Magical Disney Sunday

I decided to play along with "Magical Disney Sunday" that is hosted by my friend Heidi of Fairy Footprints in the Sand.

I'd like to share some early childhood memories of my first exposure to the Disney characters Bambi and Thumper. No, it was not by seeing a movie in the cinema, nor watching it on TV, because way back then, we did not yet have a television. (I know, I'm THAT old!)

My Oma (German for Granny) had these porcelain figurines (I wish I had them) of Bambi and Thumper amongst her nick-knacks and she told me the story about Bambi and Thumper as she had seen it in the cinema. You see, my late Oma was born back in 1901 and when I was a little girl growing up in Germany, we didn't have a TV for a very long time and stories were told or read.

She loved her figurines of Thumper and Bambi with the butterfly on it's tail and they looked somewhat like this:



My Oma told me when she was young, she watched the movie in a movie theater and there were soldiers in there too (she grew up during World War II) and she said there was not a dry eye in the place and that even the soldiers cried when Bambi's mom got, well, you know the rest...

I have a VHS tape of Bambi and whenever I play the movie, I remember my Oma and her love for the deer and his silly friend, the Thumper.

When I was already living in the United States, I used to watch Disney Sunday on TV and looked forward to the show all day, because I think all of Disney's movies are fantastic. While living in California, I have visited Disneyland in Anaheim several times when my daughter was young and will always remember the magical place that makes you feel like a kid again.

I once had a German friend named Robert, who had cancer and his last wish was to come to America. While visiting me in California, my roommate and I took him to Disneyland one day. I never forget watching him with his eyes wide open, just like a child, trying to take it all in. He looked around in awe and finally said (more to himself than anyone else): "Die Amis uebertreiben mit Allem, sogar mit der Schoenheit" which means: The Americans exaggerate (or out-do themselves) in everything - even beauty!" ...He died several months later in Germany and I'm so glad to have helped make his last wish come true!