Brother Bear (2003)

Disney has done it before. And every time it is so sad, 'cause there are many good aspects of flops like The Black Cauldron aside from the unlikable main characters and episodic plotline and unfinished ending, in the underrated Hunchback of Notre Dame aside from the annoying forced-in comic relief gargoyles , and in The Fox and the Hound aside from the anti-climatic disappointment because of the fear of being too harsh by letting a character die in an otherwise strong scene. This is much the same problem with Disney's Brother Bear. It starts of with this beautifully traditionally animated trip into an exciting culture of some kind of Inuit tribes with the atmospheric "Great Spirits" playing. Our main character learns about the symbols of animals and nature and what they represent. Then he and his brother travels off to hunt and encounters a bear which ends up killing the brother and as a result of our main character killing the bear too, he is transformed into a bear. Aaaand from there it plunders into this done to death budy comedy and it just gets sickly sweet and colourful. I like the colours, but mixed up with a sub-par Phil Collins soundtrack which is either annoying or ruins dramatic scenes, it is just lazy. The ending is to its credic in the same vein as the begining. It comes back from this completely different movie to wrap up the lessons our main character has learned. It is a heart-warming ending which evened up the cringe from many of these done to death characters we have to encounter. It is pretty average, but the begining and ending stands out. Over all, I am glad I watched it. Your kids may certainly like it.

I think this film is easily one of the absolute best Disney films of the early 2000s. I was pleasantly stunned after watching this film. The reason for that is because I did not think this film would have been as good as it is, reading the reviews and seeing the scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. But to my surprise, this film was amazing. Its beautiful, yet simple animation, great soundtrack, great characters, good story, and great message makes this film easily one to remember and re-watch here and there for years to come. Now, granted, there are other Disney films that are better than this, but this film is a great example of what Disney does best. While the soundtrack was great, I feel like there were a few parts where the soundtrack was somewhat off-putting in a scene or 2. Another thing is that while, yes, the story was a bit predictable, I honestly love the way it was set up. I thought the writing done in this film was very well put together, even if it is predictable some times. When it comes to flaws, that's about it. I'm completely shocked that this film has gotten the amount of negative reviews it got. I recommend this film to anyone who loves bears and/or is interested in the American Indian culture, as this film delves into both of those realms perfectly. I also recommend this film to anyone who hasn't seen it, as this film is, in my opinion, one of the best Disney films of the early 2000s. This film may not be the absolute best Disney film (then again, almost every film after The Lion King hasn't been as good as their previous films either), this film is amazing for what it is and I believe a lot of people who haven't seen it yet would enjoy it, just like me.

If there's one thing you can say for Disney, it's that you know what you're getting.Almost every movie has the same animation, the same visual aesthetic, the same jokes, the same saccharine music, and espouses the same morals in the same overly sentimental way.The only real variation is in the quality of the animation, and Brother Bear is sloppier than most, with some really lazy animation in places.Definitely one to miss, and not really suitable for a G rating either due to the material, jokes, and near-constant characters hitting each other.

Kenai is the careless youngest brother of three. He is given the totem of love in the shape of a bear by tribe elder Tanana. He doesn't like bears and he's not amused by the love bear totem. He left the basket of fish on the ground which is taken by a bear. He goes in search of the basket, and gets into a confrontation with a giant bear. Luckily his older brothers come to rescue him, but the eldest brother Sitka falls off a cliff. Kenai vows revenge on the bear. When he kills the bear, magic from the sky transforms him into a bear. The second brother Denahi finds Kenai's spear and ragged clothing. He assumes Kenai has been killed by the bear, and picks up the quest for revenge. Meanwhile Tanana tells bear Kenai that he must go to the top of the mountain where the lights touch the ground. It's there that he'll find Sitka's spirit who will guide him in his quest for redemption. On the way, he encounters the moose brothers Rutt and Tuke, and a baby bear Koda.Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas relive their SCTV persona playing Rutt and Tuke. They are sweet charming fun. The little bear Koda brings a poignant story from the bear's point of view instead of the hunters. There is a serious message being delivered in this Disney film. It is one of the final hand drawn animation in Orlando in favor of computer animation. In that sense, it feels somewhat dated and bland, but it's still a good family movie especially for the little ones.