Audiences better get ready for a horror take on Bambi. ITN Studios and Jagged Edge Productions are working on a horror version of the childhood Disney classic. In Bambi: The Reckoning, Bambi will be going on a killing spree following the murder of his mother.
Bambi: The Reckoning follows in the footsteps of Blood and Honey, where Winnie the Pooh and Piglet go on a rampage. Though the film is meant to evoke a Disney classic, it comes with a horror twist. Bambi the deer will not be a gentle Prince of the Forest; he will be a fierce guardian against human hunters like the one who killed his mother.
According to Dread Central, production on the Bambi horror film is set to begin in January. The plot is not fully known, but Dread Central reported on the "obvious angle" of revenge following the death of Bambi's mother. Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who directed Blood and Honey, is signed to produce. The director of the feature will be Scott Jeffrey.
“The film will be an incredibly dark retelling of the 1928 story we all know and love," Jeffrey said of the project. "Finding inspiration from the design used in Netflix's The Ritual, Bambi will be a vicious killing machine that lurks in the wilderness. Prepare for Bambi on rabies!” Referencing the Netflix horror movieThe Ritual, Jeffrey evokes the film's villain Moder as a design inspiration for Bambi. Moder is a Jötunn with a twisted, deer-like appearance.
It looks like Bambi: The Reckoning is all set to become a monster horror movie. Monster films rely heavily on the presentation of their monsters. If they show too much, the monster may not be scary enough. However, if the design is lacklustre or too silly looking, a monster movie can become too silly to take seriously. This film is heavily banking on Bambi being the villain, which may mean that his appearance could be a make-it-or-break-it point for the film.
Given that Jeffrey references the 1928 story and not the 1942 film, Bambi: The Reckoning will probably technically not be a remake of one of Disney's classic films, as Disney is famously incredibly defensive about its IPs. The film will probably follow the original, public domain work (Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten, which was adapted to English in 1928) that the Disney film is based on and build on that to evoke the public's nostalgia as a way to draw the audience to theaters. If this is the case, audiences probably won't see characters original to the Disney film, like Thumper or Flower, get the horror treatment.
Bambi: The Reckoning is in development.
Source: Dread Central