--- title: "Bambi: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/bambi/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/bambi" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 15 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bambi (1942): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 15 reviews: 14 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are almost uniformly warm, with fourteen of fifteen positive and none negative. The praise clusters on the animation: the watercolour and impressionistic backgrounds, the seasonal and storm sequences, and the way the film shifts from comedy to dread without losing its footing. Thumper is named again and again as the character who carries the lighter passages. Most critics also single out the death of Bambi’s mother, admiring its restraint and how much it does offscreen, and several read the film as a quiet study of nature’s cycles and innocence lost. The spread is narrow, and the dissent is mostly old. The New Yorker, writing in 1942, finds the characterisation and comedy short of Disney’s earlier features and the animals too talkative. The New York Times, the same year, feels it drifts too far into realistic naturalism when it should be cartoon fantasy. Among later critics, only Slant Magazine finds the themes thin beside other Disney films of the period. ## Radio Times — Andrew Collins Rating 5/5. Praises its classic status, ecological message, and balance of naturalism and cartoonery, noting the memorable mother’s death scene. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-leyt73/bambi/) ## The AV Club — Scott Tobias Rating A. 20 April 2011. The critic calls it a beautiful, timeless film about innocence lost and knowledge gained, highlighting its quiet, subtle illustration of life's cycles including death, with gorgeous watercolor backdrops and universal themes. He notes the shocking offscreen death of Bambi's mother but finds the overall tone reassuring and transcendent. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/bambi-1798167974) ## Empire — Andrew Osmond Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2011. The critic calls Bambi an ambitious natural-world opus that uses cute moments to ground stunning impressionistic backgrounds and expressionistic colour bursts, singling out the emotional power and restraint of the mother's death scene alongside the film's mastery of shifting tones. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/bambi-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Charles Solomon Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 July 1988. The 1942 film stands out for communicating through visual imagery rather than dialogue in a story of a young deer coming of age. It ranks as the most atmospheric Disney feature thanks to its impressionistic backgrounds and endearing characters like Thumper. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-15-ca-6964-story.html) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds the film enchanting and praises Disney's animation of the forest and animals, particularly Thumper, while noting some frightening scenes and the absence of humans as a strength. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/features/ultimatefilm/chart/details.php?ranking=72) ## The Guardian — Philip French Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 6 March 2011. The critic identifies Bambi as the subtlest and most affecting of Walt Disney's early hand-drawn features from 1937-42. It is described as an enduring masterpiece that is witty and moving, capturing the fears and hopes of second world war audiences while celebrating the cycle of nature. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/mar/06/philip-french-classic-dvd-bambi) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). The story is full of tenderness with characters that tickle the heart; Thumper steals the picture. The interplay of color and movement shines especially in the seasonal sequences, reaching new heights in storm depictions. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1941/film/reviews/bambi-1200413909/) ## Slant Magazine — Glenn Heath Jr. Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 2011. The critic views the film as a timeless visual feast of innocence gained and lost, praising its majestic imagery and lyrical treatment of generational evolution and natural life cycles. He notes a thin thematic focus compared to other Disney classics but finds its restrained, poetic approach to life's rhythms admirable and relevant. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/bambi-1951/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 27 July 1993. The writer reflects on watching the re-released film with family members across two viewings, praising its handling of themes including co-operation, love, loss and man as destroyer, as well as its disciplined treatment of the mother's death. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/animated-by-a-return-to-the-enchanted-forest-1487646.html) ## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 August 1942. The film captures much of the fantasy and visual beauty of the source story but disappoints by straying into overly realistic naturalism instead of pure cartoon fantasy. The critic singles out the startling beauty and inventive humor for praise while noting excessive charm and violence in the narrative. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/14/archives/bambi-a-musical-cartoon-in-technicolor-produced-by-walt-disney-from.html) ## Time Out — AN Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2014. The review highlights the splendid animation from Disney's rich period, blending impressionistic forest scenes with anthropomorphic animal characters reminiscent of Fantasia. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/bambi-1) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 8 August 1942. Walt Disney's adaptation has much of the appeal of his prior features but the characterizations and comedy fall slightly short, with too much conversation. The color and scenery are up to standard, and it is positioned more strictly as a children's picture. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1942/08/15/1942-08-15-053-tny-cards-000011113) ## Collider — Andre Dellamorte Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 March 2011. The critic calls Bambi a timeless masterpiece whose universal appeal and empathetic portrayal of nature have allowed it to endure. The animation, particularly the watercolor backgrounds, is singled out as the finest achievement in cinema animation. [Read the review](https://collider.com/bambi-blu-ray-review/) ## Eye for Film — Max Blinkhorn Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 11 February 2005. The critic calls it a wonderful story that brings a tiny tear to the eye even of a cynic. They single out its staggering step forward in animation with no peer at the time, along with its defined cartoon cuteness and pathos. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/bambi-film-review-by-max-blinkhorn) ## The Playlist — Oliver Lyttelton Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 12 April 2016. The piece positions Bambi as a quiet, beautiful, and pastoral coming-of-age story that is close to Disney as arthouse while still appealing to children. It singles out the kid-traumatizing death of Bambi’s mom as its biggest talking point but notes the film’s merits go far beyond that, with an experimentally episodic narrative and greater sense of humanity. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-20-best-disney-animated-features-20160412/4/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/bambi.md