100th Anniversary of Bambi

100 years ago, Felix Salten published the story of the roe deer Bambi, which is now a true classic.

Originally, the Austro-Hungarian writer Felix Salten (1869-1945) penned "Bambi. A Life in the Woods" as a serial for the newspaper "Neue Freie Presse". In 1923, the story was published as a novel. Salten's choice to center the narrative on an animal vulnerable to human threats, rather than being the predator, was a remarkable departure from conventional storytelling. In 1942, Walt Disney created the animated film "Bambi" based on the novel, which to this day brings tears to children’s and parents’ eyes alike. In the movie adaptation, however, Bambi is not a roe deer but a white-tailed deer native to North America. The novel "Bambi" was translated into more than 30 languages, and Felix Salten wrote a sequel, "Bambi's Children", in which Bambi is the wise old roebuck who shares survival skills with his offspring.