▲ Bambi: He Wants To Know ▼

Todd Alcott:

Just as Bambi gets a hang of the language thing, a storm strikes and he runs back to the safety of his mother's flank. The rainstorm sequence is impressive in narrative terms because, while Bambi quivers and stumbles on his way back home in his mother's shadow, all the other animals, from the hardiest raccoon to the tiniest quail, already seem to know what to do. What a precise observation of childhood, that moment when it looks like you're the only one who doesn't know what the hell's going on. And I suppose you could make an argument that that is a symbol of Bambi's quest: he wants to know what the hell is going on. He wants to know what the hell is going on, but he's not a detective, and he's not even really curious. And just as soon as he gets a handle on something, life comes along and changes all the rules on him and he's a little newborn baby again. Learn what to call a bird, and life, as life will, shoves a thunderstorm down your throat for your trouble. Nature, here in this primeval forest, is capricious and wild, at one moment peaceful and gentle, the next moment brutal and loud. Nature in Bambi is one bipolar motherf**r, and one of Bambi's problems is learning to deal with her mood swings.

Todd's blog, What does the protagonist want?, is one of my favorite websites because of his discussions of screenplays from well known movies. Today he started his criticism of Bambi.

The above quotation is all about emotion and discovery, apropos of awe, horror, trauma and learning. I explore these themes throughout Fable. For example, see:

Posttraumatic Growth from Awe?
Growth from Suffering