Bambi Meets Godzilla

Bambi Meets Godzilla is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film created entirely by Marv Newland.[1] Less than two minutes long, the film is seen as a classic of animation; it was listed #38 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons (1994).[2]

Bambi Meets Godzilla
Full film
Directed byMarv Newland
Written byMarv Newland
Produced byMarv Newland
CinematographyMarv Newland
Production
company
Archiplex Productions
Distributed byArchiplex Distribution
Release date
April 13, 1969
Running time
1:30
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageNone

Plot

The opening credits, consisting entirely of roles filled by Newland himself,[3] scroll over Bambi minding his own business while William Tell (1829)'s "Call to the Dairy Cows" plays in the background. After the credits, he's interrupted by Godzilla's foot squashing him (set to the final chord of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" slowed down to half-speed). After a moment, the closing credits appear alongside the image of Godzilla's foot atop Bambi.[4] The closing credits give acknowledgement to Tokyo "for their help in obtaining Godzilla for this film". Godzilla's toe claws wiggle once and the cartoon ends.

Screenings and distribution

In 1973, Bambi Meets Godzilla was paired with John Magnuson's Thank You Mask Man by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle and released widely under the title The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects.[5] The program ran in repertory theaters across America for several years.[6] The short was also included on VHS home video releases of Godzilla 1985 and Fantastic Animation Festival.[7][8]

The Academy Film Archive preserved Bambi Meets Godzilla in 2009.[1]

Sequels and remakes
  • In 1976, the black-and-white sequel Bambi's Revenge was released.[9]
  • In 1999, the 3D-animated color sequel Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla was released.[10]
  • In 2013, animator Coda Gardner made a frame-by-frame recreation of the original via tracing the film frames and assembling the animation via digital video editing.[3][11]
  • In 2015, a live action remake was created by Scotty Fields.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  2. Beck, Jerry (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Turner Publishing. ISBN 978-1878685490.
  3. Jardin, Xena (February 16, 2013). "Fan Restoration of 'Bambi Meets Godzilla'". BoingBoing. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. Stephen Hunter (May 21, 1993). "In naughty animated films, Bambi bites the dust". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  5. Merlino, Doug (March 22, 2005). "The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  6. "Alan Bates Film Archive: "King of Hearts"". Alanbates.com. June 15, 1995. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  7. "Godzilla 1985 | VHSCollector.com". vhscollector.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  8. 1978 fantastic animation festival vhs rip|Internet Archive
  9. Norman Gibson, Ernest Geefay, John Roope and Frank Wetzel (1976) "Bambi's Revenge"
  10. Amazon.com: Spike & Mike's Classic Festival of Animation
  11. Gardner, Coda (February 15, 2013). "Bambi Meets Godzilla: The Making of the Re-Creation". KindredCoda's Miscellaneous Musings. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  12. Beck, Jerry (January 13, 2015). "A "Bambi Meets Godzilla" Live Action Remake". IndieWire. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
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