The Great and Almighty Friend Owl

"The Great and Almighty Friend Owl" is the fifth episode of the second season of Bambi, and the forty-ninth episode overall. It first aired on October 14, 2000, on ABC as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning.

Summary
Friend Owl, wishing to be big and huge as he is getting tired and cranky from flying through the forest each day, drinks a potion he finds from the caves, but nothing seems to happen at first. Soon, though, he starts growing and growing, which makes him happy at first, as that means he can help his forest friends with his new size, and maybe even give them a ride! However, things soon start to turn sour, as his size becomes too much for the forest, and he starts to rampage through the forestlands and the surrounding cities, scaring humans as he grows bigger and bigger. It's up to Bambi, the Great Prince, and their friends to return Friend Owl to his regular size before he becomes too big for Maine, and possibly even the entire planet.

Plot
Friend Owl's been feeling very cranky with himself recently. Every day, he gets more and more tired from watching over the forest by flying through and over it and has to get help from his other friends. He even gets attacked by the sly foxes at one point, with The Great Prince having to come to his rescue by fending them off. This makes him feel small and "not really almighty".

Having enough of being a small forest animal, he decides to rest in his home, as Bambi comes up to him and tries to cheer him up by telling him how he's a useful owl, but the owl just lets Bambi go as he sulks in anger, until he discovers a map carved into a tree leading to a Magic Cave. Thinking that it may be the key to giving him a better perspective of the forest, he follows the directions to the cave, where inside, he finds a potion that is said to make those who drink it see 'more than what they usually see'. Thinking that he might need the best views of the forest he can get, he drinks the whole potion. However, nothing happens to the owl... At first, although he appears to have grown a bit too much for his home that night, breaking one of the branches in the process.

The next day, Friend Owl is about Bambi's height, confusing him and the Great Prince, until they realize that he took the potion in order to "feel bigger". Although neither of them believes him at first, Friend Owl tells them that watching over the forest should be easier now that he's bigger, making them believe that Friend Owl is incredibly happy now. At first, Friend Owl is enjoying the feeling of being big, as he has an easier time watching over the forest simply by flying over it and looking around, helping the forest animals with his new size, fending off the sly foxes all by himself, and even giving Bambi and his friends a ride through the forest on his back. He became popular among the forest animals, but the Great Prince began to miss being with and talking to the owl.

Soon, however, the owl's size becomes too much, and he becomes destructive, causing the other forest animals to flee to a safe place, but not before Bambi asks him what he's gonna do with the humans, discovering that he plans to rampage their homes for revenge, as the owl stomps away from the forest, leaving Bambi and his friends to think about what will happen if he outgrows the continent, if not the planet, only for him and the Great Prince to discover that there may be an antidote potion in the Magic Cave where the once-small owl had visited before, so they agreed to get an antidote potion for Friend Owl.

Bambi and his friends head to the Magic Cave, but they realize that the antidote potion is empty, upsetting them. Ever so luckily, it just so happens that there is a plant that can produce an antidote for the 'Growing Potion', so they prepare the antidote for Friend Owl. Meanwhile, the gargantuan owl rampages through the surrounding cities of Maine, scaring humans as the military arrives to attack him and try to take him down, but their weapons have no effect on him, and he scares them off easily after he smashes one of their tanks, progressively getting bigger and bigger.

Bambi and his friends, with the antidote potion in their possession, rush up to Friend Owl, only to find that he is about to outgrow the cities of Maine, if not the forest. With time of the essence, Bambi and his friends rush up to Friend Owl's mouth to have him gulp up the antidote, as Friend Owl grows bigger and bigger. After nearly losing the antidote potion, and receiving it thanks to Mrs. Quail, Thumper and the Great Prince rushed up to prepare to throw the potion in Friend Owl's mouth, and they succeeded, just as Friend Owl was starting to outgrow the continent. After a short burst of growth to the point where Friend Owl is literally standing on the planet, everything thankfully goes back to normal, or about as normal as their lives may be.

Friend Owl finally realizes that he has wonderful friends, and that being small doesn't really matter a whole lot, anyways. After saving Bambi from the foxes using his newly-created tactic inspired by his "almighty" escapades, they discuss how big helpers can come with small animals, unaware of the damage Friend Owl had caused on the cities.

Production
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Reception
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