Nebraska State Mammal: White Tail Deer

Entertainment 5 Minutes

SO many states have the white-tailed deer as their state mammal, and I am not going to repeat the basic facts about them over and over again.  I decided to take a look at BAMBI (a baby white tail deer) and see what we may not have known about the movie.

From Mental Floss:

It’s pretty commonplace for at least one parent to meet a tragic end in a Disney movie, but the death of Bambi’s mother is definitely one of the most heartbreaking, even more than 70 years later. It took Walt Disney and his animators a while to figure out how they wanted to show that pivotal scene; they considered letting viewers see the actual shot before deciding to go with a more subtle approach. That’s just one fact you might not have known about the classic animal film—read on for 12 more.

1 LIKE MANY DISNEY MOVIES, BAMBI WAS BASED ON A BOOK.

The novel, Bambi: A Life in the Woods was intended for adults, not children. If audiences thought the death of Bambi’s mother was a bit harsh, they obviously hadn’t reviewed the source material: Among other things, Bambi’s father shows him the corpse of a man who had been shot by his fellow hunter to show that humans weren’t immortal.

2 BAMBI AUTHOR FELIX SALTEN MADE ALMOST NOTHING FROM THE MOVIE.

Felix Salten sold the American film rights to director Sidney Franklin for a mere $1000. Franklin, in turn, sold it to Disney, writing to him, “I would want it to be one of the greatest things ever attempted and done.” Disney paid homage to Franklin in the credits.

3 THE BOOK WAS BANNED IN GERMANY.

The Nazis believed Salten’s book could be viewed as an allegory for the plight of Jewish people in Europe. They banned it in 1936.

4 THE ANIMATORS STUDIED DEER EXTENSIVELY TO GET THE MOVEMENTS JUST RIGHT.

Artists spoke to animal experts, spent time at the Los Angeles Zoo, and watched nature films. They even got up close and personal with two deer donated to the studio. But animators really showed their dedication to the craft when they observed a deer corpse in various stages of decomposition for several evenings to see how the muscles and tendons really worked. “Unfortunately, each time he contracted or extended any part of the cadaver a rich aroma was pumped into the air,” animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston recalled.

5 THE ANIMATION WAS EXTREMELY TEDIOUS.

Artists had to make sure that each spot on Bambi’s back was replicated perfectly in every frame. The attention to detail meant that animators were able to complete less work on a daily basis than they had on previous movies.

“I wouldn’t hurry. I wanted it right. I wanted those animal characters in Bambi to be actors, not just cute things. I wanted acting on a plane with the highest acting in the finest live-action pictures,” Walt later explained. Bambi also used an oil painting technique that previous Disney pictures hadn’t, which also added to the timeline. According to Walt:

“We took some of our top artists who worked in oils for their own enjoyment in their leisure time. They taught their technique to the watercolor men. There’s a vast difference in the two techniques, but I was set on oil painting, because of its quality. I figured oils would give a sheen to the forest and accentuate the depth. It worked, too, but perfecting a technique takes time.”

6 WALT’S OWN DAUGHTER PROTESTED THE DEATH OF BAMBI’S MOTHER.

When Diane Disney complained about the needless death, her dad explained that he was just following the book. She proceeded to point out other instances where his movies had veered off from the original material, and besides, she said, he was Walt Disney and could take whatever liberties he liked.

7 “MAN IS IN THE FOREST” HAD DOUBLE MEANING.

It’s uttered in the movie to warn of approaching humans, of course, but to Disney animators, it also meant something else: Walt was coming down the hallway, and anyone who was slacking needed to shape up immediately.

8 THE MOVIE IS RATHER ECONOMICAL WITH ITS DIALOGUE.

Although the animals in the movie speak, they don’t speak much; there are fewer than 900 words in the whole film.

9 SOME OF BAMBI ‘S ANIMATION SEQUENCES WERE REUSED IN OTHER MOVIES.

Over the years, Disney has often employed an animation technique called “rotoscoping,” where animators trace over the frames of old footage to use it in a different environment. Check out this video for a few examples of how animation from Bambi and other early films ended up in later movies.

10 THE STUDIO CONSIDERED A BAMBI “ROAD SHOW.”

Instead of a standard release, the road show would have placed the movie in theaters specially outfitted with advanced sound systems and limited the number of daily showings. 

11 BAMBI LATER BECAME A CAREER MARINE.

In 1940, six-year-old Donnie Dunagan was picked for the role of a lifetime: Disney hired him to provide the voice for the lead role in his newest animated feature, Bambi. Dunagan retired from acting after that, and became a decorated career Marine—and its youngest-ever drill instructor, in fact. He served in the Vietnam War and was wounded three times.

Dunagan didn’t want to give recruits or commanding officers any extra reason to harass him, so he kept his mouth shut about his child acting past for the duration of his entire career. He says it didn’t come up until he was two months away from retirement, and, swamped with other things, balked at completing a task an officer had asked him to do.

“General, when do you think I’m going to have time to do that?” Dunagan asked. And that’s when the general revealed that he had some very interesting intel:

“He looked at me, pulled his glasses down like some kind of college professor. There’s a big, red, top-secret folder that he got out of some safe somewhere that had my name on it. He pats this folder, looks me in the eye and says, ‘You will audit the auditors. Won’t you, Maj. Bambi?'”

12 THESE DAYS, DUNAGAN EMBRACES THE PAST.

“I love it now,” he has said. “When people realize, ‘This old jerk, he’s still alive and was Bambi.’ And I wouldn’t take anything for it, not a darn thing for it.”

Dunagan says kids still ask him to say some of Bambi’s most famous lines: “At first I had to modify my long developed adult voice and get all the Marine tones out of it, in order to say ‘bird,’ ‘flower,’ and so on. With some practice I have been able to do it!”

SOURCE: MENTALFLOSS.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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116 thoughts on “Nebraska State Mammal: White Tail Deer”

    1. Good morning, Pat! Interesting info on the making of Bambi! Indian Summer is definitely arriving here – more than half of the snow is gone, bright sunshine and starting out @ 26. By the end of the day, I expect most traces of snow will be gone.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Good Morning Filly!
        lucky you! hubby was out throwing some salt in front of the garage door and he said the ice layer is ABOVE the garage door handle–he can’t even see it anymore…that is NOT good.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Oh, shit…..hmmm…..if you could rig up some kind of heater directed at the door, maybe….? A portable propane heater perhaps….

          Like

  9. EXCERPT: “Amid the war on terror and the many military conflicts of the past two decades, Democrats were often critics of foreign adventurism and military spending, pointing to the bloated Pentagon budget as an obvious target for cuts to balance the budget. 

    Now that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a sweeping budget review and the implementation of those cuts, Democrats — determined to obstruct the Trump agenda — are suddenly livid and sound like Bush-era Republicans warning of national security failures should the Defense Department lose funding.

    The fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act approved $883.7 billion in funding for discretionary defense purposes. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, however, has reportedly ordered the Pentagon to plan for an 8% budget cut every year for five years, according to The Washington Post, which cited an internal memo and “officials familiar with the matter.”

    “To achieve our mandate from President Trump, we are guided by his priorities including securing our borders, building the Iron Dome for America, and ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing,” acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said Wednesday.

    Hegseth: “It’s not a cut, it’s refocusing and reinvesting”

    Attempting to combat media narratives, Hegseth has insisted that he is merely moving money in the Pentagon’s budget to other internal priorities and that such a move did not constitute a cut at all. As the Pentagon plans to allocate funding to other projects, it is unlikely that the shifts would directly impact the national budget. In a public video statement, Hegseth on Thursday urged the public to take media stories with a “grain of salt,” insisting that the media has a “different agenda.” 

    Hegseth has sought to free up funds in the budget this year to instead invest in Trump-favored projects like an American Iron Dome. That money comes from the already-approved FY2026 budget and totals around $50 billion, roughly 8% of that budget. He did not directly address the reports of an 8% cut each year for five years, but merely the reallocation of the $50 billion within the existing budget.

    Hegseth confirmed that the Department of Government Efficiency was working with the Pentagon and that he had afforded their staff “broad access” to review the department, with a focus on “headquarters, and fat, and redundancies, and topline stuff.”

    “The media wants to call these exclusive cuts, but it’s completely the opposite,” he said. “It’s not a cut, it’s refocusing and reinvesting” existing funds toward Trump’s priorities and away from Biden-era social programs. Prior to the announcement, Hegseth highlighted the Pentagon’s inability to pass an audit and its history of financial vagueness.

    “The fact that I have to commit to an audit being done in four years is bad enough. The Pentagon should be able to pass a budget right now,” he told Fox News earlier this month. “When we spend dollars, we need to know where they’re going and why. That’s simple accounting.”

    Democrats livid

    Mainline Democrats did an about face from their decades long opposition to military spending, and were quick to criticize the prospect of a reduced defense budget and now warn of national security failures as they wage war against DOGE and its sweeping cuts to the federal headcount.

    “These types of hasty, indiscriminate budget cuts would betray our military forces and their families and make America less safe. I’m all for cutting programs that don’t work, but this proposal is deeply misguided. Secretary Hegseth’s rushed, arbitrary strategy would have negative impacts on our security, economy, and industrial base,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

    The cuts “will have a dramatic, deleterious & damaging effect on our readiness & preparedness for the threats that are only increasing around the world,” Sen. Dick Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on CNN. Blumenthal is notorious for having been accused of “stolen valor”: repeatedly claiming to have served in Vietnam. That story fell apart and in 2010 Blumenthal apologized for “misspeaking.”

    Retired Lt. Gen. and CNN analyst Mark Hertling fumed over the plans, calling them “exponentially worse than sequestration that crippled the military in 2011.”

    That was then, this is now.

    Social media erupted with comments on the irony of Democrats spending years advocating for defense cuts, only to balk when a Republican actually attempted to implement them. Some Democrats did attempt to force a 10% defense cut in 2020, with 93 of them backing the measure, but it did not succeed…..”

    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/wkddemocrats-upend-decades-policy-they-fight-hegseths-pentagon-cuts

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Just The News: “Vice President J.D. Vance, former Ohio U.S. senator, won the CPAC 2028 straw poll on Saturday with 61%.

    Steve Bannon, a former Trump advisor, received 12% and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis received 7%.”

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Whoa! Shooting in PA!

    Just The News: “A police officer and a gunman were killed at UPMC Memorial Hospital in York County, Pennsylvania on Saturday morning, according to reports.

    Police responded to an “active threat” at the hospital around 10:45am, according to a public information officer at York County’s Office of Emergency Management cited in several reports.

    The officer was identified as Andrew Duarte. The gunman’s identity has not yet been released.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i read this late yesterday–apparently it was in intensive care unit and the perpetrator had issues with personnel while he (or a loved one) was there recently. that’s all i could find out.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. O.M.G!!! Cats truly DO have nine lives! Guess who just showed up on my patio, much thinner but walking well on both front legs???? Yep – Wheezer is back!!! He seemed to really enjoy my petting this morning.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. “This Friday afternoon, you could hear a pin drop at SBA HQ. That ends Monday as @POTUS orders every federal employee back to the office, full-time and in-person. It’s time for the government to get back to work.”

    https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2025/02/22/sba-head-kelly-loefflers-post-about-arriving-at-the-office-n2185903

    Liked by 1 person

        1. this phone it in bullshit is ridiculous!
          hell, we could have call centers in india do the crap they’re doing.
          there should be staffed offices where you can go and talk face to face with someone.

          Liked by 1 person

  14. “The counter mandate that we have is the force of the Founding Fathers in the 2nd Amendment.” “That is more powerful than any regulation these entities can come up with. But if you let ATF continue to chip away, they will completely take it away FOREVER.”

    https://redstate.com/bobhoge/2025/02/22/the-fbi-is-not-enough-kash-patel-reportedly-tapped-to-be-temporary-director-of-another-agency-as-well-n2185906

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I never have understood why alcohol, tobacco and firearms should be covered by just one agency. Alcohol and tobacco should rightfully fall under one of the health agency regulations, IMO.

        Liked by 1 person

  19. “But think about it. If we did the same to them and didn’t go up there, even though who the hell wants to go up there at this time of year, what would it do to THEIR economy? I betcha dollars to donuts more people from here go there than vice-versa, so maybe a little taste of their medicine is what they need. Juss’ sayin’…”

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Do NOT fall for this BS!!!! No to NATO membership, period!!!

    Just The News: “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he is “ready” to resign as the country’s leader in exchange for NATO membership.

    “If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready,” Zelensky said at a news conference, according to the Associated Press. “I can trade it for NATO.” 

    Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said that Ukrainian membership in NATO was unrealistic.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Nope! we have a preexisting agreement with russia NOT to encircle her with nato countries. that should be honored.

      and who do YOU think you are little pissant. have an election or get steamrolled right out of history.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. “Can anyone explain why, when President Trump states he wants peace worldwide, the democrats hate him even more?”

    “True story:”

    Liked by 1 person

  25. “Most people don’t realize that emu eggs have to come from somewhere.

    “But then many people don’t realize that emu eggs make a delicious breakfast. The truth is that elusive emu babies abound in the wild… if you know where to look:”

    Liked by 1 person

  27. PostConversation

    Elon Musk

    @elonmusk

    The reason this matters is that a significant number of people who are supposed to be working for the government are doing so little work that they are not checking their email at all! In some cases, we believe non-existent people or the identities of dead people are being used to collect paychecks. In other words, there is outright fraud.

    Liked by 1 person

  28. “Americans warned: ‘You could be arrested as soon as you step foot’ in UK for your social media posts back home’ — Even if it’s just a statement about your Christian faith or your political stance’”

    Super Spreader, Feb 23, 2025

    Share

    “Most of Europe is now an unsafe no-go zone. I don’t know which presents a bigger danger, the criminal migrants or the criminal governments. Unless Europeans realize that those are both part of the same cartel they won’t fix anything. Until then: → Be careful where you travel ←

    [Source 1]

    [link]

    By Jordan Sekulow | February 19

    [Source 2]

    [link]

    By Bob Unruh – February 23, 2025

    “There long have been legitimate concerns when Americans travel to restrictive nations – those that don’t accept the multitude of rights Americans enjoy – such as North Korea. Or China. Or even Islamic regimes like Iran, or Saudi Arabia. Now, the American Center for Law and Justice is warning about travel to the United Kingdom. The legal organization has posted online an analysis of the threat the UK’s ideological leftism now poses.

    Uk Speech Laws Memo Feb 2025, 315KB ∙ PDF file: Download

    “The UK has declared that it will charge and prosecute Americans for their social media posts, written while still in America, if they travel to its borders. The ACLJ has prepared a legal memo detailing the specific laws at play and the danger for Americans. Specifically, it details how your speech on the internet could violate the UK’s broad ‘hate speech’ laws and how you could be arrested as soon as you step foot in the UK for your posts back home,” the ACLJ reports.

    “If an American speaks in the United States in a way that UK officials construe as affecting their national interest or even producing substantial effects within the country, even if it’s just a statement about your Christian faith or your political stance, then you could be arrested upon entry to the UK,” it warned.

    This of course, would be entry to the nation famed worldwide for the Constitution-inspiring Magna Carta.

    Magna Carta
    Magna Carta

    The document, from 1215 A.D., is considered one of the premier listings of rights for citizens, church rights, impartial justice and more.

    “UK officials have boasted how proud they are of this initiative: The UK’s Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said in a press conference, ‘We will throw the full force of the law at people. . . . And whether you’re in this country committing crimes on the streets or committing crimes from further afield online, we will come after you,’” the ACLJ warning noted.

    Adding to the threat was Prime Minister Keir Starmer, “I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder whether directly or those whipping up this action online.”

    The ACLJ warned it “clearly” is conservatives who are being targeted. And, forebodingly, what qualifies as illegal speech actually is “at the whim of the police and officials, as the laws themselves are too vague to define specific violations.” For example, one law criminalizes “threatening, abusive or insulting words” and another targets “grossly offensive” messaging.

    Be further warned, travelers are told, that European courts regularly affirm the validity of such directed attacks on conservatives and their speech. And going into the “absurd,” the ACLJ warns, some UK leaders actually have wanted to extradite individuals from the U.S. whose language they insist be suppressed.“

    Authors:

    All the best, —SuperSpreader

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Maybe good news coming, Pat! This warm spell is supposed to head across the lower states and up the east coast – hopefully it will reach you, too! My thermometer just hit 58!!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s up to 63 now! I wouldn’t be surprised to see 70 within the next few days! The problem is….if it lasts too long, perennials will get fooled and start to sprout. So it’s a double-edged sword!

        Liked by 1 person

  30. “Zelensky Willing to Resign”

    Clandestine, Feb 23, 2025

    Share

    “You might see reports about Zelensky willing to resign, but I’m here to tell you, he never had any say in the matter. Zelensky is a puppet of CIA/State Dept, and now Trump holds the keys to the castle. Any talk from Zelensky is purely theater.

    Trump and Putin have already decided Zelensky’s fate, and if he refuses, the flow of money and ammunition is shut off, Ukraine will collapse rapidly as their frontlines are already deteriorating consistently, and Putin will take all of Ukraine anyways.

    Zelensky has no leverage whatsoever. He is putting on a show to make it seem like he is fighting for Ukraine at the negotiating table, but in reality, Zelensky’s fate is already sealed.

    There is no scenario in which Zelensky remains in power.”

    Liked by 1 person

  31. “Riley Gaines gets trans activist to say he believes we should let Olympic athletes compete in the Paralympics”

    https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1892829350715699292

    Riley Gaines: Do you also believe, Blossom, that we should combine the Paralympics and the Olympics? I would love to hear an answer to that.

    Piers Morgan: Okay, I’ll ask [him]. Blossom, should we combine the Paralympics with the regular Olympics, have them all compete with each other?

    Blossom: I mean, why not? ….

    Piers Morgan: Right, yeah, why not. okay.

    Riley Gaines: Oh my gosh!!!

    Piers Morgan: You are completely insane.

    Riley’s reaction says it all:

    https://notthebee.com/article/riley-gaines-asked-a-transgender-activist-if-we-should-let-olympian-athletes-compete-in-the-paralympics-you-can-guess-the-response

    Liked by 1 person

  32. EXCERPT: “….Fast-forward to today, and Target is finally scrambling to scale back the very policies that got it into this mess (but only after Trump won).

    In a lawsuit filed in Fort Myers, Uthmeier argues that Target violated the Securities Exchange Act by failing to disclose the obvious risks of pushing DEI and Pride initiatives — risks that any rational executive should have seen coming.

    In other words, instead of focusing on making money, Target played political activist, and now its investors are paying the price.

    https://x.com/JamesUthmeierFL/status/1892608629804572984

    From Uthmeier:

    Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers. My office will stridently pursue corporate reform so that companies get back to the business of doing business — not offensive political theatre.

    This isn’t even just about Target. It’s about the growing trend of corporations who chose woke signaling over profitability, pushed ESG nonsense over shareholder value, and are now acting surprised that consumers dared to fight back…..”

    https://notthebee.com/article/florida-ag-sues-target-for-misleading-shareholders-by-selling-merchandise-going-woke

    Liked by 1 person

  42. hear anything about this??

    Oldersoul

    February 23, 2025 4:03 pm

    UNCONFIRMED REPORT:

    Listening Devices Found in Oval Office—President’s Desk Removed for Security Scan

    Washington, D.C. – February 21, 2025

    In a shocking revelation that has sent ripples through Washington, sources within the White House have confirmed that the Oval Office—including the historic… pic.twitter.com/LRalAL91Su

    — Jack Lombardi II (@JackLombardi) February 23, 2025

    Listening Devices Found in Oval Office—President’s Desk Removed for Security Scan

    Washington, D.C. – February 21, 2025

    In a shocking revelation that has sent ripples through Washington, sources within the White House have confirmed that the Oval Office—including the historic Resolute Desk—was subjected to a high-level security sweep following suspicions of covert surveillance.

    The sweep reportedly uncovered sophisticated listening devices, leading to the immediate removal of the President’s desk for a comprehensive off-site scan.

    A senior official, speaking anonymously, revealed that the discovery followed routine electronic countermeasures that detected unusual signals. “The anomalies were subtle but consistent—enough to trigger a full investigation,” the source said. “We couldn’t risk compromising the integrity of the President’s workspace.”

    Specialized teams using cutting-edge radiofrequency detection technology were dispatched, and initial findings allegedly pointed to concealed audio surveillance devices hidden within the office.

    The Resolute Desk, gifted by Queen Victoria in 1880, was transported to a secure, undisclosed location for thorough inspection by counterintelligence and forensic tech experts. Early reports suggest at least one miniature transmitter—small enough to evade standard detection—may have been embedded within the desk’s structure. Official confirmation of this discovery is still pending.

    White House spokesperson Emily Harrow declined to provide specifics but confirmed that “enhanced security measures” had been put into effect. “The administration takes all potential threats to national security seriously,” Harrow stated at a press

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Interesting…..if so, maybe that was why they had the media highlight Elon’s son picking his nose!

      Like

    2. remember when Elon had his son in the office with him and he “apparently” wiped his snot on the resolute desk? that’s when they took the desk out and people thought it was because PDJT is germophobic.

      Like

  43. Just The News: “The Trump administration announced on Sunday it has decided to eliminate 2,000 posts at the U.S. Agency for International Development and put most others on leave, according to a report from Associated Press.

    U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols had denied a legal effort from employees to continue the temporary stay on the administration’s plan to phase out the agency.

    “As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally,” read the notices sent to employees, according to the AP.”

    Liked by 1 person

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