Disney’s latest remake is Bambi

Disney’s great big remake machine continues to churn. The next film slated for a 21st-century makeover? 1942’s Bambi.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney will adapt the forest tale the same way it did with 2019’s The Lion King — that is, with photorealistic animation to evoke a live-action feel. Tapped to write are Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel, Tomb Raider) and Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, Chaos Walking).

The pastoral bildungsroman follows the young Bambi from birth through his childhood and eventually his maturation, where he falls in love with a female deer named Faline. Other than the heartbreaking scene where his mother dies, the plot is pretty much “deer frolics through forest with animal friends” — which, while charming to look at, doesn’t necessarily have the same excitement and narrative drama as The Lion King.

The Hollywood Reporter, however, reports that the studio is aware of the less weighty plot of Bambi and is “not aiming to shoehorn a larger narrative onto the classic tale.” The 1942 film was adapted from the 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods by Felix Salten.

Bolstered by the box office success of last year’s Lion King and Aladdin — both of which grossed more than $1 billion — Disney’s list of remakes only continues to grow. Mulan comes out this March, and a Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians) flick is coming next year. Other films on the remake slate include The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.