Disney's Bambi still breaks hearts at 75

LOS ANGELES - A timeless tale of an adorable fawn and his forest pals, or the death of childhood innocence? Either way, and nearly 75 years on, Disney classic Bambi packs as powerful a punch as it ever has.

The Walt Disney Company bewitched generations of children and children-at-heart with its pioneering animated film, released in August 1942, about a wide-eyed young deer and his doting mom.

But the shocking image of young Bambi curled up next to the doe after she is slain by hunters has become as iconic as any scene in cinema history, credited with opening up taboo conversations about death and helping youngsters cope with bereavement.

It also kindled former Beatle Paul McCartney's interest in animal rights and has served as the template for every harrowing Disney death since, from Mufasa in The Lion King to Hiro's brother Tadashi in Big Hero 6.

In a departure from form, Walt Disney used real children to voice the young characters in what became - and would remain - the impresario's favorite of the company's groundbreaking animated films.

Born in Depression-era Texas and raised in Memphis, Donnie Dunagan, now 82, was brought in to voice young Bambi after impressing with a role in Son of Frankenstein (1939) opposite Boris Karloff.

It proved to be his fifth and final credited role and, by the age of 13, he was earning a living as a lathe operator before enlisting as a Marine and becoming a war hero.

Dunagan remembers the company - and Walt Disney himself - as lacking in the pomposity the young star had seen at other studios during his short film career.

"I didn't know he was the captain of the whole thing. He was a worker, he was all over the place, helping, pitching in, a very keen personality, good eye contact all the time," Dunagan said.

Peter Behn, also 82, was four when he went for the part of Bambi. He didn't get it but was instead offered the role of the deer's playful rabbit companion Thumper.

Like Dunagan, Behn went into the military and then worked in real estate.

"If you go out in public, I guarantee you, you can ask 10 people if they have ever seen the movie and at least nine of them will say they have," he said.

"It's very hard to find anyone who hasn't seen the movie and hasn't been impacted by it one way or another."

Agence France-presse