In short
Sir Christopher Frayling discusses Disney feature-length animation through Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi, focusing on fear, horror elements, and how stories change across cultures.
Guest backgrounds
Sir Christopher Frayling is a knighted writer and cultural observer/film scholar; he’s authored rigorous film and culture writing and made a documentary on Felix Salten.
Key claims
Frayling says Snow White’s wicked stepmother created a “pleasurable fear” that explains his enduring interest in horror; he argues Bambi is essentially a horror film because of the parent’s death.
Notable examples
he contrasts Disney’s Bambi with Felix Salten’s original novel, describing it as an allegory of 1920s Austrian anti-Semitism and a “forest as a safe space,” where leaving the forest leads to being shot.
Guests
Sir Christopher Frayling (only guest mentioned).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOChildhood Impact of Disney Films
0:38 to 2:27
Frayling shares his early experiences with Disney films and their emotional impact.
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first movie that I ever saw.”
Bambi: A Deeper Analysis
2:27 to 4:23
Frayling discusses the themes of violence and anti-Semitism in Bambi's story.
“when they were screened, and of course Bambi upset all of us.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00KCRW sponsors include Focus Features. From the acclaimed director of Jason Bourne comes The Uprising, starring Andrew Garfield, based on the true story that inspired the legend of Robin Hood. The Uprising, rated R, only in theaters this Thursday. Discover it at Dolby Cinema. Welcome to The Treat. I'm Elvis Mitchell. Sir Christopher Frayling has brought such rigorous and insightful observations to film and culture that he has been knighted for his writing. For The Treat, he turns his powers of observation on a particular example of Disney feature-length animation. And as you'll hear, there's no better time than now for his assessments.
0:37I'm Sir Christopher Frayling, and this is The Treat.
0:51Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first movie that I ever saw. I was completely enthralled by this film. Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? Famed is thy beauty, Majesty, but hold, a lovely maid I see. Rags cannot hide her gentle grace But I was so scared by the wicked stepmother turning into an old crone that my mother had to take me out of the cinema and take me on the circle line of the underground, the London Underground and we went round and round in circles on the tube until I calmed down because I couldn't stand it My voice My voice
1:42A perfect disguise. When she turned into this warty old crone, I was beside myself with fear, but a pleasurable fear. And that's why I still enjoy horror movies. It's what the poet Coleridge said, desire with loathing strangely mixed.
2:09What you gonna call him? Well, I think I'll call him Bambi. Bambi. Yeah, but I guess I'll do all right. Films like Bambi and Snow White had a big, big effect. I was born in 1946, so these films were relatively new when they were screened, and of course Bambi upset all of us. In fact, in Quentin Tarantino's new book, he talks about, doesn't he, as Bambi as the ultimate horror movie. It's one of the most violent movies he's ever seen because of the death of the parent, you know, and how that's handled. We made it! We made it, Mother! We... Mother!
3:01Mother!
3:11It's off screen, you just hear this shot. You know, Bambi, you are alone. Oh, God. I mean, you know, this is, you know, forget about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You know, this is really scary. Mother!
3:26Mother! In fact, I did a documentary on British radio last year about the author of the novel Bambi, a man called Felix Salten, who is an Austrian. And it's a very grown-up book indeed. It's like Animal Farm by George Orwell. It's a book about anti-Semitism in Austria in the 1920s and the forest as a safe space. And the hunters who are waiting to get you, it's quite clear who they are. And if you get outside the ghetto, if you go outside the forest, you're liable to get shot. The whole book is an allegory of anti-Semitism. And my documentary was about how did it turn from that into the Disney version.
4:06Salten went to see it in Switzerland. He fled to Switzerland, a Jewish family, so he got out after the Nazis invaded Austria. And he went to Switzerland and he saw it in Zurich when the film first came out. And I said, what do you think of it? He said, it's a good movie, but it's Walt Disney's Bambi. It's not my Bambi. The little song that never ends One simple deed with me
4:39Writer and cultural observer Sir Christopher Fraling on the beauty and brutality of Disney animation. The Treat is produced by Rebecca Mooney and mixed by Katie Gilchrist. I'm Elvis Mitchell. It's the treat.
5:21of Robin Hood. The Uprising, rated R. Only in theaters this Thursday. Discover it at Dolby Cinema.
From the publisher
Sir Christopher Frayling is a film scholar who has written extensively about Italian director Sergio Leone, most notably in the biography Sergio Leone by Himself. For his treat, Frayling reveals the early so-called children’s films he watched that horrified and thrilled him.