Bambi Meets Godzilla

Last updated

Bambi Meets Godzilla
Full film
Directed by Marv Newland
Written byMarv Newland
Screenplay byMarv Newland
Produced byMarv Newland
CinematographyMarv Newland
Music by Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Beatles
Animation byMarv Newland
Production
company
Archiplex Productions
Distributed byArchiplex Distribution
Release date
  • April 13, 1969 (1969-04-13)
Running time
1:32
CountriesUnited States
Canada
Budget$300

Bambi Meets Godzilla is a 1969 black-and-white animated short student film produced entirely by Marv Newland. [1] Less than two minutes long, the film is seen as a classic of animation; it was listed #38 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons (1994). [2]

Contents

Plot

The opening credits, consisting of roles filled by Newland himself, [3] scroll over an image of the fawn Bambi serenely grazing on a field of grass and flowers while the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's recording of William Tell 's Ranz des Vaches plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's foot coming down, squashing him flat (set to the final chord of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life"). After a moment, the closing credits appear alongside the image of Godzilla's foot atop Bambi. [4] The closing credits give acknowledgement to 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. [5] The program ran in repertory theaters across America for several years. [6] The short was also included on VHS home video releases of Godzilla 1985 and Fantastic Animation Festival . [7] [8]

The Academy Film Archive preserved Bambi Meets Godzilla in 2009. [1]

Sequels and remakes

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Cinderella</i> (1950 film) 1950 Disney animated feature film

Cinderella is a 1950 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, it features supervision by Ben Sharpsteen. The film was directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi. The film features the voices of Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Rhoda Williams, James MacDonald, and Luis van Rooten.

<i>Superman</i> (1940s animated film series) Series of animated short films

The Fleischer Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated superhero short films released in Technicolor by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman, making them his first animated appearance.

<i>The Secret of NIMH</i> 1982 animated film by Don Bluth

The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 American animated fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut and based on Robert C. O'Brien's children's novel, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Elizabeth Hartman in her final film role as its protagonist, Mrs. Brisby, with Peter Strauss, Arthur Malet, Dom DeLuise, John Carradine, Derek Jacobi, Hermione Baddeley and Paul Shenar in supporting roles. It was produced by Bluth's production company Don Bluth Productions in association with Aurora Productions.

Marv Newland is an American-Canadian filmmaker, specialized in animation.

Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the enmity between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Melendez</span> American animator and voice actor (1916–2008)

José Cuauhtémoc "Bill" Melendez was an American animator, director, producer, and voice actor. Melendez is known for working on the Peanuts animated specials, as well as providing the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock. Before Peanuts, he previously worked as an animator for Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, and UPA.

<i>Mr. Bug Goes to Town</i> 1941 animated feature film directed by Dave Fleischer

Mr. Bug Goes to Town is an American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 4, 1941, and released in California and New York City in February 1942. The film was originally intended to be an adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck's The Life of the Bee, but Paramount was unwilling to purchase the rights from Samuel Goldwyn, and instead developed an original modern story loosely inspired by the book.

<i>Gorgo</i> (film) 1961 British film

Gorgo is a 1961 British science fiction monster film directed by Eugène Lourié and starring Bill Travers and William Sylvester. When an undersea volcano sends tremors throughout the Atlantic, a prehistoric creature is unleashed from under the sea. The crew of a salvage vessel capture the gigantic amphibious sea creature and take it to London for public exhibition. It results in the creature's much larger mother invading London in search of her offspring, causing catastrophic destruction across the city.

<i>You Ought to Be in Pictures</i> 1940 Warner Bros. animated short starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck

You Ought to Be in Pictures is a 1940 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short film directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on May 18, 1940, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck.

<i>William Tell</i> Overture Overture to the opera William Tell

The William Tell Overture is the overture to the opera William Tell, composed by Gioachino Rossini. William Tell premiered in 1829 and was the last of Rossini's 39 operas, after which he went into semi-retirement. The overture is in four parts, each following without pause.

<i>Lupo the Butcher</i> 1987 short film by Danny Antonucci

Lupo the Butcher is a 1987 Canadian adult animated short comedy film directed and written by Danny Antonucci. The short follows the story of a butcher who has a huge temper and swears at his meat when the smallest things go wrong. Produced by Marv Newland's International Rocketship Limited, Lupo the Butcher was a successful short and has earned itself a cult following.

<i>The Little Humpbacked Horse</i> (1947 film) 1947 animated film

The Little Humpbacked Horse, is a 1947 Soviet/Russian traditionally animated feature film directed by I. Ivanov-Vano and produced by the Soyuzmultfilm studio in Moscow. The film is based on the literary fairy tale poem with the same title by Pyotr Pavlovich Yershov, and because of this, it is spoken in rhyme. The English dub has few rhymes and is not an overall feature.

<i>The 50 Greatest Cartoons</i> 1994 book by Jerry Beck

The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, with a foreword written by Chuck Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bambi (character)</span> Title character in Felix Saltens 1923 novel, Bambi, a Life in the Woods

Bambi is the title character in Felix Salten's 1923 novel, Bambi, a Life in the Woods, and its sequel, Bambi's Children. The character also appears in Salten's novels Perri and Fifteen Rabbits.

<i>Mickey Mouse in Vietnam</i> 1969 animated short film

Short Subject is a 1969 16 mm anti-war underground animated short film. The director was Whitney Lee Savage and the producer and head designer was Milton Glaser, who produced it independently with a total running time of one minute. The short was not endorsed by The Walt Disney Company.

Of Stars and Men is a 1964 animated film from the Hubley family of animators, based on the 1959 book of the same name by astronomer Harlow Shapley, who also narrates. Made in the style of a documentary, it tells of humankind's quest to find its place in the universe, through themes such as outer space, physical matter, the meaning of life and the periodic table. There are no character voices; instead, they "talk" through their actions. It has been cited as an example of an "animated documentary".

Fine Arts Films was a production studio based in Northern England and Hollywood. It was founded in 1955 by the animator John David Wilson as a means to preserve the notion of animation as an art form. It shut down in 1996.

Fantastic Animation Festival is a package film of animation segments, set mostly to music and released in theaters in 1977. It was one of the earliest of the sort of collections typified by Computer Animation Festival and Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.

Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation is a presentation of award-winning animated short films, annually touring throughout theaters, film festivals or college campuses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Beck</span> American animation historian

Jerry Beck is an American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer.

References

  1. 1 2 "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  2. Beck, Jerry (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Turner Publishing. ISBN   978-1878685490.
  3. 1 2 Jardin, Xena (February 16, 2013). "Fan Restoration of 'Bambi Meets Godzilla'". BoingBoing. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. Stephen Hunter (May 21, 1993). "In naughty animated films, Bambi bites the dust". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  5. Merlino, Doug (March 22, 2005). "The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History". HistoryLink.org. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  6. "Alan Bates Film Archive: "King of Hearts"". Alanbates.com. June 15, 1995. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  7. "Godzilla 1985 | VHSCollector.com". vhscollector.com. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  8. 1978 fantastic animation festival vhs rip|Internet Archive
  9. Norman Gibson, Ernest Geefay, John Roope and Frank Wetzel (1976) "Bambi's Revenge"
  10. Amazon.com: Spike & Mike's Classic Festival of Animation
  11. Gardner, Coda (February 15, 2013). "Bambi Meets Godzilla: The Making of the Re-Creation". KindredCoda's Miscellaneous Musings. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  12. Beck, Jerry (January 13, 2015). "A "Bambi Meets Godzilla" Live Action Remake". IndieWire. Retrieved October 11, 2023.