Bambi Meets Godzilla

Once upon a time there was a 7 year old boy who was staying up in front of the set well past his bedtime. What appeared to be anyway, was an innocuous introduction for a cartoon. An innocent fawn walked onto the screen,grazing so eloquently to the sound of the forest birds chirping so heavenly. So peaceful. Almost gracefully. What could possibly be more harmonious than this virginal rhythm of nature? What could...? What the...?! Where did that come from?! How could this be?! Where's my Mommy!?

BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA has long since been a cult classic and staple at cartoon/animation festivals. Well representative of the counterculture,it has won numerous accolades for best animated short in most quarters. If you haven't seen it yet, it is also featured on Cartoon Network every once in awhile. The last time I saw B.M.G. was about 11 years ago(long after the visceral assault on my prepubescent psyche)on the late nite show NIGHT FLIGHT. It was obviously an underground film,but since you can now find it at BlockBuster and buy it on Amazon.com, I'm not sure how the creators managed to sidestep(unlike you know who!) the Walt Disney Company. The film is no doubt groundbreaking(a relevant term)and had to be the inspiration for such artists as Tim Burton, Matt Groening,Mike Judge,Rob Zombie and Tre Parker to name a few. It's good to see that art can be a device as well as a form of expression.

The first time that I saw this amazing film, I wasn't really paying much attention. I didn't notice the title, and I was casually glancing at the screen every now and then just waiting for something to happen. Then it did. Life just hasn't been the same since...

A sweeping epic of monumental proportions, "Bambi Meets Godzilla" combines a lyrical script, stellar performances by the entire cast, the most outstanding special effects available at the time and a score which is a classic in its own right to produce a spectacle that is as memorable as it is lengthy. Not many movies can command an audience's attention for as long as "Bambi Meets Godzilla", but here the performances are so engaging, and the visuals so stunning, that it feels as if the movie is over almost before it has begun. Even so, it is just barely sufficient to contain the entire sweep of the grand drama it has embraced. Truly a magnum opus in every sense of the word.

The first time I saw this movie was in the mid 70s. It was a small town theatre (Elora Gorge Cinema) that held about 120 people. It was part of a midnight show and sandwiched between Reefer Madness and the Beatles' Let It Be.

Everyone sparked up when Reefer Madness started so when Bambi made her appearance we were all pleasantly buzzed.

When Godzilla made his appearance we were all pretty much destroyed. That was the first (and one of the few) times I've seen people actually rolling in the aisles. Some people were still laughing 10 minutes later and afterwards, it always brought a smile to our faces when mentioned.

I've seen it a few times since then and it still cracks me up... even when I'm sober.

Seeing as this cartoon is very short (I wouldn't be at all surprised if the opening title and closing credits run longer than the body of the cartoon itself), there are probably more laughs per second here than anything else ever done. The music is perfect, the credits are hilarious and if I write much more, this comment will come dangerously close to taking longer to read aloud than the running time of the cartoon. Bambi should have prepared more for this meeting. Highly recommended.