Thumper (Bambi)

Thumper is a fictional cottontail rabbit character from Disney's animated film Bambi (1942). He is known and named for his habit of thumping his left hind foot. The character was an important influence upon the development of the movie Bambi which started production with an adult tone which seemed too serious and uncommercial. As voiced by the young actor, four-year-old Peter Behn, the vivacious character of Thumper was expanded from its original minor role and led to a focus upon the young animals in the story. Thumper is Disney's adaptation of Friend Hare from Felix Salten's 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods. The personality and visual appearance of the character was based upon Beatrix Potter's Benjamin Bunny. Unlike real rabbits, Thumper is drawn with paw pads, a feature that most rabbits lack. Disney Consumer Products started a spin-off franchise, Disney Bunnies, with Thumper as the main character. The young adult version of Thumper also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts alongside Miss Bunny as a meetable character in Fantasyland and at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.