BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA (1969)

Today's Afternoon Delights is the classic animated short film from 1969 where two titans of cinema finally unite onscreen. BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA was writer/director/animator Marv Newland’s term project because, allegedly, his live action film wouldn’t have been completed in time. Instead he worked on this for two weeks and it became a comedy staple and pseudo cult classic for 50+ years.

BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA is a staple of shorts compilations, seen as an indie approach to the otherwise near-monolithic world of animated filmmaking, and a simple concept executed well. Allegedly the sound effect at the end is the final note from The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life”. Despite (or possibly because of) its inherently silly nature, it’s not hard to see how Newland’s short has worked its way into animation decades later in the works of Mike Judge, Don Hertzfeldt, Darren Walsh, amongst others.

It’s funny (to me, anyways) to note that the imagery is reminiscent of a lot of Terry Gilliam’s animated work on Monty Python’s Flying Circus…a show that debuted in October 1969 in the United Kingdom while this particular short was screened beginning in July 1969. Am I saying Gilliam plagiarized? No. But that dude has turned out to be a creep and an asshole, so fuck him and let’s all just agree that he did in fact rip off Newland. For shame, Terry Gilliam; for shame.