Brother Bear [2003] - DVD (Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Jason Raize, Dave Thomas - Dir: Aaron Blaise)

Disney's Brother Bear boasts a dramatic story--after he kills a bear, a young hunter named Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix) in prehistoric North America is turned into a bear himself and hunted by his own brother--but the animated movie's tone is more earnest and warm than tragic, focusing on the unfolding relationship between Kenai and an orphaned bear cub named Koda (voiced by Jeremy Suarez). However, it's often the comic supporting characters that prove the most popular, and a pair of moose voiced by Rick Moranis and Doug Thomas will win many fans. The songs by Phil Collins are typically negligible, but the hand-drawn animation is lush (occasional flashes of computer-generated animation clash with the movie's overall look). Kids will also enjoy the mammoths; but no sabre-toothed tigers, unfortunately.--Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews of Brother Bear [2003]

leacam2003
UK
11th March 2008

Funny yet touching
Brother Bear is a wonderful animation - it isn't violent and it has the right balance between comedy and drama. The storyline is engaging and the characters and some of the cameos in this film are hysterical. This is a film for all the family and it is a truly wonderful children's animation combined with Phil Collins' musicianship that brings the film to life. Highly enjoyable.

Taran Wanderer
Chicago, IL
5th August 2007

Surprisingly touching...!
For the first time in, oh, I don't know how many years, Disney managed to once again deliver a movie that from start to finish is a delight. Released after "Treasure Planet" (2002), "Brother Bear" is a wonderful film that beautifully blends a great original story, characters and music, carefully crafted together with a working balance between drama and comedy, together with stunning visuals and lively animation. No Disney animated film had managed to do this since "Tarzan" (1999), or perhaps even The "Lion King" (1994). A financial success, "Brother Bear" saw rather mixed reviews from critics; the fact that the film was released during a time in which Disney animation seems to be facing hard years might have had something to do with that. To me, "Brother Bear" brought hope that Disney will one day be able to return to deliver masterpieces like those from the golden ages, "Bambi" (1942), "Lady and the Tramp" (1955) or "The Rescuers" (1977) to name a few.

"Brother Bear" tells the story of Kenai and his two brothers; the story takes place long, long ago in North America. On the day in which he is to become a man, Kenai receives the token that is to guide him through life: the bear of love. Kenai is upset, for he believes that bears have no feelings, that they're savage creatures who'll look for any excuse to harm, hunt and even kill a human. He is jealous of the tokens given to his older brothers, the eagle of guidance for the eldest, Sitka and the wolf of wisdom for the middle brother, Denahi. One day, Kenai neglects his duties, and the hard work of the brothers goes to waste as a bear comes and steals all of their fish. Kenai, after being scolded by Denahi, decides to go after the bear and soon finds himself in great danger. His two brothers run to save him, which eventually costs the life of Sitka as he attempts to save his two brothers. Lead by anger and grief, Kenai feels that the only thing for him to do is to hunt the bear that killed his brother. Kenai doesn't realize the mistake he's made and soon is surrounded by the Great Spirits of the Earth and transformed into a bear. Tanana, the shaman woman, tells him that it is time for him to make up for what he's done wrong and sends him in search of the place where the lights touch the earth. Lost and confused in his journey, Kenai meets a little bear cub named Koda, whom he finds to be a complete pain in the neck. Unable to get rid of him, Kenai promises to help Koda find his mother, while at the same time looking for "where the lights touch the earth", for Koda seems to know the place. Together through forests and over mountains, Kenai and Koda develop a brotherly affection for each other and meet all kinds of interesting characters and creatures, as well as the antagonizing appearance of Denahi, who does not recognize Kenai and believes the bear to have killed his brother. Before the journey is through, Kenai will learn to take responsibility for his actions and to see through the eyes of what had once been his enemy, at the same time learning what really makes a man.

"Brother Bear" is a very touching story. For the first time in a very long time, Disney does not overshadow the dramatic elements of the film with trashy comedy and out-of-place comic characters, instead, like I've already said, the film maintains a very good balance of good comedy and effective drama and emotion. Characters like the moose, Rutt and Tuke are added for effective comic relief, while the rest of the main characters are well developed. "Brother Bear" may be the last great Disney animated feature for a long time still, because it doesn't look like things are getting any better, so I recommend anyone who loves a great Disney tale to give this one a try. The film includes great music from Phil Collins as well as a breathtaking soundtrack. Highly recommended, a winner!

Ms. MacNeill
London
17th June 2007

In spite of Disney's best efforts, this would be better forgotten
I wanted to like "Brother Bear". I really did. It is clearly trying so hard to be a Disney classic, and, to be fair, all of the right elements are there. It could potentially have been one of the great non-romantic Disney films, like "Dumbo" or "Pinocchio", or even "The Jungle Book", but, unfortunately, it missed the mark. Perhaps the film's main flaw is the total lack of anything resembling a villain or nemesis for the protagonist to face. Sure, the bear who killed Kenai's brother provides some initial motivation to get the plot rolling, but even she is redeemed by the end, leaving only wishy-washy things like "feelings" to be overcome. Bad show, Disney! Protagonists who show signs of internal conflict are obviously no bad thing, but for them to work in a Disney film there needs to be a more physical danger present. "Mulan", for example, manages to balance internal and external drama beautifully.

This all might be excusable if there were any other notable characters in "Brother Bear". Sadly, it was hard to care about any of them. None of them - with perhaps the exception of the elder brother - were either interesting or amusing enough to hold my attention for very long. I felt that the human and animal characters were quite unattractive-looking and horribly generic (*I* could have designed some of them, for goodness sake), and the scenery was simply boring. Boring! How is it possible to make great landscapes of snow and glaciers and mountains and rivers boring? I'm not quite sure, but Disney managed it.

Oh, and the less said about the Phil Collins songs, the better. I think my eardrums started bleeding in protest half-way through the film.

I wouldn't condemn the film entirely, however. The death of the elder brother was moving (although "The Lion King" did it better), and the ending, in spite of the flaws of the rest of the film, was a real tear-jerker. The on-running theme of brotherhood was nice, and the voice actor for Koda the baby bear did an exceptional job, which really helped to rescue the character from quite sinking to the depths of the others. Moreover, it is a fairly inoffensive film: as an adult I found it hard to like in comparison with other Disney films, but I imagine that children will find something to enjoy here. It's also still of a higher quality than many Disney sequels - I'd watch "Brother Bear" over "The Little Mermaid II" any day.

The DVD extras are fitting to how the film feels: there's a lot in there but not much comes across. The deleted scenes are average, the "out-takes" are only mildly amusing, and I have to admit that I didn't even bother with the "Rutt and Tuke Commentary", so unimpressed was I by their characters in the film. The legends were quite interesting (although their veracity was unclear), as was the artwork featurette, but while I thought it was a nice touch to include something on Foley artistry, it was woefully basic. I'd say that while children might find most of these extras entertaining, there's nothing really on here for the adults - which is a shame, given Disney's previous successes in DVD extras.

Ultimately, "Brother Bear" is worse than terrible - it's simply trite and boring, with messages about the environment which are cliched and somewhat hypocritical (as a previous reviewer said, clearly salmon aren't warm and furry enough to save from being killed). Certainly one of the worst offerings from Disney and, I think, deserves to be relegated alongside "The Black Cauldron". For an animated movie set in prehistoric North America, I'd stick with "Ice Age".

Pritthijit Datta
Stockton on Tees, Teesside
15th June 2007

This is not Disney
Brother Bear is not a typical representation of the principal values and qualities we closely associate with Disney animations.

For a start, it is too emotional and dark and lost some of the humour which Disney animations are all about. The story is about a young hunter Kenai who kills a bear and he eventually turns into a bear. He meets a sweet bear cub Koda and later reveal a dark secret, which threatens to damage the sweet bonding between the two. These scenes are really undesirable. The Disney magic and humours is lacking and is a distinguish quality which appeals to me with Disney. The animation cannot be faulted at all as it beautifully depicts a pictures of the enchanting and beautiful scenery of the Rockies mountains set in the pre-historic age.

Brother Bear unfortunately failed to impress me, as I felt strongly it not a typical Disney animation that I have enjoyed watching since childhood like big name classics such as Jungle Book, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and Lady and the Tramp. It suppose be family entertainment and a fairytale with uplifting music and humourous characters. Are we watching an emotional drama with a gloomy atmosphere and dark characters, who rarely smile and express miserable faces throughout? Surely, this is not Disney and lets see future productions of Disney rekindle the magic and humour to really thrill fans, which is hugely absence from Brother Bear

coldsun
Tamworth
24th October 2006

Saved by a support cast
Collaborations with Pixar aside, "Brother Bear" represents a kind-of stalemate in the quality of Disney animations. In fact, had it not been for 2 supporting cast members, the film would be barely watchable.

Disney, as the front-runner of family entertainment, always seem to aim for universal appeal. To me, that's not necessarily a good thing - "Brother Bear" suffers from a very cutesy storyline with a standard, predictable and "heartwarming" ending with the usual Disney "magic" coming from unnecessary production values that gloss over the flaws.



Had it not been for some light relief from Rutt and Tuke, superbly played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas (reprising the hilarious Canadian-parody style they employed as "Bob & Doug McKenzie")
, the film's motifs and strong messages would make the film far too serious, preachy and heavy-going for a family animation. As far as the story goes, its tale of friendship-despite-adversity is a well-worn path that almost every animation company has been treading for decades and stoicly refuses to move from.

If more proof was needed, they even bring back Phil Collins, an artist who hasn't really strayed off-centre for almost 30 years, to write some more contemporary pop songs for the movie's soundtrack. Yet, sadly, these songs pale even in comparison to even the worst of Collins' output.
At best, they're on par with his work on "Tarzan".

In the end, it's a decent enough film to park your kids infront of and keep them entertained for an hour - but as all-round family entertainment, it's only just above par. Adult viewers will end up growing impatient until Rutt & Tuke re-appear.