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Bambi Meets Godzilla
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Wikipedia article
'Bambi Meets Godzilla' is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film[https://www.indiewire.com/2015/01/a-bambi-meets-godzilla-live-action-remake-123687/#! A "Bambi Meets Godzilla" Live Action Remake|IndieWire] created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is a classic of animation; it was listed #38 in the book 'The 50 Greatest Cartoons' (1994).
Plot
The opening credits, consisting entirely of roles filled by Newland himself, scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while "Call to the Dairy Cows" from Rossini's opera 'William Tell' (1829) plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's foot coming down, squashing him flat (set to the final chord of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" slowed down to half-speed). After a moment, the closing credits appear alongside the image of Godzilla's foot atop Bambi. The closing credits give grateful acknowledgement to the city of Tokyo "for their help in obtaining Godzilla for this film". Godzilla's toe claws wiggle once and the cartoon ends.
Screenings and distribution
In 1973, 'Bambi Meets Godzilla' was paired with John Magnuson's 'Thank You Mask Man' by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle and released widely under the title 'The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects'. The program ran in repertory theaters across America for several years. The short was also included on VHS home video releases of 'Godzilla 1985' and 'Fantastic Animation Festival'.[https://archive.org/details/1978FantasticAnimationFestivalVhsRip 1978 fantastic animation festival vhs rip|Internet Archive]
Sequels and remakes
In 1976, the black-and-white sequel 'Bambi's Revenge' was released.Norman Gibson, Ernest Geefay, John Roope and Frank Wetzel (1976) [http://austinrae.com "Bambi's Revenge"]
In 1999, the 3D-animated color sequel 'Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla' was released.[https://www.amazon.com/Spike-Mikes-Classic-Festival-Animation/dp/B00004REHM Amazon.com: Spike & Mike's Classic Festival of Animation]
In 2013, animator Coda Gardner did a meticulous frame-by-frame recreation of the original via tracing the film frames and assembling the animation via digital video editing.
Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved 'Bambi Meets Godzilla' in 2009.
See also
*'Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown'
*'Escalation'
*'Mickey Mouse in Vietnam'
References
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