Retired Marine Major Donnie Dunagan had a secret he didn’t want anyone to know--even his wife.
But after being married for two years, she found it out.
She found it in an old box. She learned that Dunagan, when he was a child, was the voice and model for Bambi, the popular Disney character.
Dunagan didn’t mind that much that his wife found out, but he did not want it to spread widely.
He became extremely worried in 1977 when Disney planned to release Bambi in theaters a second time. This time there would be credits--including Dunagan’s name.
Dunagan had a storied career in the Marines after his time as a child actor. He was once the youngest drill instructor in history, he received three Purple Hearts, and he alter became a counterintelligence specialist in the heart of the Cold War.
Still, he remembers fondly his time working with Walt Disney.
“When Bambi is kissed by a doe, he gives a look of disgust. We spent an hour on that look,” he remembers. “‘Look like something bad has happened,’ they‘d say. But I was having the time of my life. Finally someone said, ’Pretend like you just had castor oil.' That did it.”
“If you achieve things, if you have the luck to have done some significant things, don’t talk about it,” he said, recalling advice a World War II veteran told him.
After his retirement, he stopped worrying as much, and the secret gradually circulated. He’s now proud of his time as an actor, particularly doing Bambi.
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