''Bambi Meets Godzilla'' is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is a classic of

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

; it was listed #38 in the book '' The 50 Greatest Cartoons'' (1994).

Plot

The opening credits, consisting entirely of roles filled by Newland himself, scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while " Call to the Dairy Cows" from

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

'' (1829) plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

's foot coming down, squashing him flat (set to the final chord of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " 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. The closing credits give grateful acknowledgement to the city of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

"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 ''Thank You Mask Man'' is an animated short film based upon a comedy routine by Lenny Bruce involving The Lone Ranger and Tonto. The film was produced by John Magnuson, and directed by Jeff Hale (director), Jeff Hale. Plot After years of saving a ...

'' by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle and released widely under the title '' The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects''. The program ran in repertory theaters across America for several years. The short was also included on VHS home video releases of ''

Godzilla 1985 ''Godzilla 1985'' is a 1985 ''kaiju'' film directed by R. J. Kizer and Koji Hashimoto. The film is a heavily re-edited American localization of the Japanese film ''The Return of Godzilla'', which was produced and distributed by Toho Pictures in 1 ...

'' and ''

Fantastic Animation Festival Fantastic Animation Festival is a package film of animation segments, set mostly to music and released to theaters in 1977. It was one of the earliest of the sort of collections typified by Computer Animation Festival and Spike and Mike's Sick an ...

''.

Sequels and remakes

In 1976, the black-and-white sequel ''Bambi's Revenge'' was released. In 1999, the 3D-animated color sequel ''Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla'' was released. In 2013, animator Coda Gardner did a meticulous frame-by-frame recreation of the original via tracing the film frames and assembling the animation via digital video editing.

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved ''Bambi Meets Godzilla'' in 2009.

References

External links