Bambi - June 15, 8pm, Samuel Goldwyn Theatre

[cstephens]

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is screening a newly-restored digital version of "Bambi" on Wednesday, June 15 at 8pm in the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. The host is Leonard Maltin, and there will also be a panel discussion with special guests (not yet announced) following the screening. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and are available for purchase starting June 1 at the Academy during regular business hours, by mail, or on the night of the screening, if tickets are still available. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. See this link for more information:
http://www.oscars.org/events/bambi/index.html.

[Kevy Baby]

Cool. but bummer... already have tickets to see Wicked that night.

Otherwise I would so be there!

[Gn2Dlnd]

These are really nice events, I've gone to a few.
After consulting my social secretary, I believe I'm free that night. (Bambi is such a beautiful film, the last time I saw it on the big screen, I was 5 or 6, and we were in a station wagon at a drive-in)

[Not Afraid]

I saw Bambi on the big screen a few years ago. Both Frank and Ollie were attending. It was magical.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Resurrecting this thread, is anyone going? I'll be there, trolling for a leftover ticket.

http://www.oscars.org/events/bambi/index.html

[innerSpaceman]

Ugh, too busy to make it. And, feh, DVD killed all movie revivals. Plus, I know the guys who restored Bambi and they are embarrassed by their work. Say it's the worst thing they've ever done, and these are the pros of the business. So, um, I will be staying away from this "restoration."


(On a bright note, they say that their work on Cinderella is great. Yeah, too bad it's not a work of pure artistic genius like Bambi.)

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Cool. but bummer... already have tickets to see Wicked that night.

Otherwise I would so be there!

I'm an idiot.

Wicked is JULY 15. Today was JUNE 15.

It didn't dawn me as I was talking to the Commodore as he was sitting in the theatre. Right after I hung up, I got the proverbial smack upside the head.

If I knew how to read a calendar, I would have been there. Pisser.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Here are some people who did make it tonight.


Leonard Maltin


Andreas Deja


Tony Baxter and Richard M. Sherman

The evening included some impressive examples of the restoration involved (sorry ISM, but the restoration was beautiful), a panel discussion after the movie, and original backgrounds and concept art in the lobby. Leonard Maltin hosted. Why is it that he is so knowledgeable and interesting in person, and so smarmy on the dvds?

[cstephens]

We attended this event last night, and we had a great time. The host was Leonard Maltin, who started off the evening talking about the film and the efforts at restoration. Then he introduced two members of the restoration team, Theo Gluck and Steve Poehlein, who did a presentation explaining the process of how the restoration was done. They said that normally, prints are struck from a third or even fourth generation master. However, they were able to start from the original negatives of the film with this restoration. They talked a bit about the entire process and then showed a short clip (the one where all the animals are going to see Bambi shortly after he was born) in three forms: first was the normal presentation of the film, second was the original negative version of the film, and third was the final restored version. It was really amazing to see. The new version is pristine and beautiful, with clarity and gorgeous colors, and the soundtrack is clear.

After the presentation, they showed the film, which is in digital form. After that, they had a panel discussion hosted by Maltin that included four guests: Ollie Johnston, Peter Behn (voice of young Thumper), Cammie King (voice of young Faline) and animator Andreas Deja (who has worked on numerous Disney animated films). Peter's recordings were done while he was between the ages of 4 and 6, and Cammie was about the same age, so neither remembers too much specifically about the experience. Ollie talked about how his goal is always to make the characters come to life, to treat them as living beings, and Andreas made a good point about not animating the characters per se but internalizing the characters and letting them come out and show you how they should be animated. Ollie talked a bit about Frank Thomas as well and his contributions, and Leonard Maltin made a comment about how Ollie always deflects credit to his partner but that he deserved a lot of credit too. Listening to Ollie, it made me think that we need to add some more books to our collection, because I want to hear more of his stories about what it was like to work on these pictures. In the audience, there were many members of the restoration team in attendance as well as the original art designer on the film.

I always think it's interesting to see the disparate people who come to these kinds of events. The age range itself ran from young children there with their parents to people probably in their 60s and 70s and older, all to see a 60+ year old animated film. The theatre was fairly crowded. It's been many years since I've seen a film in that theatre, but I was reminded last night what a great venue it is.

Currently on display in the downstairs lobby of the theatre is an exhibit of posters from animated films. We walked around and looked at those for a while. Also on display was original artwork (pencil drawings, water colors, cels) from "Bambi", and those were great to look at as well.