By spring, Bambi, Thumper, and Flower have seemingly hit puberty and are growing into their adult selves. Friend Owl warns them to be careful, or they might get “twitterpated” as so many other animals do in the springtime when they become infatuated with an animal they’re attracted to.
If only going by Friend Owl’s own definition, being “twitterpated” is strictly a physical fixation and has nothing to do with anyone’s actual relational compatibility. He explains to them, “all of a sudden, you run smack into a pretty face. You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head’s in a whirl. Then you feel light as a feather and before you know it, you’re walking on air.” So basically, “twitterpated” is when an animal gets, well, excited.
Though they insist it won’t happen to them, Flower, Thumper, and Bambi all soon become twitterpated themselves as they encounter a female skunk, rabbit, and deer, respectively. As they do, the visual gags employed by the animators seem to allude to rather adult content for an otherwise tame movie, especially for Flower and Thumper. Flower’s body turns red, becomes stiff, and falls over when he meets his female counterpart, while Thumper’s ears point upward and his foot thumps rapidly. It brings to mind a similar gag animated decades later in Pixar’s “Toy Story 2” when Buzz Lightyear’s wings pop out upon seeing Jessie performing an impressive stunt.