ITN Studios and Director Scott Jeffrey, the man who produced Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, have announced that since Bambi has entered the public domain, it will be turned into a horror movie titled “Bambi: The Reckoning”. The film will tell a tale of said deer contracting rabies and going on a violent rampage in revenge of his mother being killed. Scott has stated that in this film, Bambi will become “a vicious killing machine that lurks in the wilderness.”

This DISGUSTING, VILE film will be DISRESPECTFUL towards Felix Salten and Walt Disney! Bambi, a Life in the Woods is a beloved novel that’s best known for being adapted into an animated film by Walt Disney Studios in the 1940s. Both the novel and the film had important messages about the sacredness of life, and the former was additionally a metaphorical depiction of the difficulties Jews faced in Europe during the 1920s and ‘30s. Many of Felix’s books were banned in Germany during the Nazi regime because he was a Jew. The novel and the animated film were already dark enough, but not to create shock value, but to teach audiences about the terror of humanity’s treatment towards animals. A horror film will alter the way people view Bambi; a vicious, [literally] diseased monster, instead of the gorgeous deer who developed strength and wisdom as he grew up into a stag, whilst facing the challenges all animals encountered in the forest. I and the signers of this petition doubt Salten and Disney would have been okay with the reputation Scott Jeffrey wants to give to Bambi, especially since Salten regarded animals are pure, honest, and decent beings in our world, and this was a common theme he demonstrated in his works. He felt nature deeply and loved animals. The novel has been described as a moving meditation on attention, solitude, the circle of life, and the beauty of nature, not revenge and a work that demonstrates dark themes for fun.

Many book authors and film directors / producers want their audiences to promote the underlying themes in their works, and not change them to a point where they become twisted and crude (unless they already are), even after they die. Authors and directors want their characters continually associated with what ever emotions and feelings audiences already have with them, forever. And they always want their good, innocent characters to have good, clean reputations. That's an important part of being a creator: asking yourself "How will audiences treat and view my work, including its characters, in the years to come? How will they be remembered?"

Bambi, A Life in the Woods was written for children. It can technically be enjoyed by anyone, but it was not intended to be solely geared towards teenagers and adults. Therefore, turning it into a horror film would be mentally harmful for children. How would our current generation feel if they saw their beloved, favourite deer turned into a vicious monster? You might just say “don’t take them to see it” and that’s true, but children will still be exposed to advertisements of this film and will be terrified (it cannot be denied that it’s cruel to frighten a child by exposing them to a twisted version of a family-friendly character), see Bambi in an inappropriate light and be okay with it, or become encouraged to disrespect the works of one of the greatest Austrian authors of all time. Just because Bambi has entered the public domain, it does not mean it is morally okay to smear the legacy Felix and Walt Disney wanted the create with him.

A horror movie about a deer going on a vile rampage after a member of its herd gets killed actually sounds like an interesting concept, but does it have to include the character of Bambi in it? No, it doesn’t. You can make a good horror movie about deers work, but it does not have to include Bambi characters to make it “good” and greedily receive money and attention as a result. Moreover, having original characters will be great for a director as it will demonstrate creativity! Shouldn’t that be something to be proud of?

Sign this petition if you want to protect the bequest of Felix Salten and Walt Disney by terminating the production of this deranged movie! Filming is set to begin in January of 2023!