ON THIS DAY AUGUST 21 2023

This Day in History: August 21

Featured Event

1942




The animated film Bambi had its theatrical release in the United States, and it became a classic in the Disney canon, noted for its lush hand-drawn animation and sensitive affective narrative.



Bambi, American animated film, released in 1942, that is considered a classic in the Disney canon for its lush hand-drawn animation and its sensitive affective narrative.
The story chronicles the adventures of Bambi, a fawn whose father is revered as the Great Prince of the Forest. From birth Bambi is guided through life by his mother and a diverse group of woodland friends, including a rabbit named Thumper. While playing in a meadow one day, Bambi meets a female fawn, Faline. Months later Bambi’s beloved mother is killed by a hunter, forcing Bambi to grow up on his own while his father roams the forest. He playfully flirts with Faline and emerges victorious in a battle with another adolescent buck, but danger looms when hunters return. After saving Faline from a pack of hunting dogs, Bambi is wounded by gunshot. Meanwhile, a nearby campfire begins to spread. However, the two deer manage to escape to safety, and Bambi later assumes his father’s role as the Great Prince of the Forest.


The movie was adapted from the book Bambi: Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde (1923; Bambi: A Life in the Woods) by Austrian author Felix Salten. Walt Disney doted for years on his animators’ work in an effort to depict the animals’ anatomy and movement as realistically as possible. Their labours were rewarded when Bambi was released in 1942 to immediate acclaim, though the film did not start earning a profit until it was rereleased five years later. The shocking death of Bambi’s mother at the hands of an anonymous hunter—an unusually tragic moment for a children’s film—remains emotionally devastating for many viewers.

Featured Biography

Usain Bolt
Jamaican athlete




Usain Bolt, in full Usain St. Leo Bolt, (born August 21, 1986, Montego Bay, Jamaica), Jamaican sprinter who won gold medals in the 100-metre and 200-metre races in an unprecedented three straight Olympic Games and is widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time.
Bolt, the son of grocers in Jamaica’s rural Trelawny parish, excelled as a cricket fast bowler in his preteen years. He developed a deep affection for the European football (soccer) teams Real Madrid and Manchester United, but his school coaches steered him toward track and field. Bolt first marked himself as a track prodigy at the 2002 world junior championships. In that meet, racing before a crowd of 36,000 in Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston, Bolt—just 15 years old at the time—won gold in the 200 metres, becoming the youngest-ever male world junior champion in any event. At age 16 Bolt cut the junior (age 19 and under) 200-metre world record to 20.13 sec, and at 17 he ran the event in 19.93 sec, becoming the first teenager to break 20 seconds in the race. However, hampered by a hamstring injury, he failed to advance beyond the 200-metre heats at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and placed last in the 2005 world track-and-field championships final.


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