‘Bambi’ Goes The Way Of ‘Winnie-The-Pooh’ To Be Turned Into A Horror Film

Earlier this year, it was unveiled that the endearing Winnie-the-Pooh would be departing from his usual lovely, heartwarming tales of adventure and friendship to enter a world unfamiliar to Disney characters: horror. 

Now, months before Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey hits cinemas in February 2023, its director, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, has signed up for another project that will see a beloved film character adapted in a spine-chilling manner. 

Frake-Waterfield has teamed up with Scott Jeffrey, the mind behind horror releases The Curse of Humpty Dumpty and The Bad Nun, for what will be a “dark retelling” of Felix Salten’s nearly century-old tale of Bambi. 

Jeffrey tells Dread Central that the 1928 children’s character will be turned into “a vicious killing machine,” and that fans should prepare themselves for “Bambi on rabies,” citing Netflix’s The Ritual as his main source of inspiration for the reimagined movie. 

If you’re wondering why Disney isn’t kicking up more fuss about Bambi being turned into the stuff of nightmares, it’s because the House of Mouse no longer has an exclusive right to Salten’s work. 

US copyright law only limits protection to the life of the author plus 70 years. The Copyright Term Extension Act, which came into effect in 1998, guards corporate authorship for 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years after its creation, whichever ends sooner. 

According to USA Today, Salten passed away in 1945, 77 years ago, meaning the story itself still remains protected, but the company does not have an exclusive right to the author’s work any longer. 

Want to see what the adorable Bambi will be like after it undergoes a horror makeover? Stay tuned.

[via USA Today and Dread Central, cover image via Disney FR]