WARNING: Bambi Spoilers Ahead

The first movie that I ever saw was Bambi. Seems reasonable, a Disney movie for a kid of about 4. The things that I remember clearly from that are thinking Thumper the rabbit was funny, the scene where Bambi names the skunk Flower, and I remember crying when Bambi's mom was killed. I was apparently unable at the time to differentiate between differing time lines, because I also remember mistaking the grown Bambi at the end of the movie for Bambi's father. Mom explained it to me in the car on the way home.

I was hooked on movies right effing there. Not long after, my dad took me to see a movie that had something to do with Santa Claus. I wish I could say it was Santa Clause Conquers The Martians:

But I'm almost positive that it wasn't.

I don't remember anything about the movie except that it had Santa Claus and that dad took me. This is probably because I didn't see my dad that often and it was a rarity that we would spend time together. Stuck on this thought, I do clearly and fondly remember him also taking me and my brother to see The Jungle Book.

I'm thinking that with the ready availability of home video, that first movie experience for a kid these days just won't be such a special memory. It would just be something written in the baby book with other firsts someone would not remember without being told; first word, first pureed vegetable, first mucous extraction with a rubber bulb.

I'm almost tempted to keep the video devices hidden from view for the first few years so that I may take the critter out to see their first movie in style, with pomp and circumstance, without previous expectations for the change in their world they're about to receive.

But then again, the thought of curling up on the couch with a little one on a rainy day to watch my VHS copy of The Jungle Book sounds pretty nice.

Oh, and hey, Zeptember song of the day? Since I've Been Loving You.