In lieu of Donnie Dunagan’s upcoming appearance at the Dallas Comic Show this weekend and Bambi‘s 80th anniversary this year, we caught up with the former actor to get his take on the film and life since. For those unfamiliar with Dunagan’s background, the now 88 year old Texan starred as the voice of Disney’s Bambi and in live action movies such as Son of Frankenstein before making military history and becoming a war hero. Read below to see our full conversation with this legendary figure and catch up with him yourself April 23-24 at Dallas Comic Show’s Spring Spectacular located at the Music City Mall in Lewisville!

Hey Donnie, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk with me today before your Dallas Comic Show appearance this weekend. 

I need to thank you for including us in this with you and this whole event of Dallas Comic Show. The contrast between that and the rest of things going on in the world is just like night and day. A very good friend of mine, a well-balanced man, good community guy, in the Lions Club with me, he talked to me this morning about how depressed he and his little family were about all the bad news and things. I said, “Well, you ought to go to Dallas this weekend for the Dallas Comic Show. He asked why and I said, “Listen, George, the contrast between that event and what we normally have too much of in our lives [negative news] is like night and day. It’s a happy engine, one happy engine to put a smile on your face. Its whole purpose is to put joy in you and have some fun. Maybe to get a change to tease me!

You’re not wrong! Speaking of the convention celebrating your time with Bambi and Son of Frankenstein, this year actually marks 80 years since Bambi came out. Of course, so much has changed, technology wise, with the introduction of computers. There have been drastic improvements in the audio and visual aspects, but here we are still talking about Bambi today. Why do you think that’s the case?

Oh, my God. I love your question. I’m not just saying nice things, you. I love your question. Let me share this with you. The evidence of Walt Disney’s Bambi on this whole world, particularly the English translation countries, is stark. I have journals I keep for mail. I get nine letters a week from all over the place, including Central Europe and lots of Canada. Nine a week concerning Bambi alone. There are some Son of Frankenstein and some others but mainly Bambi, Bambi, Bambi. Children draw Bambi in his imagery in their crayons and send them to me with poems; some ask questions about schoolwork. A little group of children up in Burlington, Vermont, two weeks ago, sent me a beautiful portrait that they drew up in class and included some questions about life. That’s amazing, just amazing!

Let me share this with you. Disney discovered I was still alive about 20 years and six months ago, they thought I had died in the war. They invited us out there and sent me to London and all kinds of other places. Word got out in the media aggressively. Not by me since I don’t self-promote for peanut butter, but it got out very aggressively. Since then, I’ve been able to liaison with children, always with their parents keenly aware since they’re the motivators, and help children using Bambi. I’ve helped little groups using Bambi. I’ve taught attitudes using Bambi. All of the other achievements in my life, all the combat time and all the medals, nothing touches the positive influence that this soldier has been able to have with wonderful people because of Bambi!

The luck of my being in it is really sharp. The agent I had at the time, since I had already been in several movies, was like a New York or New Jersey gangster. He was very rude to my mother several times. I’m five years old and I don’t like him already. When Walt Disney personally called my mom, I was in the kitchen when it happened. To be honest, we didn’t know peanut butter about Disney. My mom knew enough to say, “Yes, hello,” and this nice man by the name of Walt Disney invited us to come to the studio to talk about being the facial model for the deer. Later, they would ask me to do the voice. Anyway, my mom said okay since we did anything else schedule. She called my agent and he came out in his big, fancy car with this three-piece suit and he just went crazy. He told my mom, “No, He can’t be in a comedy! We’ve got him planned for a western and blah, blah, blah. He can’t do this!” He was really rude to my mother and my mom could hardly say anything. So, I fired him. I’m five years old and I fired this guy. He said, “You can’t fire me!” My mom smiled and told me I was okay. He got in the car and laid rubber in our driveway. Less than two weeks later when we got to Disney’s brand-new studio buildings in Burbank, California, Mr. Disney found out that I had fired this guy. Apparently, he knew about this guy and that endeared me to him right away. I got more ice cream and everything else because I fired that jerk!

You hadn’t even seen an animated film up to that point. Did you have any clue what to expect whenever you walked through those studio doors?

That’s really a good question. When we finally got there, I realized that Disney was the guy that made all these huge cartoons and I was just young enough to think that maybe there were some of those cartoon characters running around there. We got to the parking lot and some very nice escort people put us in the right place in the parking lot. Mr. Disney came out to meet us! What a gentleman he was forever and ever on everything, a great guy. He took us inside and I was all excited because I thought I was going to see all this stuff. Then, when we started the production for the facial model stuff, I just sit there while they draw. I didn’t have a clue with it what the storyline was!

Nobody ever said this, but I think I probably made a piss of myself frantically asking, “What’s this about? What is the storyline?” I’d already been in seven movies and I wasn’t jaded, but I was five and a half going on nineteen. I had listened to a lot of adults and I had seen a ton of stuff that kids don’t normally see that age. Finally, Mr. Disney had a wonderful lady in the office get a copy of the book and read it. I had not met the other children, so she read the storyline over a few days to me and another girl who played Faline. During that time, they found out that I had never seen a deer! When Disney heard, he got one of the limousines and my mom, and had a couple of real neat gentleman drive us not far away to some Zoo near Burbank.

The zoo had these beautiful manicured lawns and they drove us to this pit where we had to pay a little fee or something. There was a deer down in this beautiful pit just standing there. He had to be a bit of a young one with small antlers. A nice man from Disney kept saying, “That’s a deer.” I yelled at him and [the deer] didn’t move. The nice man went to a little machine there with a coin and got some corn out of it. I guess that was a proper thing to do, so he gave me some corn. I went as close as I could get to the fence and I got right in front of the deer on the ground. He just moved his head about five inches in slow motion. Nothing. This is in Disney’s record; I said to my mom, “I don’t want to be that guy. He’s boring.” They got back and ratted me out. No more than three days later, I’m going down the hallway in the new building and here comes Mr. Disney and, I think, his brother. I never really met his brother but he was around a lot. He was a very dignified man, always well dressed. Mr. Disney is in a white shirt with his sleeves up. He was a worker, always coaching everybody all the time. A great guy. Here he comes as I’m going the other way, and he stops me. This is the verbiage for you.

The zoo had these beautiful manicured lawns and they drove us to this pit where we had to pay a little fee or something. There was a deer down in this beautiful pit just standing there. He had to be a bit of a young one with small antlers. A nice man from Disney kept saying, “That’s a deer.” I yelled at him and [the deer] didn’t move. The nice man went to a little machine there with a coin and got some corn out of it. I guess that was a proper thing to do, so he gave me some corn. I went as close as I could get to the fence and I got right in front of the deer on the ground. He just moved his head about five inches in slow motion. Nothing. This is in Disney’s record; I said to my mom, “I don’t want to be that guy. He’s boring.” They got back and ratted me out. No more than three days later, I’m going down the hallway in the new building and here comes Mr. Disney and, I think, his brother. I never really met his brother but he was around a lot. He was a very dignified man, always well dressed. Mr. Disney is in a white shirt with his sleeves up. He was a worker, always coaching everybody all the time. A great guy. Here he comes as I’m going the other way, and he stops me. This is the verbiage for you:

He says, “Donnie?”
I said, “Yes, sir?”
He says, “Donnie?”
I said, “Yes, sir?”
“Did you go to the zoo?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Did you like it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you saw that deer?”
“Yes, sir.”
He patted me on the shoulder and he says, “Donnie, we promise you our movie will not be boring.”
I thought, “If my mom hears about this, I’m fired. I’ll eat peanut butter for a month!”

Man, the irony that statement, considering we’re still talking about it 80 years later. At what point did you realize it was a major hit?

I want to be straight, not until probably the age 30 or 35. I was all over the world. I was in the Marine Corps. for 25 years. I never talked about the films. Nobody knew nothing about nothing until right before I retired. One colonel almost ate my lunch when he found out, true story. I did not go to very many movies and, I guess, it makes me kind of a hypocrite. I mean, I was at the opening and I loved it. I loved it, and I’m very proud of being a part of it. Then Pearl harbor came along and ruptured everything. It delayed Disney putting it out by several months and changed this country like young generations have no idea. Out of the Depression and into World War II. Bang! Incredible. My family ruptured a little at a time too and I was living by myself out of an orphanage. At age 14, I supported myself from out of a boarding house. I was very disciplined to steer life, not a movie/party guy. In my early 30s, progressively, I began to realize the significance of Bambi on people young and old. They would find out I had been a part of it, even though I tried hard to hide it, and would be shocked.

There’s message in Bambi I still hear about today. Let me give an example. Remember when Thumper’s mother scolded him for being a little smartass? “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” I hear that today from children; I see it in their letters. It’s just amazing. It’s the only story that starts with themes of life and values from birth all the way to maturity. It goes from Bambi’s birth all the way up to when he is up on the plateau overlooking the forest, replacing his father as Prince. It’s the only film that goes from there to there with all the little stories of life in between.

Remember in the film when Bambi does something stupid and he is laying in the thicket on his stomach feeling sorry for himself? Faline sticks her head through the thicket and gives him a little deer kiss. Oh my gosh, I had no idea at that point what the storyline was. One of the artists on that morning of a drawing said, “Donnie, we want you to look like something very bad has happened to you.”

We were having the time of our lives! These films pulled my family and relatives out of the Depression. Try to act like something bad has happened? No good. Try again. Okay, that’s right. All of the artists were standing in a big circle with their pencils and one guy says, “Donnie, has something really bad happened to lately? Did your mom scold you or something?” I said, “No…Well, a week ago my mother gave me something called Castro Oil. It was terrible!” And the guy says, “Donnie, your mom just gave you two doses of that stuff!” I had to hold that “Castro Oil” face for 20 minutes. So, when the kids in the orphanages and in the hospital wards see that part of the movie, it is a fun thing.

That’s hilarious. So, you had tons of interaction with Walt Disney while filming. Of course, Disney passed away before Disney World was actually completed and back then the company was only a tiny fraction of what it is today. What do you think his thoughts would be regarding the company today?

Gosh, I recently thought about that for different reasons. It is so large today that it’d be very hard to be in charge of everything. It is so large and it’s so diverse but it does some good things. A few years ago, when I needed some contributions to help Navy relief for our homeless veterans, they did without saying anything. It is so messy today that I don’t think they have the sensitivity that Mr. Disney had in his productions. I’ll give you a good example. To your excellent question, World War II in Europe is going on. The black and white news about the war is being shown in the movie houses everywhere. It was showing children walking in the mud with their parents, fleeing from the violence. That was the environment when Mr. Disney was getting ready to show Bambi. I was there when he first saw the take of Bambi’s mother being shot. He called a pause and he looked at the production people and said to take it out because it had an image of her being shot with a bullet hole and her face grimacing as she was getting ready to die. He said, “Take that out. Just suggest that the mother was shot.” Just a few minutes later in the storyline Bambi is shot. Again, he said, “Gentlemen, take that out. Just suggested it.” So, when you watch Bambi, it’s just a suggestion that they’re both shot, both the mother and the later me.

We went to the premiere up in the valley north of Los Angeles. Even then, when the mother was shot, although it was just a suggestion, I saw mothers put their hand over the children’s eyes. Then, when Bambi is shot, the same thing happened. Think of that in contrast to today, with the movies where there’s somebody blown away every 15 seconds. What a contrast! Mr. Disney was very sensitive about those things, and he left a great impression on many, many people. Look at the number of people that retired working for Disney. They retired after 25 and 30 years; it’s a record number versus any of the other studios in the world. Those people stayed with him because he was a class act guy.

You’ve mentioned the hunting scene. I’ve got to ask because I know you were in the military and saw military combat. Have you ever been hunting?

With a camera. Only with a camera. Great question. I was well known as a captain and a Sergeant and a major. I went through all the ranks, probably well more than I deserved to be. I got invited by generals and even their family to go hunting in season, back in the States. They were well-planned trips with flights and I went on them with a camera. Now, mind you, nobody knew yet about the movies. I had never talked for 25 years about any of it. I did get some questions from one general in particular who wanted to know why. I was a national record match shooter in those days in handguns and rifles. They asked, “Why don’t you, hunt, with us?” I told him, “It’s a chance, General, for me to take photographs.” I took photographs everywhere and had a great time, never hunted with a gun.

So, you hid your acting past while you were in the military. I also read somewhere you actually hid it from your wife as well?

It’s not a matter of hiding it. I just didn’t boast about those things.

When did you actually divulge it to her? After how long?

Maybe a year and a half? I got ready to move some stuff around in a storage building we have and I moved some boxes that had hardly ever been moved. She went on and got in them, found some of the stuff, and came back in the house. She said, “What’s this?” I said, “Well, I was in some movies.” Then, she wanted to know what movies. She is an absolute princess and probably a whole lot smarter than me but she went through the roof when she found out.

And of course, I can’t glance over your time in the military and just talk about Bambi. You were the youngest drill instructor ever at that point in time and only at the age of 18. You were also awarded multiple Purple Hearts, correct?

Right.

You are also credited for saving two lives, is that correct?

Yes, thank you. That’s more important to me than all the killing we did in Vietnam, which I am ashamed of, quite frankly. We’ve discovered so many things about it [Vietnam] but I’m more proud of those [saves] than anything on this Earth. Thank you.

What were the situations that led to your actions there? I saw that you were credited for the two lives, but they didn’t actually specify what went on behind the scenes.

Oh, there’s more than two. There were two civilians, both of which were swimming/drowning cases. Then, there were three in the Marine Corps, lifesaving, bleeding to death situations, and also getting a couple of kids out of the way and taking a shot in an ambush.

I’d like to thank you for your service and definitely commemorate you on those things. Of course, with all your life leading up to this point, all the adventures, Bambi, Son of Frankenstein, and your military career, what message at conventions and in life do you want to leave?

Wear out, don’t rush out. From age one to my 88, do things that have a chance of being remembered by even a single person in life that’s positive. Don’t just float through life, taking in the air, exhaling it, going on for another day. Even a miner in a coal mine, even unemployed in a line somewhere, can do something every day, a little something or a big something once in a while, that has a chance of being remembered with a positive sign in one’s heart by somebody else (or five or 50). Don’t just float through life assuming it, make some contribution back that matters. Those on their deathbed that have contributed, look back on it in their final moments and say, “I’m glad I’ve done that.” This is opposed to seeing your last days at age 30 or age 70 or 80 and not feeling good about yourself because you didn’t do anything that might have been good to others. That’s my advice.

I appreciate that. That’s a great way to circle back around because the first thing we talked about when you hopped on the phone was talking about the joys that the conventions bring and the breaks that they bring from everyday life. Donnie, I appreciate you talking with me and I look forward to meeting you this weekend. That’s right. That’s. But thank you so much again for talking.

I can’t wait to get there! Thank you.