Bambi Meets Godzilla

Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) is the title of the cartoon created entirely by Marv Newland. Less than two minutes long, the film is a classic of animation—#38 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons (1994).

Newland was originally planning to do a live-action film; but, when he lost an essential magic hour shot, he drew this film in his room, rented from Adriana Caselotti, the voice of the title character from the 1937 film, Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Plot

The opening credits scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while the Call to the Dairy Cows from Rossini's political opera William Tell (1829) plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's foot coming down, crushing him (set to the final chord of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life"). After a moment, the closing credits scroll over the image of Godzilla's foot. At the very end, Godzilla's claws twitch once.

The bulk of the movie's running time is consumed in the opening and closing credits—all for Newland—except for "Marv Newland produced by Mr. & Mrs. Newland", Miss Caselotti as the studio owner, and the city of Tokyo "for their help in obtaining Godzilla for this film."

Screenings and distribution

This cartoon prefaced Godzilla 1985 on New World Pictures' VHS release but was omitted when that film was licensed to Starmaker.

Two sequels were later made without Newland's involvement: Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla and Bambi's Revenge, giving Godzilla a hot foot.

References

Bambi Meets Godzilla on YouTube

• Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-878685-49-X.

External links

• Bambi Meets Godzilla at the Internet Movie Database