably through elementary school. Perhaps a 2-year-old mind just can't fully process tragedy? Perhaps the movie just dealt with it in such a subtle way? I don't know.

The strange thing is, watching Bambi again, I realize it affects me on an emotional level now even more than it did as a kid.

"The price of originality is going up faster in Hollywood than the price of oil." - Roger Ebert

[–] algalli-1 9 years ago

I saw it when I was 3 in 1942 and I distinctly remember asking my mother why Bambi's mother had died. In my young world things like that did not happen. It was unthinkable. It did not scar me but that was probably because I was too young, but I will never forget it. I have never seen the movie since even when my kids watched it.

[–] squarepeg72 13 years ago

@w0304577

Screw you for insulting someone who has a different opinion than you. Hypocrite.

[–] w0304577 13 years ago

Um...exactly how did I insult them? I said I thought they were emotional. Since when is that a bad thing? Some people are more emotional than others

[–] boxerrebellion 9 years ago

THIS!!!

I took my sister when she was about four.... and missed most of it because she kept talking, saying 'this is boring' or 'that's a dumb deer'..... there I was, twelve years old, fully invested and crying my eyes out. That was over 40 years ago - and we still talk about it - and she has never shown it her eleven year old son.

[–] beyondj 8 years ago

Her son will become a killer if hes left inside a bubble

[–] danceskeletonsdance-2 13 years ago

I agree with the OP..I can't bring myself to watch 'Bambi' or 'The Fox And The Hound', and i can't understand why my parents thought it was a good idea to let me sit down and watch them, The only thing i learnt from them was that people suck!

I miscounted the men Liz..I miscounted the men!

[–] skiop 13 years ago

I agree with the OP..I can't bring myself to watch 'Bambi' or 'The Fox And The Hound'

I just watched The Fox and the Hound for the first time. I thought it was a fairly good metaphor for racism and the irrationality of it. But as a kid, it probably would have disturbed me (like An American Tale did).

The only thing i learnt from them was that people suck!

A worthwhile lesson.

[–] brep91 13 years ago

I still love Bambi despite the terrible scene where his mom dies. I can't remember how old I was when I first saw Bambi. I know I was younger than eight. It wasn't very traumatizing to me though since I had other favorite movies where the parent dies (Lion King & Hunchback of Notre Dame for example). I recall Lion King being a lot more sad to me because you actually see Mufasa die & Simba has to see it.

[–] PillowRock 13 years ago

I had other favorite movies where the parent dies (Lion King & Hunchback of Notre Dame for example)

That's actually kinda a staple of Disney animation story lines. You have to do a fair amount of searching to find an animated Disney movie where the main character gets to have both parents survive to the end of the movie. (There are a couple where they acquire a good step-parent at the end to round out a family.) Often there is only one parent even at the very beginning.

[–] brep91 13 years ago

That's true. Mulan & Sleeping Beauty (even though she didn't see her parents until the end) are the only Disney movies that come to mind where the character had both parents. Some sequels also had parents (Lion King 2 & Little Mermaid 2).

[–] andyp1986 13 years ago

Technically the kids in Peter Pan had both their parents by the end of the movie. I suppose you could argue that the parents were the stars of 101 Dalmatians. I guess Hercules counts since both the step parents and the actual parents were alive by the end of it (ironic when you consider the actual relationship between Zeus and Hera in Mythology).

That's about all I can think of for the animated films. Though I think Mary Poppins definitely should count.

"The price of originality is going up faster in Hollywood than the price of oil." - Roger Ebert

[–] w0304577 13 years ago

I've always noticed too that it is usually the mother who is absent, especially in the older Disney films. Characters like Ariel, Belle, Jasmine and Pocahontas; they all had fathers, but no mothers. Bambi had his mother for a little while and lost her, leaving him with only his father. Peter Pan and Mowgli didn't have either parent. And poor Cinderella lost her father at a young age and never even knew her mother. Another common scenario is the "evil stepmother" that seems to pop up quite a bit. You never hear about an evil stepFATHER, lol. I know a lot of these stories were taken from old fairy tales, so it isn't all Disney's fault. But still, the whole orphan thing seems a little overplayed. Maybe not so much now, but in the older films

[–] paintedbird 13 years ago

gender roles according to disney:

women: http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2487/s3prothumb600x49532442.jpg - http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5131/disneyprincessesz.jpg

men: http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9296/6b1ln.jpg

[–] brep91 13 years ago

That's right. I forgot about those movies you mentioned.

[–] Amry0217 9 years ago

When I was a kid, we had the record and when Bambi's father told Bambi his mother had died, Man had taken her, and you have to walk alone now, my brother looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "I hate Man!" I could say nothing to comfort him.

==============================
He lifts me clear to the sky, you know he taught me to fly.

[–] prsolinger 13 years ago

i didn't think the death of Bambi's mother was worse then any of your examples. Seriously? Comparing Bambi to Saw? That's ridiculous.

[–] MetFanMac 13 years ago

Looking back, I think this movie may have been the root cause of my lifelong phobia of dogs.

Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.

[–] skiop 13 years ago

Totally. For the longest time, I didn't know if this was an actual movie I saw as a kid or just a really bad nightmare I halfway remembered.

[–] RKharlamov2001 13 years ago

OP is simply being a puss.

Your post is absolutely ridiculous. You are talking absolute crap, you think if you show an 8 year old a film where someone gets his eye drilled off, they'd react better than if you show them Bambi? Nutjob. Moaning about Bambi being rated G, what a fool.

[–] SnowKittyLove 13 years ago

It scared you?I first saw this when I was 5 and LOVED it

Amos Slade,you trigger-happy lunatic!Give me that gun!

[–] whiskeyjim58 13 years ago

wow with you being 26 im sorry that it you made you so sad but life is that way i gruwe up and i think you should grow a pear of balls and look at life. i have lost mom dad and grand pearents and can still let my kids know that i will not be around for ever becuse the truth was showen to me before i grew up ya it sucks but it is life and just becuse you cant handel it at least let your kids figure it out in a cartoon befor that have to figure it out in real life and i hope you figure it out too

[–] sophrickco 12 years ago

You're old enough to have children? At the beginning of your post you seemed to be about 11 years old. "At least let your kids figure it out in a cartoon befor that have to figure it our in real life." What makes you think the OP 'can't handle' death? It's an obvious truth, everybody dies, the poster knows that; but it's not as basic or trivial a concept you make it out to be. The OP is simply discussing how they feel about a particular scene in a movie.

Grow a "pear" of balls?
...How does having balls factor into being brave? How is bravery anatomically biased? What the hell is wrong with feeling feelings, and expressing these feelings?

A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.