Bambi Is The Next Disney Classic Getting The Live-Action Treatment
"Bambi" is the next movie to get a live-action adaptation from Disney, and the House of Mouse has reportedly hired an A-list name to lead the project.
According to an exclusive report from Deadline, Oscar winner Sarah Polley is in talks to work on the "Bambi" movie; she would serve as its director, as writers are already attached. Polley has been a powerhouse in the independent film scene for years thanks to movies like "Away From Her" and "Take This Waltz," and in 2023, she earned her biggest accolade yet when she took home the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for the drama "Women Talking."
Deadline also reports that the live-action adaptation of "Bambi" will be a musical, and country megastar Kacey Musgraves will provide songs for the film. It also reports that Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster worked on the most recent version of the script, though back in 2020, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer were in talks to write the script.
Though Deadline is careful to note that Polley is still in "talks" for the "Bambi" movie, should this come to pass, it would be the most high-profile project for the director yet — and it would also indicate that the studio's live-action adaptations of their beloved animated films aren't slowing down any time soon.
Bambi is one of Disney's most tragic stories
When you really think about it, "Bambi" is one of Disney's darker stories; though a lot of Disney stories involve characters whose mothers aren't around, we actually have to watch as Bambi's mother is felled by a hunter at the beginning of the movie. Luckily for the titular character, he finds friends like Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk and learns how to survive in the woods with his found family, and he even meets his future love interest Faline. Before long, he even learns that his father is the Great Prince of the Forest, and Bambi eventually takes over for his dad, Faline and his friends at his side.
This will be one of many live-action Disney remakes in the pipeline; Rob Marshall's "The Little Mermaid" is, as of this writing, still cleaning up at the box office, and this particular trend has performed incredibly well for Disney from a financial perspective. Imagining a "Bambi" remake in live action might evoke bad memories of the uncanny valley feel of the "Lion King" live action remake, but when all is said and done, Disney fans will just have to wait and see... as well as see if Polley does sign on after all.