
Some of these gags showed the forest was filled with small creatures, too - a bee (temporarily swallowed by Bambi), ants and the grasshopper, who is almost stepped on by Bambi before he starts hurling the small-guy anger. Story artists created the grasshopper after Walt Disney asked to incorporate more characters from the forest to punch up the comedy in early drafts. But I sure as heck can envision Bambi not having this grasshopper.” “And in Bambi, they have a grasshopper who just looks like a grasshopper. I couldn’t imagine Pinocchio without Jiminy Cricket. But Jiminy Cricket becomes more cartoony, much more appealing and engaging and a central character,” says Carney. The two projects were developed in overlapping time frames, Carney says.Įxclusive: Original 'Snow White' kiss was a shockerĭeer and bunny embrace inner Bambi and Thumper The grasshopper's fate is a far cry from Disney's star insect, Jiminy Cricket (both belong to the order Orthoptera, meaning "straight wings"), from 1940's Pinocchio.

Ornery for the sake of being ornery didn’t add anything to the story." Bambi, Walt Disneys beloved coming-of-age story, will thrill audiences with its breathtaking animation and characters who will touch your heart: Bambi, the wide-eyed fawn, his playful pal Thumper, the loveable skunk Flower and wise Friend Owl. The only way we could find clover was dried. The greens make for long ears and great big feet (but they sure are awful to eat). What Flower does Thumper eat in Bambi Moving on to the scene where Thumper is eating red clovers. “We pride ourselves on being really traditional, and this just feeds into that,” Nilles said.“This grasshopper was just very ornery,” says Fox Carney, head of research at the animation library. “He was not that appealing. Flower is a skunk and the tritagonist of Disney's 1942 animated feature film, Bambi. The nickname means tradition for many members. “This house is also over 100 years old, and the longest standing Greek structure at ISU.” “We are all about brotherhood, and we like to be really involved in Greek Week and Homecoming events,” said Peter Ampe, sophomore in political science and the chapter’s scholarship chair. “We made a bunch of T-shirts that had the picture of the Thumper on it, and Disney wasn’t too happy about that.”Īlthough they have a unique nickname, the ISU chapter of Theta Delta Chi tries to stand out in several other ways. “Back in the 1980s, we got into some legal copyright trouble with Disney,” said Travis Frazier, senior in mechanical engineering and vice president of Thumpers. The fraternity has run into a few obstacles while trying to pay tribute to the character over the years. Ours is Thumpers so you know there has to be a story behind that.” “You see FarmHouse, Delts, some names that are pretty easy to draw from the letters. “I think one thing that is great about our nickname is that every year when Greek Affairs comes out with a Fraternity Guide, there is a section for nicknames,” said Dennis Groth, senior in kinesiology. There, a large painted mural of the character watches over everyone. However, the real monument comes in the basement. On first floor in the dining room, there are framed pictures of Thumper lining the walls. The chapter house pays tribute to both Thomas and the character Thumper in two ways.


After Disney cast young voice-actor Peter Behn, who was only four years old, Thumper took on a prominent role in the movie. “When somebody asked if that was the same chapter as Thumpers, then there was a collective, ‘Ohhhhh.’” Originally, Thumper was to only have a minor role in Bambi.
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“When I came for Greek Getaway a few years ago, I asked around about how to get to Theta Delta Chi, and nobody seemed to know,” said Josh Carritt, junior in computer engineering and the chapter’s new member educator. The members of the fraternity have embraced the nickname over the years within the Greek Community and to many students on campus, “Thumpers” is how they identify the chapter. “Only a few other chapters of Theta Delta Chi, including Stanford, are known as Thumpers.” “We basically reached out to him and asked him for a drawing,” said Mike Nilles, junior in kinesiology and president of the ISU chapter. Thomas, who had been a Theta Delta Chi during his college years at Stanford University, was contacted by the ISU chapter of the fraternity and he came through with a drawing that contained a message. Thomas was the creator of the character for the film and one of the first 250 employees ever employed by the company. In 1933, Frank Thomas, who was part of Disney’s team of animators known as the “Nine Old Men,” sent a drawing of the character Thumper from the animated classic Bambi. Theta Delta Chi has been known to the general public more commonly as Thumpers for as long as many can remember.
