Bambi Meets Godzilla

Plot

The opening credits scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing while the Call to the Dairy Cows from Rossini's opera William Tell (1829) plays in the background. After the credits, Bambi looks up to see Godzilla's giant foot coming down, squashing him flat (set to the final chord of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" slowed down to half speed). After a moment, the closing credits scroll over the image of Godzilla's foot on top of a squished Bambi. At the very end, Godzilla's claws twitch once.

The bulk of the movie's running time is consumed in the opening credits, all of which name Marv Newland, including crediting Newland's parents for creating Marv. The closing credits give grateful acknowledgement to the city of Tokyo "for their help in obtaining Godzilla for this film".

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved Bambi Meets Godzilla in 2009.

Screenings and distribution

In 1973, Bambi Meets Godzilla was paired with John Magnuson's Thank You Mask Man by Randy Finley and Specialty Films in Seattle and released widely under the title The King of Hearts and His Loyal Short Subjects. The program ran in repertory theaters across America and in Cambridge, Mass it ran for several years.

The film was restored and released in 1080p on YouTube by an animator named Coda Shetterly.