The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror has been one of the series longest lasting traditions for over three decades now. These days, however, the artists and writers put as much effort and detail into the special's opening sequence as they do the three segments paying homage to the horror genre.

But this year, instead of focusing on a horror or gothic property, they dedicated their opening intro to what seems to be the opposite: Disney. The episode opens with a Disney-esque scene in a forest with colorful scenery and cheerful music. But things take a quick turn for the worse when the adorable animals start to eat or torture one another and The Simpsons version of a Disney song begins, with the lyrics:

"Love is a song that never ends, sunshine turns to rain. In Disney cartoons, a parent dies. Life will be full of pain. We bring tears to children's eyes, they'll never sleep again!"

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Disney's classic era of animated films are notorious for killing off a parent (usually a mother) either in the middle of the film or before it begins. The primary character being an orphan is an easy way to make them sympathetic before they go on their adventure.

Treehouse of Horror XXXII Header The Simpsons

After that short song a fawn with a similar hairstyle to Bart Simpson appears, then a thumping bunny rabbit with Milhouse's face and voice shows up and calls him "Barti." Right away the audience knows that The Simpsons are paying homage to the 1942 Disney classic Bambiwhich is infamous for having one of the darkest moments in the studio's history, with the titular character's mother being shot and killed by a hunter.

But the Treehouse of Horror's intro is even more twisted, because the hunter also shoots and kills Milhouse's version of Bambi's popular friend Thumper. Barti's mother, who has Marge Simpson's hair and voice, arrives to warn him about a hunter approaching and tells him to run. Then the hunter also shoots their version of the Owl from Bambi, played by Nerdelbaum Frink Jr.

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As Barti runs with his mother a shot goes off, leaving the audience to assume that she has suffered the same fate as Bambi's mother did. As he looks for his mother in the snow, reenacting a scene that has brought countless viewers to tears, he suddenly comes face-to-face with the hunter, portrayed by Montgomery Burns. But just when fans think he's going to shoot Barti his mother comes to say that his father has taken care of the hunter.

Barti's father, portrayed by Homer, actually has the hunter on his antlers and tosses him back-and-forth with another stag, played by Lenny. The hunter is actually relieved that deer are herbivores, because that means he at least won't be eaten by them. What's interesting about Barti's father getting involved is that male deer are usually distant from their wives and kids, the way Bambi's was. Hence why Bambi's father couldn't save his mother from being shot by a man.

Bambi - Bambi's Mother's Death

Most view Disney as the epitome of family-friendly entertainment that hides kids from the horrors of the world, but that wasn't how it always was. As Walt Disney and his company produced some of the earliest animated films in history, they blended the colorful world of animation with some grim moments. Snow White was an orphan who got lost in a dark and scary forest, then she was presumed dead after biting a poisoned apple, before being brought back by her prince. Pinocchio goes through several traumatic adventures including seeing someone become a donkey, before becoming a real boy. But none of those early Disney movies compare to the darkness of Bambi losing his mother. Even though Bambi's mom isn't seen being shot nor is her dead body shown, it was still a truly dark experience for audiences, especially for kids who may not have known about death before.

Nearly eight decades have passed since Bambi saddened audiences, and today the Disney movie credited with the most devastating parental death is The Lion KingBut now The Simpsons have brought back and even parodied their original saddest moment to remind people how dark Disney really was back in the day.

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