Where were you when.....was shot?

You are a small child. You are seated in a movie theatre with an overflowing anticipation of the animated delight about to appear before you. You are armed with your popcorn,drink,candy and family to experience what will surely be a formative moment in your childhood. The feature begins and cheerful woodland creatures fill the screen. They are smiling and laughing. You are introduced to their loveable friends and families.Then you hear the crack of a rifle. Bambi's mother is dead . What happens post-screening explains the filled waiting rooms of analysts and therapists today. You have been set-up. No longer do you blindly trust your parents. What were they thinking? Ozzie and Harriet didn't shoot the milkman. You have no frame of reference for this sort of violence. Adults created this flick and marketed it for children. Adult hunters pulled the trigger.Perhaps you cannot trust any person over three feet tall. The munchkins pop into your head. You are very confused. You will always remember this dark,dark day. Engraved into your innocent little memory is the fallen doe or as your psyche likes to categorize it : the slain mother. Ours is the generation who knows where we were when Bambi's mother was ambushed. The moment proved to be our sad introduction into the existing world of violence. By today's standards we should be grateful that Thumper and Flower didn't lose anyone that day. Unfortunately we went on to become all too familiar with unanimated assassinations. Thankfully we have managed to maintain parts of our childlike innocence. We are not totally distrusting. Our generation has prevailed. We live so that the memory of Bambi's mother can live. Yet we remain permanently affected by the celluloid moment. The American Film Institute has placed Bambi in the top ten animated films of all time. There are many valuable lessons in Bambi. First: When given a choice of the forest thicket or the meadow. Take the thicket . Second: Don't promise not to be "twitterpated" like the other animals in love unless you can stick to it. Third: Mothers protect us with everything they have including their lives. Fourth: Skunks and rabbits make surprisingly good friends. Fifth: Violence of any kind continues to haunt people forever. Sixth: Males are lousy communicators. Bambi's father (aka The Great Prince of the Forest) announces the incredibly vague loss of his mother with the " Your mother can't be with you anymore" line. Thumper could have tapped out a better explanation. Disney movies are great. Our generation is resilient and has gone on to lead amazingly productive creative lives albeit scarred by the sound of that bullet. Now these children who are guarded by the pixie on the ledge or elf on the shelf might as well be in the room with the Poltergeist clown... Talk about years of therapy...

In a brief yet powerful performance:
Paula Winslowe was the voice of Bambi's mother.