YMMV / Bambi II

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Does Bambi realize the true fate of his mother? The midquel implies via a late night conversation between Bambi and his father that he doesn't even realize what really happened to her, and naively assumes that she's simply missing and resting elsewhere. Then again, going by an earlier scene where he quietly and solemnly asks "She's never coming back, is she?" to his father, it's possible that he does know and simply doesn't really comprehend what death is due to his young age. It's also possible that even after that fateful night, he's still clinging to some small hope that he'll see her again one day.
  • A big source of why Ronno tends to get a lot of sympathetic portrayals in fanfiction. Is his bullying and fragile, haughty ego an end result of a Friendless Background preventing him from having a proper moral compass and social skills, and thus driving him to act like a braggart and do ambitious things just for attention or to get a leg up over his rival, or is it the other way around, with his situation being caused entirely by having such a bad attitude in the first place?
  • The Porcupine. Next to Ronno, he's the only animal who is outwardly disrespectful to Bambi. Initially, it seems like he’s a grouchy old guy who yells at young animals for trespassing on his log. But when Bambi mentions his title as the young prince, the Porcupine begins to act up even more. Is he just a cantankerous Jerkass or is he taking a stand against animals, who think they can do as they please, because they’re royalty? His rant about a lack of respect and his insulting the Great Prince seem to be good evidence.
• Anti-Climax Boss: Despite his expanded role in the story, and the build-up to it, Ronno's fight with Bambi is anything but spectacular. The latter actually manages to get the upper hand over him for most of it, and the fight technically ends in a draw after Ronno flees the scene due to the sudden arrival of Man (though Bambi is clearly the moral victor of it). It makes sense from a story standpoint, showing that Ronno is mostly all bark and no bite.
• Awesome Art: One of the things that is always praised about the midquel is its ambitious art direction and animation. The midquel had a surprisingly large budget for most DTV fare (enough to gain a theatrical release in several regions), resulting in animation and visuals that almost match the original, and are at least on par with the animation of Disney's '90s features. Having Andreas Deja supervise certainly helped.
• Awesome Music: The Rescuers Down Under veteran Bruce Broughton tries his very best to match the elegance of the first film's soundtrack in the Interquel, and largely succeeds. The Leitmotif that represents Bambi and the Great Prince's relationship is particularly moving.
• Badass Decay: The Great Prince has been humanized and developed more as a character, turning into an initially reluctant but later loving (and sometimes even silly) father. While many fans see this as a good thing, it did cause him to lose much of that mysterious, quiet, serious, regal dignity and majesty he practically radiated in every one of his scenes in the first film, which many other fans see as a loss.
• Base-Breaking Character: Ronno. Depending on whom you ask, he's either a surprisingly fleshed-out and entertaining rival to Bambi whose presence helps to elevate the film's rather by-the-numbers story, or an unmemorable cookie-cutter kid bully who adds nothing of real value to the film and would have been better off removed.
• Broken Base:
  • As stated under Fan-Disliked Explanation, the more character-driven nature of the plot is particularly contentious. Many fans of the original believe it completely misses the point of it being an intentionally vague caricature of nature driven by ambiance, while others believe the more humanized character study format and Worldbuilding serves better than retreading the same steps of the first film like so many of the other direct-to-video Disney sequels. In general, the preference depends on those who appreciate Bambi more as a film or a character respectively.
  • The vocal pop songs. Some fans of the film love them, while others (including some of the film's production staff) feel that they're cheesy and painfully out of place with the film's tone and the orchestral score.^note The film initially used the entire score for the first film as temporary tracks, and the pop songs weren't added until much later in production.
• Can't Un-Hear It: Just try to read the original book or adaptations of the original Disney movie now without hearing Patrick Stewart's take on the Great Prince in this movie. Same with Alexander Gould's take on Bambi.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • When Ronno goads Bambi into a fight by insinuating the Great Prince was ashamed of him and "(gave) him away" (to a stepmother), and Bambi, who is at his lowest emotional point, finally snaps and hands him his flank on a silver platter, did you honestly not feel more than gratified that he did?
  • The climax involving the cute fawn-era Bambi taking escalating levels in badass is oddly satisfying considering his (sometimes undeserved) legacy with Bambification and his Memetic Loser reputation.
• Cliché Storm: One of the main criticisms of the film is that the story is a rather by-the-numbers and overly sentimental take on the "Wayward son tries to earn the approval of his stern, emotionally aloof parent by maturing" plot, a story thats been done before by several other Disney works^note in fact, Kronk's New Groove, which was released just a year before Bambi II, had just such a plot as its conflict, albeit presented in a more comical way and way too many live action movies to count. Not helping this is the fact that, being a midquel, a viewer would already know how it's going to end, so its events are seen by some as an ultimately superfluous addition to the original. The general idea of conflict being sprung by tension between the parent and their ward was absolutely nothing new for direct-to-video Disney films, much less animated films in general, either. Even the film's most popular character, Ronno, is often seen as a rather standard bully character that's common to animated cartoons. While Bambi II is at least often praised for being one of Disney's more heartfelt examples in execution and balancing it with a few clever expansions on the original film, it still feels relatively more formulaic than the very unique flow of its predecessor.
• Contested Sequel: While it's near unanimously agreed that the first Bambi is a far bigger milestone in the Disney canon, some fans contest they prefer Bambi II story-wise due to its more uplifting tone and further fleshed-out characters. Others detest it for that very reason, deeming it a more childish Cliché Storm compared to the more nuanced and artistic direction of the first film. It is at least often regarded as one of Disney Toon Studios' most earnest attempts at a follow-up film, though whether that is saying much is also up for debate.
• Crack Ship:
  • There are fans who ship young Ronno and Faline together, even though the two don't interact much in-canon and what little interaction there is shows that Faline is at most grudgingly tolerant of Ronno's presence, and at worst is outright repulsed by him (to say nothing of him trying to rape her when they're fully grown).
  • Shipping young Bambi and Ronno together is a surprisingly popular fan pairing, even though it makes no sense whatsoever due to the two hating each other's guts by the end, with Ronno in particular having nothing but absolute contempt for his rival.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Due to his significantly expanded character, Ronno tends to get portrayed a lot more sympathetically (sometimes being turned into a Jerkass Woobie or Anti-Hero) in fanfiction than he is in the movie, where he's an unsympathetic bully who only got worse as he got older.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Next to the Great Prince, this movie's portrayal of Ronno as a fawn is probably the most popular (if divisive) part of the film, and has spawned a fairly large amount of fanart and fanfiction.
• Fanfic Fuel: Bambi II caused a lot of attraction towards the franchise in this regard, since while it filled in some (but not all) missing pieces in the original storyline, it also made the previously vague work much more character driven, leaving broader archetypes and relationships for fan writers to play around with (particularly regarding Bambi and his relationships with his father and Ronno).
• Fan-Disliked Explanation: Most detractors of Bambi II criticize the film's more thorough Character Development of the cast (especially of the Great Prince and Ronno), arguing that it misses the entire point of the first film, which was primarily a nuanced environmental perspective piece with sparse dialogue and elements and characters intentionally left ambiguous and vague. On the other hand, the broader characterizations have won some fans, with some of them believing it to be an improvement on the original.
• Faux Symbolism: It was revealed in the "Making of Bambi II" that the butterflies seen in Bambi's dream sequence and at the end of the movie are meant to symbolize Bambi's love for his mother in the former and his father in the latter. D'awww.
• Foe Yay Shipping: It's fairly popular in fanart and fanfics to ship Bambi and Ronno together, even though the two get along like a forest on fire in the movies.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Since the late '80s, Patrick Stewart had wanted a role in a Disney animated film, but other projects kept getting in the way. He ended up voicing a character from one of Disney's most iconic franchises.
  • Remember how Captain Picard had trouble dealing with kids? Not so much this time!
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In 2002, Saturday Night Live TV Funhouse lampooned Disney's infamous direct to video sequels by having a skit about "Bambi 2002". Fast forward to 2006, and Disney would release a direct to video Bambi follow up (albeit a midquel, not a sequel). In a later skit, they acknowledged the midquel along with their Bambi 2002;
  "Bambi II is going into the Disney Vault. After just 70 days on sale, the glorious Bambi II goes into the Disney Vault for 10 years along with Cinderella II, Bambi 2002, Sleeping Beauty III: Lil' Sleepy Meets Aladdin, Hunchback VI: Air Dog Quasi, Mulan VIII: The Prozoids Strike Back, Jungle Book 3.0: Jungle Blog, and 101 Felations."
• Jerkass Woobie: The Great Prince. He genuinely wants what is best for his son, but unfortunately, his aloof, disaffectionate nature and insistence on tradition unintentionally leads him to be emotionally rejecting toward Bambi at first. Being pained by the death of his mate helps matters even less.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Even those who didn't like the Interquel will admit enjoyment in hearing Patrick Stewart's portrayal of The Great Prince.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Bambi's Disney Death in an interquel to a wildly successful movie. 'Nuff said (however, the scene may be a Tear Jerker while it lasts, at least in-context, due to the Great Prince's genuinely heartbreaking reaction to it).
• Love to Hate: The films take on Ronno gets this reaction from fans. He's an obnoxious jackass at best and a throughly despicable sociopath in the making by the end of it. But he's also considered by some viewers to be a surprisingly well-rounded and entertaining take on the bully-type character, and he's just so unlucky and pitiful, that you can't help but love him regardless.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The shot where Bambi attempts to roar (making a bleat instead) is a fairly popular video to use for editing in different sound effects over Bambi's bleating, such as Godzilla's roar or another character swearing.
  • "A prince does not 'woo-hoo'."^explanationThe Great Prince chiding Bambi early on when he gets excited about tagging along with him to look after the herd. This is the Great Prince, a generally stoic and no-nonsense authority figure, saying this completely straight-faced. Patrick Stewart's voice acting takes what would otherwise be an incredibly ridiculous line regardless of context and pulls it off with complete conviction, making it one of the funniest lines in the movie.
• Narm:
  • The movie's Downer Beginning, which depicts a retelling of the Great Prince telling Bambi about his mother, falls into this category for one reason. Bambi calling for his mother is heard offscreen, and we get a bird’s eye view of the two deer facing each other. The way it’s shot inadvertently gives the implication that Bambi didn’t realise the Great Prince was right in front of him. He was calling for his mother without noticing his father.
  • During the otherwise very tense deer call scene, when the Great Prince screams "Run Bambi!" after seeing the glint on a hunter's rifle, his mouth movement is briefly but noticably exaggerated to downright cartoonish, ridiculous looking proportions that look more at home on a Looney Tunes character than someone as serious and naturalistically animated as him.
  • The film treats Mena being trapped by Man (via a leg snare) as a serious situation due to the looming threat of Man's hounds coming her and the fawns way. After Bambi distracts the dogs, cue the Great Prince showing up and...biting the rope hard enough to snap it, which is something Mena should have easily been able to do herself and save both her and Bambi a lot of trouble.
  • Bambi's Disney Death at the end is so painfully forced and clichéd, it's very difficult to take it seriously, especially since you'd know from the ending of the first film that, no, he's not really going to die. Making matters worse is that the editing and staging unintentionally gives the impression that Bambi didn't fall that far, making it seem like the Great Prince was seriously overreacting to the whole thing.
• Narm Charm:
  • The one thing that salvages the above scene is the Great Prince's genuinely heartwrenching reaction to it (sure, the audience knows Bambi is going to live, but the Prince doesn't) and him and his son finally bonding for good after Bambi reveals he survived.
  • The birds' "MAAAANNN" crow is rather cheesy in concept, but the voice distortion making it sound like a proper bird call gives it a genuinely creepy touch.
  • Patrick Stewart manages to play the Prince's most ridiculous lines dead seriously.
    Prince: A prince does not, "whoo hoo."
• Older Than They Think:
  • Elements of the midquel that seem like new additions to the series, such as further humanizing the characters, were already present not only in older spin-off materials of the film (e.g. the many Dell comics and storybooks starring the characters and Osamu Tezuka's manga adaptation), but even in Felix Salten's own sequel to the original novel, Bambi's Children.
  • Also, while the story is mostly original, a lot of scenes serve as Mythology Gags to the original novels and Disney tie-in material as well. Both the deer call scene and the younger animals' incidents with an ornery porcupine are loosely based on moments from the novels, while the Annoying Younger Sibling characterisation of Thumper's sisters first appeared in Disney storybooks.
  • Many viewers think that Ronno is a Canon Foreigner. They don't recognize him as the buck that Bambi fought in the original film, namely due to a slightly different colour palette and the fact he was voiceless and nameless in the original. Also, this was not Ronno's first appearance as a fawn; that would be in Osamu Tezuka's manga adaptation of Bambi, which predates the midquel by several decades.
  • The midquel seemingly retcons the events of the original film by having the spring where Bambi is a yearling take place at least another year after his mother's death instead of the spring immediately thereafter. But the newspaper comic adaptation clarifies that this was always intended to be the case with the first film, pointing out that the later part of it did, in fact, take place over a year after that fateful winter.
• Popular with Furries: Ronno and the Great Prince. Bambi himself also has quite a number of fans due to his more fleshed out characterisation.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • The singer who performs the cut song “Sing the Day” is Anika Noni Rose, who three years later would voice Tiana in The Princess and the Frog.
  • Ariel Winter provided the voices for one of Thumper's sisters, she would later become best-known as the voice of Sofia in Disney Junior's Sofia the First.
  • Flower is voiced by Nicky Jones, later to be known for voicing Chowder.
• Salvaged Story: While few were demanding a midquel for Bambi, many think that this movie at the very least works well smoothing out the transition between the death of Bambi's mother and birds singing happy little spring songs in the first film.
• Signature Scene:
  • The Deer Call scene tends to be the most remembered part of the film due to its downright eerie atmosphere and surprisingly tense tone.
  • The scene with Bambi's pathetic attempt at roaring, due to it being a somewhat popular meme.
• So Okay, It's Average: While Bambi II is considered among the better Disney sequels, few consider it to be as good as the original, and it is usually seen as average at best. Generally, the animation and premise are often praised, but on the whole, people consider it to lack the artistic ambition of the original, being a more formulaic Disney story, with tweaks like the altered characterisations, larger reliance on dialogue, and contemporary pop songs being very divisive. In short, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who truly loves or hates this film.
• Special Effect Failure: Late in the film, in a scene shortly before Friend Owl introduces Bambi to Mena, there's a shot◊ where Bambi freezes alert in front of the Prince when he senses danger (who is just doing it to mess with Bambi) but the large size of Bambi's drawing combined with the even perspective of the background ruins the forced perspective and unintentionally gives the impression that Bambi suddenly grew to a size even larger than his dad!
• Sweetness Aversion: While the first Bambi was infamously cloying, it was partially down to the Mandela Effect, with the film relying on more subtle imagery and at times becoming much darker. Bambi II, however, while similarly rounded, amps up the cutesy cartoon animal behaviour and dialogue in some parts of the story, particularly the "Being brave" montage and the opening scenes with the groundhog.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Many fans of the midquel prefer the film's more relevant production name Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest, finding the finalised title Bambi 2 to be a more generic cash-grab moniker (and also chronologically inaccurate anyway).
• Tough Act to Follow: Unlike most of Disney's sequels, Bambi II has garnered something of a Cult Classic reputation due to much better animation and story direction. But even those who love the Interquel, and even some of the creative team, will often admit it couldn't really hope to match one of Disney's first and most iconic animated films.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Ronno to a fault. Yes, he's clearly meant to be an unlikable jerk, being a cocky bully and lying coward who deserved to be taken down a peg or two, and absolutely crossed the line by goading Bambi into a fight by making fun of his dad sending him to live with a stepmom, which almost got both Bambi and Mena killed. But he's also playing second fiddle to a younger fawn who, in his eyes, was born with a silver wheat stalk in his mouth and seemingly upstages him at everything he does without effort, and it's implied that his bullying and fragile, haughty ego is a result of a Friendless Background (however, it's entirely possible it was the other way around and his attitude as is isn't helping his case). Furthermore, the aforementioned bit of nearly getting Bambi and Mena killed by hunting dogs was a complete accident on his part, and him running off, while cowardly, was something he was specifically told to do by Mena. If he wasn't so obnoxiously self-centered and big-headed, he'd be an outright sympathetic, if still heavily flawed, character. While it does not excuse any of his actions, it's at least somewhat understandable why he'd act so terribly, hence why he tends to get more sympathetic treatment in fanfiction.
• Villain Decay:
  • Mild case for the hunting dogs, since while they are still a terrifying menace, many are taken out through rather slapstick methods by the child versions of the protagonists in this instance (some even making some comical expressions as they retreat) while the first film's dogs were persistent and utterly ferocious against even the fully grown Bambi with no goofy qualities whatsoever.
  • Deconstructed for Ronno, with his fawn counterpart portrayed as a loudmouthed, cowardly bully who sours over Bambi constantly upstaging him. This takes place before his role in the first film, so it varies whether it's more or less unsettling that this Ronno will still become the sinister, eerily silent menace he is as an adult.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The midquel also set itself apart from most Disney sequel fare by having an impressive animation budget. Some of the forest shots are as lush as the original film, and it features some impressively animated panning shots.
• The Woobie: Bambi infamously losing his mother as a fawn already solidified him as one of the Trope Codifiers. The Interquel only furthers this due to his somewhat contentious upbringing by his father afterward.

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