Walt Disney: A Life in Films

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Mel Giedroyc steps into the magical world of Walt Disney.

Mel Giedroyc steps into the magical world of Walt Disney, exploring his extraordinary life through the stories of ten of the much mythologised genius's best-loved works.

Walt Disney: A Life in Films: 5. Bambi

5. Bambi

BBC Radio 4 - Walt Disney: A Life in Films, 5. Bambi

Mel Giedroyc invites you into the woods to explore Disney’s classic Bambi.

Mel Giedroyc invites you into the woods to explore Disney’s Bambi, a deeply moving classic.

Through the stories of ten of his greatest works, Mel Giedroyc examines the life of Walt Disney, a much mythologised genius. A man to whom storytelling was an escape from an oppressive father and a respite from periods of depression.

His name is truly iconic, but how much do we really know about this titan of the entertainment industry? Who was the real Walt and why did a man who moulded Western pop culture in his image end up on his deathbed, afraid that he’d be forgotten?

In this episode, Mel invites you into the woods to explore Disney’s Bambi, a deeply moving film following the story of an orphaned deer as he discovers the joys of nature and faces the dangers of hunters and the harshness of winter.

We hear how Walt obsessed over the realism of the animation, bringing live animals into the studio to act as models for his staff. At one point a rutting stag broke loose, causing havoc, but the end result is a sumptuously beautiful film. Under the surface however, Walt endured a torrid time, taking out hefty bank loans in order to finance the project which massively overran.

It has since been acknowledged as a classic, but Bambi received a muted response from the critics. Hugely impacted by the ongoing Second World War, Bambi didn’t even come close to breaking even on its initial release. Clearly, Walt needed a new approach if his studio was to survive.

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5. Bambi

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