Bambi turns 75

One of the top 10 movies of all time according to the American Film Institute, Disney's "Bambi" was released 75 years ago on August 9, 1942. With its realistic representation of forest creatures, it was considered an animated masterpiece, one whose messages of respecting your natural surroundings continue to affect audiences today.

The movie's release was long delayed; some film critics at the time said it was due in large part to Disney's perfectionism. "I wouldn't hurry. I wanted it right," Disney reportedly said in an interview. Getting it right included bringing two fawns - gifted by the Maine Development Commission - to the studio. The artists studied the deer in order to render them more accurately.

Great pains were taken by the animators to ensure the animals remained life-like even as they took on human qualities. Deer are one of the most difficult animals to draw due to the placement of their eyes on the sides of their heads. Moving their mouths to speak likewise proved difficult. Maybe that is why there are less than 1,000 words spoken in the 70-minute feature.

First released in 1923 in Austria, the book "Bambi: A Life in the Woods" by Felix Salter was originally written for adults and features a plot filled with murder and sex. Adapting the book for an audience of children meant rewriting most of the story. While the movie diverges heavily from the original book, its environmental messages remain clear. Pictured is a film poster from the 1942 release.

Disney intentionally chose to leave the villain off screen, as this poster featuring the main characters shows. While no humans appear on screen, the effect of humans' behavior is felt; the most suspenseful parts of the film come when Man has appeared off stage, inciting fear in the forest creatures. The not-too-subtle message: Human behavior influences the natural world, to catastrophic end.

The movie was ahead of its time in drawing attention to man-made environmental devastation. A catastrophic fire sweeps through the forest in which they live, sending the animals running for their lives, as seen here in this poster. After its release, the movie, its protagonist and its music have served the pubilc interest and have been used repeatedly in fire safety messages.

Fitting with the film's coming-of-age storyline, one unforgettable scene shows Bambi sprawled out on ice, struggling to get on his feet. The young fawn's hooves fail to grip and ensuing tumble offers more than a few laughs. Bambi maintains his childlike demeanor throughout the movie, in large part due to Disney's decision to have children voice the characters to make them more lifelike.

"Bambi" traces the year's seasons and explains the circle of life in doing so. Come springtime, the animation grows more colorful as it shows the meadows in bloom. The forest is awash with animals looking to mate and Bambi, Thumper and Flower learn about romance - or Twitterpating - from Owl. Bambi meeting his future love in the spring, however, is a bit of fiction: Whitetail deer rut in autumn.

The coming-of-age story tracing Bambi's earliest year is also listed as one of the top 10 saddest children's movies. Following the book's plot, the fawn encounters hunters and learns to fear humans as a result. His mother is later killed by one. After determining the plot too grim for a children's audience, the characters of Thumper the Rabbit and Flower the Skunk were added for comic relief.

Throughout the movie, the young fawn is faced with challenges that increasingly have him learning the independence he'll need to get through life later without his mother. The anxiety he feels in this scene after the two get separated in a snowy woods had a lasting effect on audiences. Many adults who saw the movie as chidlren refuse to watch it again despite no violence occurring on screen.

Like Disney's musical groundbreaker, "Fantasia," "Bambi" did away with sound effects, employing a full orchestra and choir to bring the action to life, including in this memorable rain storm scene. "Little April shower" provided the soundtrack to the animals running for cover, crescendoing as the storm increased in intensity. The movie received three Oscar nominations for its sound.

On a day out to the meadow with his mother, Bambi encounters male deer for the first time. This large buck, known as the prince of the forest, is later revealed to be Bambi's father and the young fawn understands that this will be what he grows into, once independent from his mother.

Though the original "Bambi" continued to draw millions in revenue decades after its release, Disney studios released a sequel in 2006 - "Bambi II." With 64 years between the original and the sequel, it was the longest delayed follow-up in film history. In it, the young fawn is taken in by his father, the great prince of the forest, who shows him the ways of the world as he transitions into a buck.