Among the upcoming Disney remakes is a live-action Bambi, and what’s been revealed so far suggests it will be surprisingly different from the original. Of all the early animated Disney movies, few have left as much of a lasting cultural impression as Bambi, the tale of a young deer who grows up to become King of the Forest. The movie is essentially Bambi’s life story, but thanks to its era, it feels more like a celebration of animated spectacle than an engaging, meaningful story. The live-action Bambi remake could change this.

Current and former members of the live-action Bambi creative team have teased that the upcoming remake from Disney will spiritually capture the magic of the original, but flesh out the shallow plot of the 1942 movie into something digestible for modern audiences. What’s more, the infamously heart-wrenching scene where young Bambi learns first-hand why the creatures of the forest fear Man will almost definitely be different. While it’s been several years since the live-action Bambi was confirmed, there’s already much to discuss around the upcoming Disney remake.

Most Recent Live-Action Bambi News

Sarah Polley Sheds Light On Her “Exit” From The Project

A year after it was announced that she was exiting the remake, the latest news finds director Sarah Polley setting the record straight on Bambi. Proving that not everything reported on the internet is necessarily true, the celebrated director of films like Women Talking revealed that she didn’t step away from Bambi because she was never actually attached. Polley said “it was more of an internet phenomenon than a real thing,” before mentioning she had taken a few meetings with Disney.

Read Polley’s comments here:

I was never actually officially attached to it. I had one or two conversations about it, but there was no deal, I’d never signed on to it, so it was more of an internet phenomenon than a real thing. I did talk to them, but I was just working on a bunch of other things that I ended up being more focused on. I do think it’s a super-interesting thing to remake that movie, actually. I was also really interested in the mother-dying-young aspect of it. I could have delivered something very bleak. [Laughs]

Despite Polley’s work on the project being all internet rumor, the President of Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, Sean Bailey, did leave the company in March 2024. That exit is perhaps the most concerning part of the project’s development, since it was Bailey who championed many of the live-action remakes. Without its figurehead, the live-action Bambi remake has been in limbo for more than a year without any significant updates. It’s too soon to say the project is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, but it is certainly in deep freeze for now.

The Live-Action Bambi Remake Was Confirmed

The Movie Was Announced Amid A Slew Of Other Live-Action Remakes

The live-action remake of Bambi was confirmed by Disney in July 2020 (via THR). At the time, Chaos Walking screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer was attached to script duties alongside Captain Marvel’s Geneva Roberston Dworet. However, Beer stepped away from the project to direct Pet Sematary: Bloodlines in 2023. Additional writers Micah Fizerman-Blue (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) and Noah Harpster (Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) have since come on board, but it’s unclear where the development currently stands.

Acclaimed director Sarah Polley was rumored to be attached to the remake, but it was also revealed she had stepped away in early 2024. Polley has since come forward and made it clear that she was never actually attached to helm Bambi, and that previous reports were merely internet rumors. More than a year has gone by without any significant updates, and the film seems to be locked in development hell along with the myriad of other live-action remakes that were announced and then left uncertain.

Disney’s upcoming live-action remakes include:

Live-Action Bambi Story Details

How Will The Live-Action Remake Change Things?

The plot of the live-action Bambi movie may vary greatly from the original as far as Disney’s modern reimaginings of animated classics go. The original controversial animated Disney movie came out in 1942 and, while it didn’t feature anything that could be considered culturally insensitive by modern standards, audience expectations regarding story structure and pacing have changed much in the time since.

While the overall story arc for Bambi will likely remain the same, how the story is told could be shifted dramatically. Former Bambi screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer already revealed that the shocking death of Bambi’s mother may be toned down, for example. There will likely also be several characters whose story is significantly fleshed out, something lacking in the original. Since most of the talk around the plot has included expanding on and deepening the story, the upcoming live-action Bambi movie may be remembered for much more than how it handles the death of Bambi’s mom.