Bambi or Bear?

Walt Disney's motion picture, "Bambi" was produced in 1942 and Disney let the forest fire prevention campaign use his creation on a poster in 1944. The "Bambi" poster was a success and proved that using an animal as a fire prevention symbol would work. A fawn could not be used in subsequent campaigns because "Bambi" was on loan from Walt Disney studios for only one year; the Forest Service would need to find an animal that would belong to the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign. It was finally decided that the Nation's number one firefighter should be a bear.

On August 9, 1944, a memo was signed authorizing the creation of Smokey Bear; the first poster was delivered by October 10 by artist Albert Stahle. The poster depicted a bear pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. Smokey Bear soon became popular, and his image began appearing on other posters and cards. In 1952, Smokey Bear had enough public recognition to attract commercial interest. An Act of Congress passed to take Smokey out of the public domain and place him under the control of the Secretary of Agriculture. The Act provided for the use of collected royalties and fees for continued education on forest fire prevention. We still have a lot of work to do. The Smokey Bear wildfire prevention message is as vital today as ever before. Each new generation must be reminded of their role in the prevention of human-caused wildfires.