The Movie
A direct-to-video sequel to the 1942 Disney classic Bambi, 2006's Bambi II seeks to fill in the gaps between the untimely demise of his mother and his return to his proper place in the woods as a young buck with his antlers starting to grow in. In between he was raised by his father, The Great Prince, who at first feels a sense of obligation to the sad, helpless little deer, but his parenting skills--most notably his patience--are put to the test as Bambi's limitations begin to show themselves. As with many dads, he doubts his suitability to raise a child by himself, and so he sets Friend Owl on a quest to find a worthy adoptive mother.
In the meantime it's rough going, and while dad eventually starts warming to lad, who shows his first signs of promise, neither is the tale especially heartwarming. None of the main characters or new arrivals are particularly engaging, but viewers looking to spend more time with familiar supporting pals, behaving just as we would expect, shouldn't be disappointed.
The Picture
Produced 64 years later, Bambi II took advantage of then-state-of-the-art digital animation techniques, with an eye on creating a movie that still looked as close as possible to the original. In the plus column, the 16:9 image displays no film grain, and the painterly style and warm colors look terrific in HD. But the too-perfect lines, shading and motion serve as reminders that this is a different animal.
The Sound
One of the most frequent highpoints of this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 channel lossless mix is the discrete channeling of voices either offscreen or exiting the frame, including the rears, even enhanced by phasing. The music, and there's quite a bit of it, appears to be the only full 360-degree presence, although there are fine moments of dogs snarling all around us and crisp, booming thunder. And what would a Bambi movie be without a jolting gunshot?
The Extras
The bonus features combine those from the special edition DVD with new content. "Friend Owl's Forest Fun" is a series of three addition/subtraction/counting set-top mini-games, along with the one-player or two-player Hurry & Scurry game. "Sing the Day" is a deleted song from an alternate, extended scene (two minutes, in HD).
"The Legacy Continues" is a brief "making of," with Disney Sketch Pad (about four minutes) hosted by animation consultant Andreas Deja recreating the characters with old-school pencil and paper. Both of these are in standard definition.
Bambi's Trivia Tracks puts fun info onscreen while we watch. This two-disc set also includes the movie in standard definition with a subset of these bonus features.
Final Thoughts
Bambi fans who wanted to know more about the fawn's odyssey will want to check out Bambi II, with its solid audio/video and fun extras, while kids might enjoy this family-friendly sequel in standard or high definition.
Product Details
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