Donnie Dunagan, the Original Voice of Bambi, Has Died at 92

Disney's animated classics are rightly celebrated for their groundbreaking work that has stood the test of time. However, one part of those great films that frequently didn't get the attention it deserved was the voice acting. That's why many people likely don't know the name of Donnie Dunagan, who was the voice of Bambi in the 1942 film. Today we are reminded of his great work, following the news that Dunagan passed away on November 4 due to lung cancer at the age of 92.

Donald Roan Dunagan was born in Texas in 1934. At the age of three, while living in Memphis, he competed in a tap dancing competition where an RKO talent scout was in attendance. He convinced the family to travel to Los Angeles, and Dunagan's Hollywood career began. He appeared alongside Basil Rathbone, who would narrate The Wind in the Willows for Disney in 1949, in Son of Frankenstein and then again in Tower of London in 1939.

Following those films, as Dunagan told Jim Cummings' podcast, Dunagan's family would get a call from Walt Disney himself asking him to come help Disney's animators put a "child's expression on a deer." Dunagan would spend more than a year on Bambi, working on other films in between voice sessions.

Bambi would be Dunagan's last movie. When he turned 18, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He served three tours in Vietnam, retiring in 1977 as a major. Dunagan said he never spoke about his famous movie role while serving in the military, both because he didn't want to be seen as showing off, and because he wanted to avoid being teased by his fellow Marines as "Major Bambi."

In his post-military years, Dunagan would work for several financial companies. He would also re-embrace his role as Bambi, occasionally appearing at fan conventions.

Bambi wasn't a massive hit when it was released in the spring of 1942. Due to World War II closing out European markets to Disney, the film didn't have the distribution that it needed to really succeed. Still, the movie would find success in subsequent theatrical re-releases over the decades, becoming one of Disney's biggest animated hits, and the film is a true Disney classic today.

Donnie Dunagan is survived by his wife Dana, whom he married in 1992.