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Credit: Disney
The “D’Amaro Era” at The Walt Disney Company isn’t just about theme park expansion and stock market stabilization. It is also about a fundamental shift in how the studio tells stories. On the heels of the recent executive shakeup that saw Josh D’Amaro ascend to CEO, another titan has taken the reins of the studio’s creative output: Dana Walden.
As the newly minted Chief Creative Officer, Walden has been tasked with a mission that many insiders consider a “suicide squeeze”: fixing Disney’s polarized film slate. For years, the company has leaned heavily on the “Live-Action Remake” machine—a strategy that produced billions in revenue but recently began to show signs of critical and commercial rot.
Now, just days into her tenure, it appears Walden is making her first significant move. The message is loud and clear: The era of remaking every single frame of the vault is over. And the first casualty of this new regime? It appears to be the long-gestating, highly controversial live-action reimagining of Bambi.
Is Bambi Dead? The “Update” That Sounds Like a Eulogy
According to a report from Screen Rant, the live-action Bambi has officially entered “development hell,” a place from which few Disney projects ever return.
The project originally made headlines when writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Lindsay Beer were attached to pen the script. Later, Oscar-winner Sarah Polley was reportedly in talks to direct. However, the production has been plagued by a fundamental question that even Imagineers couldn’t answer: How do you make a “realistic” Bambi without traumatizing a new generation of children in 4K resolution?
Insiders suggest that Dana Walden has looked at the progress—or lack thereof—and decided that the project’s “path to profitability” was too narrow. With Sarah Polley having officially exited the project and no new director in sight as of February 2026, the industry consensus is that Bambi is, for all intents and purposes, dead.
The Struggle: Why the Remake Machine is Stalling
The decision to scrap Bambi is a symptom of a much larger “identity crisis” within Disney’s live-action division. While the strategy was once a gold mine, recent entries have struggled to find the same magic:
- The Aesthetic Uncanny Valley: Films like Pinocchio (2022) and The Little Mermaid (2023) faced heavy criticism for their visual choices. The attempt to blend hyper-realistic CGI animals with human actors often resulted in a “soulless” feel, lacking the warmth of the hand-drawn originals.
- The “Snow White” PR Nightmare: The live-action film was a lightning rod for controversy, from casting choices to its departure from the original “Seven Dwarfs” concept. The constant delays and reshoots have ballooned the budget, making it a high-risk gamble.
- Remake Fatigue: Audiences have begun to push back against the “shot-for-shot” style of storytelling. The feeling that these films are “corporate products” rather than “cinematic events” has led to diminishing returns at the domestic box office.
The Successes: Why Disney Kept Doubling Down
It is easy to criticize the remakes now, but Dana Walden is inheriting a division that has also seen some of the biggest successes in cinematic history. Walden’s challenge is to figure out why some “reimaginings” work while others, like Bambi, feel unnecessary.
- The Billion-Dollar Club: The Lion King (2019), Beauty and the Beast (2017), and Aladdin (2019) all cleared the $1 billion mark globally. These films succeeded by leaning into the ’90s Renaissance’s “spectacle” and nostalgia.
- The “Cruella” Pivot: One of the few critical darlings was Cruella, which succeeded specifically because it wasn’t a remake. It was a stylistic, high-fashion origin story that took risks.
The “Walden Way”: Quality Over Quantity
Dana Walden’s background is rooted in high-quality television and character-driven drama (having overseen the successes of 20th Century Studios and ABC). Her appointment as CCO signals that Disney is moving away from “The Content Factory” model.
By axing Bambi, Walden is signaling a “quality control” phase. The studio’s 2026 and 2027 slates are reportedly being “thinned out” to focus on titles that offer something new to the audience.
- Moana (Live-Action): Still on track, mainly due to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s massive star power and the involvement of the original creative team.
- Hercules: Currently being reimagined as a “fast-paced, experimental” musical inspired by TikTok and modern pop culture—a move that fits Walden’s desire for “relevancy over nostalgia.”
- Tangled: The on-again/off-again live-action remake appears to be on again.
Conclusion: A Necessary Extinction?
While fans of the 1942 classic might be relieved that a CGI “Prince of the Forest” won’t be haunting their screens anytime soon, the death of the Bambi remake is a watershed moment for Disney. It marks the end of the “remake everything” mandate that defined the 2010s.
Dana Walden has to keep streaming profitable and a skeptical audience in the theaters. By making the tough call to kill projects that don’t meet the “Walden Standard,” she is attempting to restore the Disney brand to its former glory: a studio that leads the cultural conversation rather than just repeating it.
Do you think Disney is right to cancel the Bambi remake, or was it a missed opportunity for a modern classic?