The Voice of Bambi Lived a Secret Double Life as a Drill Sergeant and No One Knew

The thing about voice actors is that they typically have a wide range, especially those who make it big in the industry. Donnie Dunagan is best known for voicing Bambi in the iconic Disney movie, but also had another gig that rattled his wind pipes.

In fact, the delicate job became somewhat embarrassing for Donnie later on. Due to his new role, he tried his best to keep his voice acting past a secret. However, it wasn't that simple. What exactly was this booming job and why did he try to hide his past?

Donnie secured the role of Bambi when he was young, not knowing where his life would take him. Once he decided that he wanted to enlist in the Marines, Bambi wasn't the best look on his track record if he wanted to keep up a much tougher appearance around the guys. "I never said a word to anybody about Bambi ... Most of the image in people's minds of Bambi was a little frail deer, not doing very well, sliding around on the ice on his belly," he said, according to NPR.

He went on to rise up through the ranks, eventually becoming a drill sergeant where his once soft voice was now giving loud demands and keeping all of his men in line. His concern, if the past were to come to light, would be that he could get made fun of with a potential nickname of "Maj. Bambi" or something of the sort. Ultimately, that did become the case in one instance when someone found out.

“I just thought to myself, ‘I don’t think I want all these young Marines to start calling me Major Bambi,’” Donnie told GoodFellow. “And I kept my mouth shut.”

It was his General who realized it. He called Donnie into his office and asked him to complete a task, adding on to his overwhelming number of duties. "General, when do you think I'm going to have time to do that?" he quipped at him. However, he found himself put in his place quickly when the General revealed he knew the truth about Donnie's past.

"He looked at me, pulled his glasses down like some kind of college professor. There's a big, red, top-secret folder that he got out of some safe somewhere that had my name on it. He pats this folder, looks me in the eye and says, 'You will audit the auditors. Won't you, Maj. Bambi?'" he explained.

Over time, Donnie came to terms with the profound impact Bambi had, comparing it to his more brutal military job. "I have some holes in my body that God didn't put there. I got shot through my left knee. Got an award or two for saving lives over time," he said. "But I think I could have been appointed as the aide-de-camp in the White House, it wouldn't make any difference — it's Bambi that's so dear to people."