Cameras haven’t even started rolling yet, and Bambi’s mother is already dead. Too soon?

The Wrap reported Thursday that Academy Award-winner Sarah Polley has exited her role as director on Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Bambi (1942).

Polley won her Oscar in the Adapted Screenplay category in 2023 for writing Women Talking (2022), a film she also directed. Not long after her win, the news broke of her involvement in Bambi (2025). Polley was involved in the project solely in a directorial capacity, with the screenplay coming from writers Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Lindsey Beer.

An insider with knowledge of the project told The Wrap that there is no ill will associated with Polley’s exit, but rather, things just weren’t working out.

The project is still moving forward on all fours under the new leadership of Disney’s live-action film head, David Greenbaum. Greenbaum, who previously co-headed Searchlight Pictures, is replacing Sean Bailey. Bailey was president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production since 2010. During his tenure in the role, he greenlit almost every film in Disney’s catalog of live-action remakes. The announcement that he will be stepping down came in February.

Part of Greenbaum’s job of regaining audience support for Disney’s output of live-action films will now include finding a new director for Bambi with as much acclaim to their name as Polley.

Bambi was Disney’s fifth animated feature and remains one of the most mature films in the studio’s history due to its heartbreakingly traumatic story and sophisticated themes. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and entered the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2011.

Update Courtesy of Evan Miller

Feature Image via Global & Mail