Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Patrick Stewart (who will voice Bambi’s father in the upcoming video sequel Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest) hosts this segment, as well as others on Disc 2, which is neatly balanced between kid-friendly fare and the more meat-and-potatoes type of behind-the-scenes material, beginning with The Making of ‘Bambi’: A Prince Is Born. This new feature nicely touches on the actual production of the film as well as how it has influenced filmmakers to this day; representing the latter are such contemporary artists as Lion King producer Don Hahn, Pixar’s John Lasseter and supervising animator Andreas Deja. But more importantly are new and stock interviews with some of Bambi’s actual creative team, including legendary animators Milt Kahl, Eric Larson, Marc Davis and (of course) Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (who together wrote the definitive book on the making of the film, Walt Disney’s Bambi: The Story and the Film); background artists Bob McIntosh and Tyrus Wong; and story artists Mel Shaw and Joe Grant, as well as original voice cast members Peter C. Behn (Thumper), Donald R. Dunagan (Bambi) and Cammie King Conlon (Faline), who, it is also revealed, starred in another immortal classic, Gone With the Wind (she played little Bonnie Blue Butler). Also featured are various film and animation historians as well as an actual clinical psychologist (!), who comments on how the death of Bambi’s mother is handled in the film.

Divided into chapters covering story, animation, cast, art direction and music (accessible separately or as “play all�?), the feature covers such topics such as deleted characters (Thumper’s father, a bunch of bugs); how the animators strived for authenticity by studying the anatomy of live baby deer (named, naturally, Bambi and Faline) who lived in the Studio itself; the use of such devices as the multi-plane camera, ripple glass and bleached corn flakes to achieve various visual effects; the contributions of composers Edward Plumb and Frank Churchill (who netted two of the film’s three Oscar nominations: Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, with Plumb, and Original Song for “Love Is a Song�?, with lyricist Larry Morey. The third nomination was for Sound Recording); original author Salten’s other Disney connections; and how the award-winning filmmaker Sidney Franklin brought the book to Walt’s attention, leading to another success for the mainstream producer in 1942 (in addition to producing the year’s Best Picture Oscar-winner, Mrs. Miniver, Franklin also won the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award that year; four years later, he would present another Best Picture contender, The Yearling, see “Out of the Box�? at the close of this article).

(c) Disney

In addition to two marginal Deleted Scenes (“Winter Grass�? and “Bambi’s First Snow�?, consisting of storyboards with newly recorded dialogue and introduced by Deja), the “Backstage Disney�? section also offers the following bonus features:

• The extensive restoration of the film is detailed in Restoring ‘Bambi’.
• Get a sneak peek at the upcoming direct to video ‘midquel’ in The Legacy Continues: Preview of ‘Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest’. In addition to Stewart, the video premiere will feature the voice of Alexander Gould (Nemo in Finding Nemo) as Bambi.
• In Disney Time Capsule, learn what was going on in the world (such as global events, fashion, sports and, of course, movies) in 1942: The Year of ‘Bambi’.
• Explore still frame galleries (with or without select audio commentary) of concept art, story sketches, color keys, backgrounds, posters, character designs and production stills in The Art of ‘Bambi’.
• Join Andreas Deja for a trip Inside the Disney Archives to see rare and priceless original artwork from Bambi, including unused scenes and Thumper’s original name.
• See yet another excerpt from the 1957 Disneyland television episode Tricks of the Trade, as well as 1937's Oscar-winning Silly Symphony short The Old Mill (the Studio’s first use of the multi-plane camera) and the1942 Original Theatrical Trailer of Bambi.

Rounding out the second disc is the “Games and Activities�? section, which includes these seasonally themed offerings:

• The Forest Adventure Game, which has four different sections based on the four seasons, offers several levels of play that are also accessible individually through the game index. Of note is the cool 3-D forest and the two-player option in Bambi’s Race and Slide.
• The Virtual Forest offers a sort-of screen saver for your TV, with a three-minute loop through the seasons.
• See what season matches your personality in the What’s Your Season? Personality Profile Game.
• Learn about the real animals featured in Bambi, including deer, skunks and rabbits, in DisneyPedia: Bambi’s Forest Friends.
• And kids can read along with Friend Owl or on their own with Disney’s Storytime: Thumper Goes Exploring.