Villain Introspective: Man
Man: Careless, Destructive and Violent
For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to the Man of Bambi and other early Disney films. Indeed, humanity as a whole is the greatest monster of all, and Disney is just one example of many.
In his (the pronoun may not necessarily fit, but it's generally assumed with Bambi and some of the other films) perhaps most memorable appearence (he's not actually seen), Man serves as the most destructive force in the film Bambi. While nature itself may not be completely friendly (some of the harder facts of the natural world are glossed over by Disney), it is man who inflicts the most harm. Our introduction to Man in the film comes with Bambi visits the meadow with his parents, only to have what should have been a nice afternoon with the family cut short by the hunters. The family manages to escape intact, at least that time. Years later, after Bambi has grown up, careless campers leave a fire which quickly spreads, consuming the woods in a horrific conflagration, which Bambi and his friend narrowly escape. But neither of those acts compare with what is perhaps one of the saddest scenes in movie history.
Bambi and his mother have survived the long, hard winter. They venture out of the safety of the thicket they'd been living in, and see that the thaw has begun, and that there is a small patch of grass poking through the snow. As they eat, the joyful music gives way to menacing tones, as Bambi's mother suddenly stops eating, and she tells him to run. They dash away, as a shot is heard, and she yells once more for Bambi to run. Another shot rings out, and then there is silence. Bambi arrives back home, and as he catches his breath, realizes suddenly and horrifyingly that his mother isn't there. Man has murdered this poor child's mother, probably for no good reason at all (one imagines it was more for sport than for than for food), leaving him alone in the wilderness. Man is consistantly careless and destructive throughout, ignorant that his actions might have conseqences. He may not be malicious, but he manages to cause evil all the same.
It's also interesting to note a similar theme in Dumbo, where a young elephant is forced to perform demeaning tricks for the circus, and his mother (in attempting to defend him from a mean human child), ends up being locked away from her son (it's similar to the situation with Bambi in many ways, with his mother filling the role of both parents, effectively being "leaving" her son due to human intervention, but maintaining a sort of distant contact, much like Bambi's father did). It should also be noted that after Bambi, Disney became much lighter overall, with fare like Song of the South and The Three Caballeros, eschewing the darker fairy tales that had started the company (even when they returned to them, with 1950's Cinderella, there was a definate change in tone, but that's really getting way off subject here). Man still remains Disney's greatest villain because it is, in the end, us.
For simplicity's sake, I'm going to refer to the Man of Bambi and other early Disney films. Indeed, humanity as a whole is the greatest monster of all, and Disney is just one example of many.
In his (the pronoun may not necessarily fit, but it's generally assumed with Bambi and some of the other films) perhaps most memorable appearence (he's not actually seen), Man serves as the most destructive force in the film Bambi. While nature itself may not be completely friendly (some of the harder facts of the natural world are glossed over by Disney), it is man who inflicts the most harm. Our introduction to Man in the film comes with Bambi visits the meadow with his parents, only to have what should have been a nice afternoon with the family cut short by the hunters. The family manages to escape intact, at least that time. Years later, after Bambi has grown up, careless campers leave a fire which quickly spreads, consuming the woods in a horrific conflagration, which Bambi and his friend narrowly escape. But neither of those acts compare with what is perhaps one of the saddest scenes in movie history.
Bambi and his mother have survived the long, hard winter. They venture out of the safety of the thicket they'd been living in, and see that the thaw has begun, and that there is a small patch of grass poking through the snow. As they eat, the joyful music gives way to menacing tones, as Bambi's mother suddenly stops eating, and she tells him to run. They dash away, as a shot is heard, and she yells once more for Bambi to run. Another shot rings out, and then there is silence. Bambi arrives back home, and as he catches his breath, realizes suddenly and horrifyingly that his mother isn't there. Man has murdered this poor child's mother, probably for no good reason at all (one imagines it was more for sport than for than for food), leaving him alone in the wilderness. Man is consistantly careless and destructive throughout, ignorant that his actions might have conseqences. He may not be malicious, but he manages to cause evil all the same.
It's also interesting to note a similar theme in Dumbo, where a young elephant is forced to perform demeaning tricks for the circus, and his mother (in attempting to defend him from a mean human child), ends up being locked away from her son (it's similar to the situation with Bambi in many ways, with his mother filling the role of both parents, effectively being "leaving" her son due to human intervention, but maintaining a sort of distant contact, much like Bambi's father did). It should also be noted that after Bambi, Disney became much lighter overall, with fare like Song of the South and The Three Caballeros, eschewing the darker fairy tales that had started the company (even when they returned to them, with 1950's Cinderella, there was a definate change in tone, but that's really getting way off subject here). Man still remains Disney's greatest villain because it is, in the end, us.