Bambi

Blissful, playful, moving and inspiring, Walt Disney's "Bambi" is a precious jewel that will last longer than most of us will. Indeed, it has a timeless quality, matched with a charming music score and wonderful character voices. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker poked fun at the voice-changes when the infant animals grow up over winter (sort of a puberty-in-the-thicket), but what other way was there to show the passage of time and how it changes everything, even the woodland creatures we take for granted? It's an amazing achievement. The song score never elicited a hit the size of, say, "When You Wish Upon a Star", but it does feature the sprightly "Little April Showers", which underscores the very best sequence. ***1/2 from ****