With the live-action remake train full steam ahead, the most beloved fawn is making a live-action appearance in Disney’s newest film: Bambi.
Walt Disney Animation Studios dropped hints at a modern adaptation of the 1942 tear-jerking film in 2020, and the official news broke that Bambi’s reimagined story will be told soon. Joining Moana, Lilo & Stitch, and Hercules in a roster of Disney remakes, Bambi is causing a stir in the wilderness of the internet.
What We Know About ‘Bambi’ So Far
Disney’s fifth animated film, released in 1942, Bambi, was an adaptation of Felix Salten’s 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods. Produced by RKO Radio Pictures, Bambi told the tragic story of a fawn who lost his mother in a tragic hunting scene. Picking up the pieces with a lovable rabbit Thumper and the aptly-named skunk Flower, Bambi cemented himself as one of Dinsey’s most iconic characters.
While the live-action remake of the Academy Award-nominated film Bambi is in early development, Oscar-winning director Sarah Polley is in talks to helm the new movie. Recently winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Women Talking, Polley has been decorated with Critics’ Choice and WGA Awards, a Golden Globe nomination, and other credits to her name.
A live-action ‘Bambi’ movie is in early development at Disney.
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Starting as a child actor in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Polley went on to star in Dawn of the Dead before launching her career behind the camera. According to Deadline, Polley will be in good company in the live-action Bambi undertaking:
Multiple sources tell Deadline that the project is a musical to feature music from six-time Grammy-winning country star Kacey Musgraves. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (Transparent) wrote the most recent draft of the script, and Chris and Paul Weitz’s Depth of Field will produce.
While the star-powered crew is pegged to reimagine the $267 million-grossing film that’s etched into the minds of generations of Disney fans, there are always skeptics about touching an artifact in movie history. The firestorm surrounding The Little Mermaid remake is a testament to the friction live-action adaptations cause, although the Robert Marshall project has clocked over $414 million since its theatrical debut.
Twitter is already hard at work throwing quips at the live-action Bambi remake, and a star behind one of the other films in production is at the center of it.
From a “Rock” to a Fawn?
If there’s one thing to know about the man behind the Moana live-action remake, it’s that he’s multifaceted. Reprising his role as Maui in the reimagined Moana film now set to hit theaters June 27, 2025, the former WWE star has already had his hands on a Bambi “remake.”
While not a Seven Bucks Productions project, Johnson’s take on Bambi was cinematic. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jay Pharoah, Cecily Strong, and Taran Killam, 2015’s “Saturday Night Live” skit took a stab at what Disney’s live-action remake of Bambi could look like.
In a hilarious parody emboldening Bambi and friends to fight back at the hunters behind the traumatizing killing of his mother, Johnson portrays a rough fawn around the edges. In the skit, Jay Pharoah even poses as Ludacris with a rap song called “Wham, Bam, Bambi,” jokingly produced by Walt Disney Records.
Although die-hard Disney fans are fatigued on the live-action remake front, the minds behind the movies know the crowds will still flock to see the reimagined classics. While Bambi is slated to hit theaters soon, no official date has been released, especially with ongoing delays from the WGA writers’ strike.
