Bambi Meets Godzilla

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

Bambi Meets Godzilla
Title card
Directed byMarv Newland
Produced byMarv Newland
Written byMarv Newland
CinematographyMarv Newland
Release date
1969
Running time
1:30

Plot

The opening credits, consisting entirely of roles filled by Newland himself,[3] scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while the Call to the Dairy Cows from Rossini's opera William Tell (1829) plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's foot coming down, squashing him flat (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. The closing credits give grateful acknowledgement to the city of 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.[4][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]

Sequels and remakes

Two sequels followed that were both made by other animators: Bambi's Revenge (1978)[9] and Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla (1999).[10]

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.[3][11]

Preservation

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

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. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  4. "Added Short Subjects". The Milwaukee Journal. January 27, 1975. Retrieved May 26, 2016 – via Google News Archive.
  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. www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-bambi-meets-godzilla.html
  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 March 31, 2016.
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