Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods Cinema Review

3 star charming and well filmed documentary.

Bambi: A Tale of Life in the Woods is a 2025 French fictionalised documentary film, written and directed by Michel Fessler (March of the Penguins) with an English dub and based on the 1923 Austrian coming-of-age novel Bambi, A Life in the Woods, written by Felix Salten.

It is in UK cinemas from 15th August 2025, courtesy of Dazzler Media.

“A forest in spring is like a mother’s womb, in which thousands of little hearts beat, no matter how small.”

From the start I feel it’s important to make it clear that while this is an adaptation of the book, there may be expectations for it to be similar to the Disney adaptation, it is not. The animals are not voiced, instead it is narrated by popular singer songwriter Mylène Farmer, who tells us of Bambi’s adventures as he grows up in the forest.

This gives it a level a charm not reached by a cartoon version, but at the same time the documentary format might be too boring for a young audience used to the bright colours, sound and fury of children’s films. It is also a little too simplistic to fully appeal to an adult audience, so not sure of the age group it is aimed at.

“It’s worth taking a few risks when wandering through the flowers. Freedom gives you wings.”

The story itself is heartwarming and well told, we see Bambi as a baby taking his first steps and discovering the world around him and all its joys and perils, including hedgehogs, wild boar, snakes, wolves and most dangerous of all, man. As he grows, so does his experience and all of this is presided over by a worldly wise crow who totally steals the stage with every appearance.

The editing is clever to give the impression of narrative and the cinematography is beautiful. It isn’t afraid to look at the subject of loss and fear, making this an intimate and realistic look at nature which narrowly avoids being moralistic and has at its heart an environmental message. A good watch, probably not of interest to a lot of children, but you know your own kids tolerance for documentaries best.

If you think they will like it, then this is a chilled out family friendly way to pass an afternoon at the cinema.

“Growing up means feeding yourself. Open your eyes and taste everything and above all, look to your mother. That’s what learning is all about.”