[tangent time]
It's also very interesting looking back at Bambi in general. It's a mature story of growth as Bambi grows up to take his place in the world.
But it's the subtly, especially for a children's movie, is what surprises me the most. There isn't a huge callback to the event with his mother later in the film, it happens mostly off-screen, and while it's a catalyst from his period of innocence to being taken under the wing of his father, they handle it with reverence. A more heavy-handed take would have involved Bambi facing a similar situation and showing catharsis from that moment (see Lion King).
But instead Bambi takes a more naturalistic approach. Highly suggest folks go re-watch it with adult eyes if they haven't.
Most of the Disney movies where they use animals have decently mature parallel plots. Finding Nemo and Finding Dory are basically about coping with disability. Lion King is basically Hamlet. Etc.
I was more commenting on the handling of the matters in the story structure. Bambi is extraordinarily subtle and multi-faceted. Lion King, Finding [Nemo|Dory], and others are way more explicit about what one key moral they want to hammer home with callbacks and explicit cathartic reversals of previous events.
For example, Lion King makes it very explicit at the climax where Simba overcomes his trauma of the gorge with a flashback when he's in the exact same situation. And the 2nd callback of "Runaway and never return" cements his position.
Bambi gets catharsis off-screen completely during his time with his father. And really the main lesson of the story is the cycle of life and the process of growing up, a much broader topic.
[tangent time] It's also very interesting looking back at Bambi in general. It's a mature story of growth as Bambi grows up to take his place in the world.
But it's the subtly, especially for a children's movie, is what surprises me the most. There isn't a huge callback to the event with his mother later in the film, it happens mostly off-screen, and while it's a catalyst from his period of innocence to being taken under the wing of his father, they handle it with reverence. A more heavy-handed take would have involved Bambi facing a similar situation and showing catharsis from that moment (see Lion King).
But instead Bambi takes a more naturalistic approach. Highly suggest folks go re-watch it with adult eyes if they haven't.