A few days ago, I got the privilege of sitting down and talking to the original voices behind Disney’s iconic Bambi and Thumper. Donnie Dunagan [Bambi] and Peter Behn [Thumper] were small children at the time Bambi was in production – just 4 and 5 years old. They have each led full, rich lives since the making of Bambi and actually didn’t even meet each other until around 10 years ago! Check out my interview with Bambi and Thumper as well as my chat with Paul Felix who works at Disney Animation Studios below and share your thoughts and/or memories about Bambi in the comment section below.

Exclusive Interview With Bambi, Thumper & Paul Felix

Donnie Dunagan [Bambi]

Donnie Dunagan was discovered by a talent agent at age 3 where he won a local talent contest. After that, he made 7 films between 1938 and 1941 including Bambi. Since ending his career in acting, Dunagan has had an illustrious career in the Marines, where he was Assistant Drill Instructor in Marine history and became a Marine Sergeant by age 19! One of Donnie’s proudest achievementwas was getting Citizen Of The Year in the Military Sector [1977] for his role in helping to provide food to widows of WWII Servicemen. He currently lives in Texas with his wife of 19 years.

Peter Behn [Thumper]

Behn came by Hollywood naturally as his dad was the famed screenwriter behind “Hell’s Angels.” Behn originally tried out for the role of Bambi, but his rambunctiousness made him perfect for Thumper. He even did voiceover work for a couple more years at Disney. After he left acting, Behn worked in the Army Security Agency and in real estate. He is very passionate about protecting the environment and e currently lives on a very self-sufficient farm with photovoltaic power, solar panels, and a wind generator and he raises his own chickens. He currently resides there with his wife, Pamela.

How did you get into acting?

Donnie Dunagan: Oh, dear me. Everybody in this room is so wonderfully young. I love you…during the depression, it was grim. We were dirt poor. And my mother would take me down to the corner about two blocks away where a wonderful man danced on the corner on Saturday, okay, with a Victrola that you crank up and put on the sidewalk, And I’m standing there at 3 ½, four years old you know I’m standing behind a crowd. And it was the depression, no phones, no radios, no money, okay? People were there laughing about this wonderful man dancing on the corner for nickels and pennies. And I started imitating him. And I was barefoot. He had tap shoes. He’s cheating, right? And I’m barefoot. And I start dancing. Then they decided to put me in a talent contest. People went to talent contests in those days in local theaters because they were dirt poor and there was no entertainment, you know.

[A talent scout was in the audience and this is how he was discovered. Dunagan and Behn actually didn’t even get to see the final film for quite some time due to it being depression era. We have access to bluray, DVD and VHS, but in the cinema was really the only place to see a movie at that time. They ended up seeing it at the premiere with everyone else.]

Donnie Dunagan: Mr. Disney may have wanted to release Bambi Christmas of 41, but after Pearl Harbor [12/7/41]…it was released in 1942.

Did you often share with others about your work on Bambi?

Donnie Dunagan: I’d love to tell you I’m bulletproof and all this stuff, I’m not, all right. My fear was, oh my gosh, if he puts credits on these things and shows it in the base theater, right, I got all these drill instructors working for me and all this stuff…I could just see them, those drill instructors and captains working for me. Dear mom, guess what. My commanding officer is Bambi.

[Donnie Dunagan actually even kept his work in Bambi private from his wife. When she finally found out he joked that he had to eat peanut butter for a month!]

What was it like working with Disney himself? Can you share?

Peter Behn: I did meet him a couple of times but not on a regular basis…and he was a very nice man.

Donnie Dunagan: Mr Disney had his sleeves rolled up and he was working and they introduced us to him. We had a great time. Most of the time I saw him…he was participating in things. That’s called leadership. And that’s why Disney was successful.

Can you talk about the process a little?

Peter Behn: The director would read the lines with the inflection that was needed. And then I would say them back or mimic them, try to mimic them with the same kind of inflection. I can’t recall how many takes they took but I’m sure there were a number.

It’s the 75th anniversary for Bambi. What do you envision and hope for the legacy of this film going forward?

Peter Behn: Quite frankly, Walt Disney was very far ahead of his time with environmental concerns. I think the movie is truly a very strong statement in favor of protecting the environment and the concern that man was ruining it or even making it worse. It’s one of my strong beliefs that we have to do everything we can to keep it from getting worse. It’s a forward awareness and thinking that Walt obviously brought to the movie. He had to know what he was doing.And I think as time goes on perhaps that aspect of the movie will resonate and become even more important.

Donnie Dunagan: If I live to be 1000 years old I couldn’t say it better than Peter did. The environmental profile, the forests, the reckless fire is spoken about to children in schools now. And they pick up on that right away. I get at least 2 ½ to 3 handwritten letters a week from children all over the world because of Bambi.

Paul Felix

Paul Felix is a production designer at Walt Disney Animation Studios. You might recognize his work from Big Hero 6, where he served as production designer, 2011’s “Winnie The Pooh,” 2003’s “Brother Bear” and 1998’s “Mulan” and 2002’s “Lilo and Stitch,” to name a few. He has worked with Disney since 1989, where he started in the Television Animation Department.

I asked Paul Felix which live action movie he would like to see animated and get to work on himself. He jokingly said, “Saving Private Ryan.” He did finally settle on “anything by Stanley Kubrick.” He also shared with us that what he feels makes Bambi so special is that it’s “themes are so broad – it’s about the cycle of life, character experiences, the beauty of the world and the zen of simple.”

Starting today, a beautiful tank top featuring the art of Paul Felix, inspired by BAMBI, will be available via Disney Movie Rewards with every digital purchase/redemption of BAMBI. Be sure to get yours here.