Really, Bambi II isn't shoddy, and the writing's several cuts above the usual Disney-sequel (or "mid-quel") refuse. The animation is clean and smooth, the jokes aren't too stupid, and the moral isn't brutally hammered home. In fact, aside from a few thoroughly terrible non-diegetic songs, the whole thing is quite comfortable to watch. But let's face it: Bambi wasn't about comfort. Opening with Father Deer Prince (voice of Patrick Stewart, no less) seeking a replacement mother for his son, the new film sets us up for the lesson that Dad shouldn't be so unsparing a single parent, which is ridiculous, because Bambi says to stoically suck it up and get on with one's traumatized life. Bambi II essentially inverts the fear and loathing of its namesake in concluding that there's nothing a plucky young deer can't handle with the right encouragement--something the first film arrived at by equating "encouragement" with the violent death of your nurturing mother.

One could point to the mildly revisionist approach and argue that the new Bambi is trying to correct the old one's ideological crimes. The über-patriarchal tone of the original, with its manhood-is-resisting-all-pain message, has been replaced with lighter tones: there's a positive girl deer for gender balance, a bully-boy with budding antlers--who presumably grows up to be Bambi's nemesis from the original--as an example of bad sportsmanship, and a toning-down of the loner-male approach that has rightly disturbed the film's contemporary critics. But this isn't done out of genuine concern--it's done out of ass-covering cowardice. Bambi II so determined to whitewash its forebear's legacy that it says all the right things to create a nice, cozy atmosphere, when the recoverable genius of Bambi lies in not flinching while everything falls into chaos.

In its brilliant, twisted way, Bambi offered strange comfort in the knowledge that we weren't the only ones to suffer the slings and arrows of a terrifying life--a comfort that no amount of warm-fuzzies can ever adequately approach. The irony of Bambi II is that Walt Disney's own efforts to erect safe havens in the form of theme parks and media empires have finally, triumphantly effaced his real achievement: the evoking of the fear that drives us into the arms of the loving parent. Now the snake has eaten its own tail to the point that it has winked out of existence, as not even the parent remains--just the pacifier meant to distract you from the wolf at the door. If you want comfort for your kids, this does the job, but if you want to perhaps give them a glimpse of the world to come, this won't do at all. As for the notion that family entertainment doesn't have to be innocuous mush, file your regrets at your local MPAA office.

The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer on Disney's FastPlay-enhanced DVD release of Bambi II features vivid, well-dilineated colours; fine detail is excellent as well. It's a photo finish, however, for the Dolby 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundmixes--neither is particularly complex, meaning one's as good as the other as far as surround cues are concerned. Each sounds clear and full-bodied, especially during the rainstorm climax. Extras include "The Legacy Continues" (8 mins.), a making-of featurette that's rushed and shallow even by kiddie DVD standards. The original film, the method, the voice talents, and Patrick Stewart prattling on about the seriousness of comedy are checked off with such haste as to be completely unengaging. "Disney Sketch Pad" (3 mins.) is a little better, with animator Andreas Deja sketching Thumper while vaguely pointing out his method at a level kids can understand (it's accompanied by a DVD-ROM sketching feature that my system couldn't handle). A feature called "Bambi's Trivia Tracks" involves pop-up trivia tidbits throughout the film--mostly very basic animation trivia and nature factoids (such as the nugget that flying squirrels don't really fly). Finally, "Thumper's Hurry and Scurry Game" has you searching for hiding Thumper in various parts of the forest. For the life of me, I couldn't find him. Trailers for Lady and the Tramp, The Wild, The Shaggy Dog, Brother Bear 2, AirBuddies, Fox and the Hound 2, Leroy and Stitch, Pooh's Grand Adventure, and Jojo's Circus round out the disc.-Travis Mackenzie Hoover

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