Bambi Meets Godzilla


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

Plot

The opening credits, consisting entirely of roles filled by Newland himself, scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while the Call to the Dairy Cows from Rossini's opera William Tell plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's foot coming down, squashing him flat. 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. The program ran in repertory theaters across America for several years. The short was also included on VHS home video releases of Godzilla 1985.

Sequels and remakes

Two sequels followed that were each made by other animators: Bambi's Revenge and Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla.
In 2013, animator Coda Shetterly did a meticulous frame-by-frame recreation of the original via tracing the film frames and assembling the animation via digital video editing.

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved Bambi Meets Godzilla in 2009.