NO Spoilers. Read on, all ye who dare !<br /><br />I say Bambi 2 is better than the original Bambi. YES.<br /><br />This is the best Disney sequel yet, even better than enjoyable efforts like the Lion King sequels. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, brilliant, and overall the best in 2D production you've seen in a good 10 years. The portrayal of Bambi's world is beautiful and moody, making the forest its own, living character. They use light and darkness and just solid artistry to give it even more depth and color than the original film had. I'm sure CGI was used in some scenes, but it is not obvious or even noticeable. They went for beauty and surrealism rather than photo-realism, and it's glorious. The drawing itself is superb, with Bambi looking as he did (actually a little better), and the Prince is just masculine splendor in every step. <br /><br />The story is a lot like the original film's, but without the very slow pace. Bambi 2 moves nicely and doesn't plod around in overly-long forest pans or minutia (a million rain drops falling). Some might say this means its "magic" is gone, but I prefer the adult pacing that gives you something new and interesting happening every few minutes. At the same time, the film pauses where you want it to, gives you a silent moment to watch Bambi's ears fall slowly when he is disappointed, or freeze with him when he's terrified. Sometimes there is silence in the forest, and a character standing still while the light falls just so, to convey wonder or loneliness. <br /><br />This is a kind of beauty in storytelling that we haven't seen in a long time.<br /><br />Best of all, the characters don't sing, there are very few modern, trendy references to ruin the timelessness of it, and the whole feel is a good blend of natural, serious scenes and lighthearted innocence in Bambi and Thumper's more fun escapades. The methods here in conveying emotion are excellent; you really feel it when Bambi is sad or trying to earn his father's pride, and there are moments when you feel him growing up. And not just emotional growth, as modern animation is often so limited to, but also that he is maturing in a natural/physical way, so that you can really imagine him becoming a strong and brave prince. <br /><br />Dad grows, too. Patrick Stewart is wonderful as we get to see the prince struggle with his role as a leader vs. being an affectionate parent. So the film has some modern influence in the way it addresses character development and everyone *sort of* learning a lesson, but it's not bashing you over the head with it the way Nemo and similar films do. This is a natural story that manages, just, to keep to deerhood and not lose us with too many humanlike gestures or colloquialisms. <br /><br />One aspect about the technique that *is* more humanized is the exaggerated facial expressions, but I did not find this too distracting or overdone. There has thus far been some kind of rule in Disney sequels that characters constantly have to be rolling their eyes, lifting one eyebrow drastically, or saying "Eeeeyew !" with way too much lip action (this seems even more important than the other modern sequel clichés like characters' pants falling down to reveal red-heart boxer shorts), but Bambi 2 largely avoids such annoyances, and it's actually really interesting to see the deer (especially the stag) rendered with facial expression. <br /><br />The voice acting is excellent all around, and the film resolves itself very well without intruding on or changing the original film in the least. It's simply a very good film that is definitely worth a buy. I suspect the people scoring it a "1" have done so out of spite without having seen it. This movie does its original justice, if not surpassing it in many regards. <br /><br />Oh, and one more time.... Patrick Stewart !!