Bambi: there's a book?

When you hear Bambi – do you think about the Disney Movie or the book that inspired it? Did you even know there was a book? I didn’t know there was one until last year.

Bambi: A life in the Woods by Felix Salten – I found it, I bought it, I read it. And I came to the conclusion that there is almost no connection between the book that inspired the movie and the Disney film. Yep, I said it - there is almost no connection between the book that inspired the film.

To tell the story of the film, we have to go back to how the English speakers found out about this story; the story was originally in German. The American Author Whittaker Chambers¹ came across this popular book from Austria called: Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde² by Felix Salten. He translated it and in 1928,it was released into the US Market in english as Bambi: a Life in the Woods.

With the popularity of the book in the USA at the time, Walt Disney got the rights to make an adaptation of Bambi in 1937. The delay in getting the movie made was mostly due to the source material being too dark for the light hearted Disney brand.

The movie Bambi came out in 1942³ and didn’t do too well at the box office because well, WW2 was going on. The subsequent rereleases of the film have been extremely successful and made a return several times over.

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

Now looking at the book; The main difference is that the book ‘s target audience was not children, it was meant for adults. If you read the book you’ll see the deer Bambi learning to be quiet when adults are around, to survive in the scarcity of winter after a plentiful Spring. Then it goes hard into how shocked and empty Bambi is left after seeing his forest friends die right in front of him, the struggles of being in constant fear of being hunted and the displacement of the other forest creatures due to the loss of home or family members.

You get a little look into Salten’s outlook and philosophical views. He seems to come to the conclusion that it’s better to be alone in life. Not getting attached to friends, life partner or even children so that you can survive in the forest of life.

Salten doesn’t seem to be particularly religious from my research, but he reveals that he has a belief that there is a higher power⁴. Tis is revelaed at the end of chapter 24 in a conversation between the Old Prince and Bambi. My favourite insight came in Chapter 8, just that one. Tell me, are those two leaves just talking about the upcoming winter?

So, when you look at the author’s life; the parallels are clear. Felix Salten, born in 1869 within the Austro-Hungarian empire, was a famous writer, critic, journalist and author in Austria. All that should have been fine apart from the fact that he was born to Jewish parents. His birth name was Siegmund Salzmann but changed it to Felix Salten to appear more Austrian⁵. He changed his name to appear more Austrian and worked hard in his feild and his popularity steadily increased. He became so famous; he rubbed shoulders with the higher Austrian society and nobility.

Because of his popularity, fame and society circles he was in, Salten and his family were able to survive most of hostilities that Jewish people faced in Europe leading up to WW2⁶. But they certainly weren’t immune. He was popular enough to be a threat to the Nazi party to where Salten’s books were banned by the Nazi party in 1936. When war broke out in 1939, Salten was forced to flee with his wife Ottilie. They fled to Switzerland and they lived out the rest of their days as refugees.

The parallels of Salten’s life and Bambi are clear in the book. The ‘deer’ is always alert and cautious, constantly on the lookout for Man who is always on the hunt for deer and other forest animals.

“Yes, life was difficult and full of Danger. No matter what might happen, he would learn to Endure it all” - Ch 7 Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forrest

I’m not sure if you can even say that the book inspired the movie because, Disney dumbed it right down. I think that because, at the time, the book was popular and fresh, getting the rights to Bambi was easier than begging for forgiveness for any similarities after the film came out. Disney took the setting, a name and made it his own creation. Disney doesn’t claim that the movie was an adaptation of the book, the movie was inspired by it. But the connection between the two is thin.

There is nothing wrong with the film, it holds a special place in the hearts of many people. For a lot including myself, it was an introduction to death, the loss and loneliness that accompanies it. But now, Bambi is Disnified⁷ and because of the film’s popularity and subsequent success, the film overshadows the book and is almost forgotten.

In essence, the film is not an adaptation of the book – just inspired by it. And Disney never made the claim that it was an adaptation; So I suppose I can’t really critique and be upset about it.

If you adore the movie, if you are a die hard Disney fan, you won’t like the book. It’s a harsh moral story with historical insight to what it was like as a Jewish person living in Austria. It will kill the rose tinted view of Bambi faster than when his mother was shot.

And since this book doesn’t seem to be well known, yet, if you’re curious, go have a read. If not by my recommendation, go off John Sutherland. As above/as I said before, Chapter 8 is awesome. It’s a quick read and since it’s in public domain⁸ so it’s online and it’s free⁹.

I’d like to show a snippet below from the intro from the translation I have from Jack Zipes introduction, summing up why I recommend this book¹⁰:

“This is a great shame, for Salten’s novel is a brilliant and profound story of how minority groups throughout the world have been brutally treated, even when they try to live peacefully in their own environment. Bambi is, if anything, dystopic and sobering, for it reveals the cutthroat manner in which powerless people are hunted and persecuted for sport.” - Jack Zipes

BONUS: The only reason I know about the existence of the Bambi Book was from another book: How to be Well Read by John Sutherland. I have a Substack article¹¹ and a YouTube Video about it. In that book, Sutherland mentioned Bambi, Life in the Woods. Then a few days later, I found the exact book recommendation at the Toadstool Bookstore. A strange coincidence? I’m not sure.

Further links below

Why Bambi matters: https://medium.com/@dearabbiesilvousplait/book-matters-f141439232af

Bambi is bleaker than you thoought: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/bambi-is-even-bleaker-than-you-thought

Disney Bambi Remake: https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/sarah-polley-no-longer-directing-bambi-live-action-remake-disney-1234961336/

1. https://whittakerchambers.org/2022/02/02/bambi-1928-2022/

2. https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/felix-salten-the-jewish-author-and-hunter-who-created-bambi

3. https://todayinconservation.com/2018/06/august-21-bambi-released-1942/#:~:text=One%20of%20history's%20most%20controversial,become%20an%20industry%20in%20itself%3F

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5. https://libguides.usc.edu/c.php?g=235057&p=1560050

6. https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-daily/not-meant-for-children-felix-salten-and-the-story-of-bambi

7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyfication

8. https://allears.net/2022/01/05/winnie-the-pooh-and-bambi-titles-are-now-public-domain-what-happens-next/

9. https://books.google.com/books?id=zDJXnzMh7bkC&pg=PA96&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q=bambi&f=false

10. https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2022/06/30/the-original-bambi-by-felix-salten--translated-by-jack-zipes---review/

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