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It’s one of the shortest, simplest, and most imaginatively titled animated films of all time.
Bambi Meets Godzilla was the solo creation of a young artist named Marv Newland.
The 1969 film, which is black-and-white and hand-drawn, lasts a mere 90 seconds. That includes all the credits (in which Newland identifies himself as the producer, and “Mr. and Mrs. Newland” as the ones who produced him) and a closing grateful acknowledgement to the city of Tokyo “for their help in obtaining Godzilla for this film.”
It’s worth noting that while Bambi Meets Godzilla didn’t win any Oscars, it was nevertheless enshrined in the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
And the story? It lasts 12 seconds. Spoiler alert: Things do not go well for Bambi.
Other animators have generated a number of playful sequels, including Bambi’s Revenge, Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla, and Bambi Meets Godzilla: The Reckoning. One filmmaker has depicted the cartoon deer as a master of martial arts. Bambi, however, predictably proves to be no match for the giant undersea reptile generated by cavalier human nuclear testing.
Throughout history, vast armies and empires have played the role of the towering monster, trampling whatever small entities stand in their path. It happens on the pages of Scripture, too, where God’s Chosen People all too often play the role of the cartoon fawn.
In the book of Isaiah, the people of Israel are huddled inside Jerusalem, the last city standing in Judea. The Assyrian Empire is closing in.
The Assyrians specialized in propaganda. They sometimes left giant pyramids of severed human heads at the gates of the cities they had attacked – a not-so-subtle message to the next scheduled community on their Conquest Tour.
The people of Jerusalem are paralyzed with fear. Hezekiah, their king, has no military tricks up his sleeve.
In the face of our worst problems, we have two options: We can worry or we can pray.
Hezekiah decides to pray. The king of Assyria sends him a final letter threatening his destruction. Here’s how he responds in Isaiah 37:14:
“Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: ‘O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth.'”
The first thing Hezekiah affirms is, “God, you are God. You are in charge of everything going on here.”
Then he speaks with utter realism: “It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these people and their lands.” Hezekiah, with the letter spread out on the floor before him, closes with a simple request: “Now, O Lord, deliver us from his hand…”
Hezekiah, in the darkest moment of his life, spreads out his greatest problem before God. He says, essentially, “Here, you take it.”
Worry isn’t going to change anything. But God has the power to change our circumstances.
The angel of the Lord descends upon the camp of the Assyrian army – perhaps in the form of a plague – and dramatically puts an end to the crisis. The Assyrians will never threaten Israel again.
What do you need to spread out before the Lord today?
Is there something in your life that feels like a rampaging Godzilla, or the approach of the Assyrian army?
Maybe it’s a bill you can’t pay. Or a devastating word of rejection. Or a mistake you wish you could undo. Or a TV news story that has stolen your peace. Or the fear that the best part of your life has already come and gone, and there’s nothing ahead of you but bleak choices.
Unless a power beyond yourself intercedes, you’re going to be crushed.
You have two choices: You can worry or you can pray.
Do what Hezekiah did. Spread out your problem before the Lord.
Then leave it there.