Brother Bear (2003) User Reviews

Gorgeous to look at, with an awesome soundtrack and a heartwarming story. Has its minor flaws, but it is VERY underrated

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 1 December 2009]

I wasn't expecting to enjoy Brother Bear as much as I did. It is by far one of the better post-Tarzan Disney movies, along with Emperor's New Groove and Lilo and Stitch. I do think it is very underrated, apart from a couple of minor flaws there is hardly anything wrong with it. So what makes Brother Bear a delight? Well for one thing, the animation is simply gorgeous. Beautiful colours, stunning backgrounds and next to flawless character movement. Out of the post-Tarzan Disney movies, Brother Bear gets my vote as the most beautiful visually.

Another pro was the awesome soundtrack. The orchestral music is lovely, and Phil Colins's songs are every bit as catchy, fun and memorable as the ones he did for Tarzan. The film also has a heartwarming story, concentrating on the friendship between Kenai and Koda and there is a nice moral. There is also a lot of symbolism, that was incorporated into the narrative very well. The characterisations are strong, with Joaquin Pheonix superb as the voice of Kenai, and Koda(voiced by Jeremy Suarez) is a simply adorable character. Plus the MacKenzie Moose, voiced by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis were hilarious. There are some funny parts in the script, but quintessentially it is a heartwarming one, maybe even some tearjerkers.

I have very little to complain about this movie. Though had this movie been a tad longer, we could have had some more development in the secondary characters. My only other qualm was although the songs in general were awesome, the song sung by Tina Turner at the beginning wasn't quite in the same league. Other than that, this is a great underrated movie, not Disney's best, but you know what, it is well worth the look. 8.5/10 Bethany Cox

An excellent film utilizing a dying art form - animation by hand is still the best.

[rapt0r_claw-1 · 8/10 · 21 December 2003]

Though I think highly of the new three-dimensional computerized animated films, the traditional hand-drawn stuff just has a different charm. And whatever some people say, traditional animation is not dated. This cartoon's story is interesting, accurately based on real Inuit beliefs. Every component of it is great, and the scene where Koda discovers that Kenai is really a man is beautiful. Not going to give away the happenings behind this powerful, moving scene. The hand-drawn animation is done in the classical style, but the computer graphics are breathtaking. The waterfalls, the mountains, the Aurora Borealis... they're fantastic. The two McKenzie moose are great for comic relief. The characterization is great, and I like the Inuit priest. The brotherhood is something I can identify with perfectly - my three cousins are exactly the same. The music depends on preference. I think the opening Tina Turner song is OK, nothing special, but the Phil Collins songs are better. It's no Jungle Book, Oliver and Company or Lion King when it comes to the music department. I think Jeremy Suarez (seems familiar in the behind-the-scenes trailer) must be a pretty good actor. Koda's my favorite character in the movie. This cartoon is really great, and I'm torn between it and Finding Nemo for cartoon of the year. It's great entertainment, an interesting story told through a truly great, but dying, art form.

An adorable...

[taylorkingston · 8/10 · 15 April 2015]

I don't know why this movie got bad reviews. I think it is an adorable children's movie with funny moments and real-life moral dilemmas and situations. It is relatable, whilst at the same time, goes off in a way that is more make-believe.

This movie is about Kenai, a man who resents all bears, after his brothers get into a fight with one, and is sadly killed. I don't like Kenai's attitude towards bears at the beginning of the movie. After all, the bear was just protecting itself, just like any human would. Kenai is then turned into a bear to see what it's like to be in a bears "shoes". He sees life from a new and different perspective and realizes that not it really wasn't the bears fault. On his journey, he meets an adorable bear cub, Koda, who is trying to find his way home. Meanwhile, Kenai's other brother worries that he has been killed by the bears, until he comes face-to-face with bear Kenai.

Overall, I give this movie an 8 out of 10.

Great Disney Fare. Pure & Simple!

[paul sloan · 19 December 2003]

I took my 8 year old daughter to see this and the cinema was packed full of kids. They loved it and I loved it too. It was like going back in time to seeing those old Disney movies of my youth such as the Jungle Book and The Aristocats. Brother Bear is one of those movies that is funny and moving at the same time and of an ideal length to hold the attention of a kid.Sure,the critics hated it probably because it is not as knowingly clever as Finding Nemo. Who cares? The proof of the movie's entertainment value was seeing all those kids in the cinema laughing and having fun. I do sit through an awful lot of garbage when I take my daughter to the movies. Finding something like Brother Bear makes it all worthwhile.The only negative factor was those songs by Phil Collins. Rotten is the only word to adequately describe them.If he wins an Oscar again, I will be annoyed.

This is Disney the way I like it!

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 6 December 2005]

This is finally again a good old fashioned 2D-animated Disney movie that reminds me of some of the classic Disney's. It's a movie that has an heart and warm feeling and is perfect as good clean family entertainment.

I don't think that "Brother Bear" will grow into becoming a Disney classic, it's too formulaic and unoriginal for that but it however is still one of the few recently made movies that has this typical old Disney feeling, with a warm story and atmosphere. Like I said before, the story isn't terribly original and is some typical Disney stuff that already has been shown in some of their previous movies but it doesn't hold "Brother Bear" back from being a good movie but that didn't ruin the movie for me in any way.

The animations are simply great and the environment and the characters look fantastic. The characters themselves might not be the best, most fun and/or most memorable out of Disney history, they are still fun and easy to relate with. I can't say that I'm too happy about the casting of Joaquin Phoenix. I like him as an actor but he hasn't got exactly a good voice for an animated movie.

The movie might be at times a bit too scary for children and at times a bit too childish for adults but overall the movie in general is a perfect clean family fun entertaining one for all ages.

The fantastic music is from Mark Mancina and Phill Collins, who after "Tarzan" teamed up again for this movie.

It's a warm and entertaining movie for the entire movie. This is Disney the way I like it! Still the movie is a times too formulaic and it will not grow into becoming a Disney classic though.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Disney almost had the perfect movie!! SO CLOSE!!!

[benjaminpweaver · 7/10 · 20 March 2013]

I'd like to start off by saying my favorite Disney movie is The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Not saying it was the best, but it's a movie that appealed to my interests in a lot of ways. Also, it's one of Disney's more different films and took a lot of risks to adapt the original story in a respectful and unique way. The Disney Renaissance and even the 2D films from the early 2000s will always remain a significant aspect of my childhood.

That said, Brother Bear is one of the few Disney films that I actually didn't see as a kid. I remember seeing the advertisements for it and thinking it look all right. I didn't think it looked bad, I just never got around to seeing the whole movie.

(Just to note, I was born in 1993. So you can imagine my disappointment when I found out there was no 2D Disney film from 1993. So Brother Bear was released in 2003, and I'm glad there was at least one Disney film released in a '3 year in recent years.) So I decided, since it's now 2013, I would finally watch Brother Bear for it's 10 year anniversary, and for the first 24 minutes or so, it was like something I had never seen from Disney before! It centered around this Inuit tribe who's culture was so fascinating and these three brothers who were very likable and relatable characters. The movie wasn't bogged down by having to appeal to kids with awkward comic relief. It was a genuinely good story that was equally as much a kids film as it was an adult film. The tundra imagery and landscapes were gorgeous, the animation was top notch, the lighting was magnificent, absolutely everything was just perfect! Honestly, if after the point when Kenai becomes a bear, the movie were consistent with the first third, this would have easily been my favorite Disney movie of all time! Now, I saw the Nostalgia Critic's Disneycember review, so I knew the rest of the movie wouldn't be as good. It wasn't, but I think it's not as bad as he makes it. I think some parts are really good, but what really brings it down is the fact that the movie thinks it needs to appeal to the kids in a modern way. So all of the animals talk like modern people, and it just comes off as lame and jarring where the people in the early scenes talked in a more timeless way. Not to mention it does end up having awkward comic relief.

I was wondering what I would do to make the second and third acts consistent and just as good, and I thought of something.

First, since the Inuit culture was one of the best things about the first act and we won't see the tribe until the very end, I would make the animals' culture just as interesting. The Inuits have their culture, and the animals have their own which actually is similar in a lot of ways as Kenai would discover.

Second, both Kenai and Denahi would BOTH be the main characters. This would just as much be just as much Denahi's journey as it is Kenai's. Basically both characters would share about the same amount of screen-time and we would see more of Denahi's survival tactics as opposed to just seeing him when he is attacking Kenai as a bear (which, by the way, are actually some of my favorite scenes, the set up is brilliant). We could even see him doing some other things like meeting the sister tribe to restock on supplies and health so we don't abandon the Inuits altogether.

Third, get rid of all that modern crap. The story is supposed to be in the style of an old folktale with a hint of Shakespearean style drama. A story that can appeal to anyone on an emotional level. Since this was Disney's last real effort in hand-drawn animation, I think they should have really gone all out and made something unique since it was an almost certain guarantee that the movie wasn't going to do that well at the box office.

All in all, I think this movie is just good, and could have been amazing. But for what it is, I would definitely watch it again. The ending was was at least really good. Personally, I would have had Kenai stay a human and have a bittersweet ending for him and Koda, but I still like this ending okay.

At least Disney ended their animation with something even slightly spectacular. Until then, I'm just waiting until the do bring back their animation and do something incredible with it.

An improbable gem

[Thunderbuck · 9/10 · 29 May 2004]

I didn't go out of my way to see this film, as it had already been pretty much disregarded by both the critics and the public. Shame on me. BROTHER BEAR has many strengths to recommend it, and I hope it eventually finds an audience on video.

I'll admit a bias: I live in the Yukon Territory, and the story obviously takes place in next-door Alaska (with characters named "Sitka", "Kenai", and "Tanana", it's pretty obvious). Like many other Disney movies, it takes its inspiration from a traditional legend. Unlike many other Disney movies, this movie manages to remain respectful to the original legend.

The messages are wonderful. That love is an important thing for a real man to learn. That "the spirits" need to be respected. That vengeance can have a terrible price. This movie manages to do it (mostly) without resorting to daffy sidekicks and sappy tugs at the heartstrings. Yes, there's Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas revisiting their "Bob and Doug Mackenzie" roles as the two moose, but I didn't find them jarring at all. The story works.

So does the animation. This is a visually beautiful film. Yes, it's apparent to my (computer pro) eye that Disney's animation unit is making more use of computer techniques. Mostly, though, you see them used to wonderful effect, like making a realistic snowfall, or moving the point of view through a shot. The animation style is also very appropriate for the story. And as a northerner, I loved the many aurora shots; they looked spot-on.

Not everything in BROTHER BEAR worked for me, unfortunately. Phil Collins' music for TARZAN was quite good, but it mostly falls flat here (except maybe for "On My Way"). A couple of numbers come close to the embarassingly bad category.

Still, this is nowhere near enough for me to disregard this movie. I put it above THE LION KING (way above), probably a little ahead of TARZAN, and almost on the same upper-echelon with THE LITTLE MERMAID and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

My Brother Bear, My Brother Bear, And Me (💙, 🖥)

[aberrsary · 7/10 · 17 September 2021]

It's a cute movie about masculine love between brothers. It probably respresents Inuit people respectfully, but I'm not smart enough to unpack that. Alaska or wherever is really pretty.

Outstanding

[pgear83 · 10/10 · 23 August 2004]

Disney's penultimate traditionally animated feature proved to be one of its best. The film is loosely based on the mythology of the native people of the Pacific Northwest. It has many classic mythological elements such as transformations and journeys, both physical and spiritual. It is also unique among Disney films, in having no villain (at least in a tangible sense).

The movie features great music by Phil Collins and beautiful animation. It also makes novel use of the movie screen by switching to a wider aspect ratio at a certain point in the story.

The protagonist, the Inuit Kenai, learns the value of his totem, love, when he is transformed into a bear and becomes the traveling companion of the cub, Koda. The film also features the hilarious Canadian moose, Rutt and Tuke (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) for comic relief.

I would count Brother Bear among my three favorite animated films (along with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron). It's also great for the kids. 10/10

Good for certain ages, but Disney has done better

[cs100 · 5/10 · 8 January 2004]

My rating: 6/10

The absolute best Disney films, like Mary Poppins, feature a story line, music, characters, and magical animation effects that are fully enjoyable for all ages, from the youngest to the eldest. Lately, the craftspeople at Pixar have produced the best all-ages films. Brother Bear is a fine enough film for the 9 to 11 age group, but the story line makes it a difficult film for younger children to handle, and the inconsistencies of mood show through as flaws for older, more critical members of the audience.

Brother Bear contains a curious mixture of scenes of traditional lovable Disney animal characters singing together and getting along famously, and then other scenes of battles to the death. The deaths in the film, which are all preceded by fairly lengthy, loud and somewhat graphic battle scenes, are what make the film challenging for the young set. My 7 year-old had to close her eyes and hold her hands over her ears, and get a few reassuring pats from me, in order to make it through those scenes. Without giving away the plot, I will warn that a good number of characters die, and there is a revelation at the end of the film (about who did what to whom) that can be heartbreaking. All this is much more overwhelming than the death of Bambi's mother ever was.

That said, the storyline is a fairly interesting one (for those who are able to handle it), and the film does convey a positive message about how man should interact with nature, as represented by the bears. Thankfully, the film is not completely idealistic, since it does recognize the necessity of the food chain, as illustrated by the long scene of the bears happily munching away on a salmon run. The representation of Native American spiritual beliefs is no doubt less than perfect, but anyone who looks to a Disney animated film for 100% historical accuracy is looking in the wrong place.

The animation is fine, but nothing spectacular. Phil Collins provided a few good upbeat songs, but they accounted for several of the severe shifts in mood, as the film swung back and forth between battle scenes to joyful celebrations of life. The McKenzie brothers from Canada, appropriately cast as moose, provide the comic relief, but I don't think they'll be getting their own TV show on the Disney channel, as did Timon and Pumbaa from the Lion King.

A perfect storm of artwork, story telling, and music guaranteed to rock your emotional boat.

[mfranc-1 · 10/10 · 1 September 2004]

First, I want to congratulate the creative team that developed and produced Brother Bear, which is truly an audio-visual masterpiece. The use of a classic story formula to tell a deeper more meaningful story within a story is nothing short of amazing. This feature is a perfect storm of artwork, story telling, and music guaranteed to rock your emotional boat.

Second, be patient! This feature requires several viewings to understand and to catch the symmetry and depth of the story within the story. Also you must watch the wide screen version, which is the best way to understand this feature's sub-story. The surface story is for the kids, the real story is for adults of all ages, however, I would preview first before showing to the extremely young or insecure as there are some dark themes presented here. So prepare yourself first, as this feature should spark some good family discussions.

If you take this feature at face value, you get a classic coming of age story touching on just about every major theme in literature. One can also make a case for when the Inuit's first bonded with the animal world as the alternate story, both of which are well told, however some folks might consider it repetitive or boring. Unfortunately, these folks missed the whole point of the feature.

The secret and beauty of this feature is to look beyond the classic Disney story and focus on the sub-text being used and you'll discover a deeper more inspiring story framed within the classic Disney formula. In other words don't take this feature at face value. To understand the sub-story, you need to pay attention to the use of metaphors as well as the clues within the songs. That's right, the songs are strongly tied to the sub-story. To start off with, the title song 'Great Spirits', tells us 'In a world that's not always as it seems'. This is a hint that this story is not what is seems as the Inuit's, Bears, Mammoths, Moose, and Rams are really metaphors for other things. Heck, even Rutt and Tuke's "I Spy" game had nothing to do with what they were describing. Uncover the metaphor of the mammoths and you'll discover the real story of Brother Bear. Once you do, you'll find that there is not one wasted scene in this feature. Even the clips in the trailer are connected.

So what we have is a story of Kenai's journey of discovery, not only of the world around him but of himself and how he fits into it. By the end of his journey, Kenai understands what his destiny is and embraces it. In doing so, he's knows he can make a difference in this world by being able to help Koda as well as being able to help his people avoid a tragic fate. That's right, the real message of this story has direct application to today's world.

Major morals from the story:

1) We are all brothers and sisters in this world.

2) See and understand the other person's point of view (even if you don't agree with it).

3) Tolerance

4) Being responsible for your actions.

5) Forgiveness and Redemption.

6) There is no greater love than the ability to sacrifice oneself for a friend.

7) To those ruled by hate and fear: ....a) No matter who you are or how talented you may be, you will not last long in this world. ....b) It's not wise to pick a fight with bears.

As far as sequels go, it will be hard to improve on a masterpiece. But if Disney pursues one, they have their work cut out for them, as they need to remain true to the real story of Brother Bear. However, I would strongly make a case for a spin-off for Rutt and Tuke as they have serious franchise potential with their moose appeal (whoops meant mass appeal) and drawing power. You either love them or you love to hate them, eh.

That about wraps it up so I think its time for some barley and hops all covered in dew (properly aged of course).

My score: ...Surface Story (10/10) ...Real Story (10/10) Wide screen version. ...Rutt/Tuke Commentary (8/10) Trample off! It couldn't have been way better, eh! ...Soundtrack (10/10)

Not the best movie in terms of technical aspects but full of emotion and heart.

[evan-1031 · 7/10 · 25 February 2012]

Let me say this first, I truly love this movie. Sure the directing, script, and musical numbers may not be on the same par with The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.In fact, the song when they first find the salmon run can be downright painful. But I'll be damned if this movie isn't full of emotional punch.

The characters, while not as memorable as ones from other movies, feel real. None of them are presented as caricatures of people like you can see in many other Disney movies. You understand the reason's for all of the actions of the characters and often truly feel the emotions that they do. The scene where Kenai confesses his guilt to Koda is one of the most emotionally powerful scenes i've seen in a film, due, in a large part, to the great acting from Joaquin Phoenix in this movie.

The animation is awesome and is most certainly not sub-par at all. Even if this movie isn't amazing in many technical aspects, its crazy amount of heart will make you want to watch it multiple times.

In conclusion, if this movie doesn't make you want to cry, you aren't human.

From a Disney animation fan: No.

[impfac · 4/10 · 30 March 2004]

This movie really has no soul, none of the wit and charm of Lilo and Stitch, none of the spark of Beauty and the Beast, really nothing that makes it anything worth watching. Everything is clichéd and easy, which would be okay if it was funny (for an adult, at least), but it is not.

It does have a few moments at which I chuckled, but mostly I rolled my eyes or grimaced. A special raspberry for the music: yes, it was a decent soundtrack, but its forced in and seems to grate rather than blend. Why the taboo against character's singing like they did in the good old days?? Music was at the heart and soul of Disney animation, and now its gone.

No charisma, no spark, no charm.

*1/2 out of **** (1.5 out of 4)

A film ahead of its time.

[Blueghost · 4 May 2015]

Brother Bear is a real superb fable with many a social theme coursing through it. Relations between different social groups and the value people and animals hold dear to one another are transcendent. This film knows this, and shows us so.

I have to be honest, I didn't think much of "Brother Bear" when I first saw the ads for it on TV all those years ago. I dismissed it as another Disney film which probably catered to kids, probably had high production values, and probably had some kind of story about a Native American turning into a bear via Disney magic.

It's all those things, but it is so much more. Often our social cliques dictate to use what we assume other people must be like, and when we see someone who looks different from ourselves, we wonder if they actually are different. Otherwise a lot of us assume that other people simply operate they way we do, and get along as we do. It creates rifts in society that can spill over into violent social outrage.

"Brother Bear" takes a page from the spiritual, and uses that plot device to propel the story forward to give one of the humans a taste of what it's like to walk int he footsteps of "the opposition".

This Disney production, like a few other Disney productions, does not spare the talent. From the screenplay, which is coursing with great dialogue, story moments, focusing around a great premise that has ramifications world wide, to the voice talent, to the superb traditional animation style that only Disney can deliver to audiences. The result really is a superb film.

A magnificent parable that not only has exceptional high production values we come to expect from Disney animation, not only has good leads for the voice talent, but also has Bob and Doug McKenzie reincarnated as a couple of moose from "the great white north" (take off, eh!). For them alone I had to see this film. Their commentary and actual roles in the film are G-Rated Disney fare (no beer jokes here, eh),

Further, the themes in this Disney film really do touch the hearts of all creatures and people. Even if you're a die hard scientist and atheist like myself, you'll come to understand that even though you know that the concept of ghost or spirits is a nonstarter to begin with, it is the process of looking to the beyond ("super-natural") that ultimately leads us to look to our own more rational judgment, and how said good sound judgment on matters of the heart stemming from our feelings, is a strength. The film really does go after divisions between the races, sexes and nationalities, though uses our own primal paleolithic history to bring forth such a tale.

If I had any real criticisms of this film, and I can't say that I truly and honestly do, it's that we didn't see more creatures of the era. We aren't sure if we're seeing vaunted cavebears (larger than the largest grizzly and polar bears), we saw woolly mammoths and woolly bison, but we didn't see dire wolves, woolly rhinos nor some of the other animals of an era long gone ago. But, as with all negatives about this film, that's nitpicking.

All in all a superb Disney film. Watch by yourself, with friends, or with the family.

Enjoy as much of it as you can.

Good but not Great

[kellernail · 7/10 · 25 January 2021]

Brother Bear is an extremely bipolar film that at times, creates emotionally impactful scenes centered around relatable and likable characters only to squander much of its own potential with a weak second act, inconsistent writing and some questionable direction decisions. Set in prehistoric Alaska, Brother Bear establishes a fairly unique atmosphere by drawing inspiration from Native Alaskan folklore and centering around an Inuit village populated by colorful and compelling characters. The movie dedicated several scenes, especially in the beginning, to establishing the culture and societal structure of the tribe. This is the greatest strength of the film as it does a fantastic job of immersing the viewer in a culture that is rarely explored by movies of this genre. It also does a great job of introducing the film's protagonist Kenai, voiced by Joquin Phoenix, and his two brothers Denahi and Sitka. Their personalities and relationships with one another are distinctly established in the opening scene of the movie and effectively sets the stage for the resulting story. Without spoiling the plot, I'll discuss only plot elements that were clearly laid out it in trailers and promotional material, the story focuses on the main character being transformed into a bear as a punishment for a particular transgression. While this plot is certainly not original, Brother Bear surprisingly makes the most out of what could have been a tired and cliched story structure by introducing enough unique elements to set it apart from other movies with similar story beats. Where the movie begins to diverge from its initial tone and strong characterization is in the second act. After the central characters and conflict are established, the movie abruptly becomes a sort of road trip movie until a solid finish to the film refocusses the meandering plot. While this idea is not conceptually terrible, in execution, it comes across as unnecessarily forced, predictable, and at odds with the more realistic and grounded tone set up in the beginning of the movie. This is exemplified mainly by the subpar writing of dialogue for the animal characters. While an attempt is made to explore the juxtaposition between the societies of the animals and the humans, this is severely undermined by dialogue laced with modern lingo, references, and over the top stereotypes. The voice acting is passable, never reaching greatness but not truly horrible either. There are some instances of pretty apparent under acting but this is caused more by weak writing in key scenes and poor direction than it is by laziness or incompetence by the voice actors. Perhaps the most questionable aspect of the movie is it's musical score by Phil Collins. The issue isn't really the songs themselves but more of the ham-fisted way they are crammed into scenes that would have been better served with instrumentals. There is one scene in particular where a dramatic and pivotal conversation between the main characters is completely hijacked by one such Phil Collins track. What should have been a heart rending and emotional exchange is essentially ruined as the conversation fades out only to be replaced by Phil Collin's vocals. One huge positive for the movie however is in its animation. It's classic 2-D animation style lends itself nicely to the setting as both the scenery and character models are very well done. While I admittedly went way more negative than I initially set out to when I started writing, I still feel that despite its issues, Brother Bear is a solid Disney flic that succeeds more than it misses. The biggest issue that I had with it is that it is a good movie that could have and should have been a great movie. It had all the makings of an all-time classic Disney movie but squandered its potential and, in turn, falls into a category of a solid B- kid's movie. Some minor character alterations and script revisions could have gone a long way to improving what is an enjoyable but ultimately frustrating movie. Score: 7/10

Disney Continues It's Magic

[iCrazyDavey · 6/10 · 1 April 2004]

Brother Bear is a prefect Disney film that makes a great Disney movie. I thought this is one of Disney's best. It's very sad to see a company get rid of hand drawn animation, because they are so good at it. Brother Bear has a great and touching story with lovable charecters. The 2 Moose are the best in the movie. There is a lot of dramatic moments and a lot of fun moments. Kids will love this movie as well as adults. Hopefully one day, The Walt Disney Company will remember it's roots and continue hand drawn animation.

Computer animation is great, but Brother Bear proves that hand drawn animation is also great. I don't think a lot of us want to think of cheesy animated sequals. I think all of us want more great animated movies like Brother Bear, Aladdin, The Lion King and a lot of others.

One of Disney's last gasps retains most of what made the studio great.

[rapt0r_claw-1 · 8/10 · 8 August 2004]

Sadly, Disney Feature Animation closes down after "Home on the Range." I'm waiting for Disney's last cartoon on DVD, but the subject of this review is "Brother Bear." This is the second last traditional Disney animated feature.

"Brother Bear" is a good story of love, sin, understanding, forgiveness and brotherhood, as the title suggests. It's set in Alaska in the time of the Inuit and the mammoth. Sitka, Denahi and Kenai are brothers (eldest first). After Sitka is killed by a bear, Kenai sets out to kill the bear, whilst Denahi doesn't blame the bear. Kenai kills the "monster," but Sitka, now a powerful spirit, turns Kenai into a bear to take the other's place and atone for his wrongdoing. Denahi thinks the bear has killed his other brother as well, and vows to track down Kenai and kill him. It is different from most other stories. The message is clear, the story straightforward, not muddled by subplots and separate story lines. The film tells a story that is just a fable. Fortunately, that's all it needs to be.

The animation isn't all that gorgeous, yet remains high quality. The bears are realistically depicted, all the animals are their true forms but for the caricature of their funniest features and habits. The forest, which is CG, is beautiful. The color and the realism of it is magnificent. But again, some of the computer effects don't work. The film was clearly trying to aim for something like the DreamWorks half-and-half pictures, with hand-drawn characters acting in photo-realistic environments and effects (i.e. "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas"). The water in "Brother Bear," in its early stages, looks nearly as bad as that in "The Jungle Book 2." It's flat, with a bit of shine, unlike the fast-flowing, moving torrents of other films. It just looks lame. Don't get me wrong, this is a minor mishap. The Cg layout looks fantastic.

Phil Collins did the score for this! What a surprise! NOT! The soundtrack for "Tarzan" was inspirational: the soundtrack for "Brother Bear" is varying and lackluster. The opening Tina Turner number is decent at best. Collins' songs, which form the bulk of the music in the film, have stupid lyrics, although his great voice saves it from being totally painful. The best song by far was sung by a Bolivian women's chorus, written by Colins. The lyrics for this song were better than the other songs', not bothering to include idiotic rhymes since the English words are never heard. The words were translated into Inuit. When at last the grand performance is over, you whisper: "Wow."

The characters are funny and not at all one-dimensional. Of the brotherhood, Sitka, who plays such a pivotal role, is the weakest. His character is no deeper than enough to make it clear he is brave, wise and self-sacrificing. Everyone's dream big brother to beat up the bad guys. Denahi and Kenai are have much more to them. They, of course, are the typical siblings that incessantly antagonize each other, their battles being a good source of comic relief. "Brother Bear" may have fallen flat on its face without the two distinctly Canadian moose brothers (notice the number of brothers in the film) that are by far the funniest of Disney's recent creations. They get cramps from eating grass and need to do yoga before starting, and spar to practice for the rutting season. Kenai reluctantly allows a young bear cub separated from his mother. This cub is Koda. Correction: The moose are the funniest SIDEKICKS from Disney in recent times. Koda is a lead player. He's funny, exceedingly better equipped to survive than his older chum, and most importantly: extremely cute.

So, does "Brother Bear" live up to the classics of old? Honestly, no, it doesn't. On the other hand, it doesn't exactly make it impossible for them to show their faces in public again. All in all, Disney hasn't ended a creative vacuum. But if you think about it, would Walt have approved? No. He wouldn't have. But what matters isn't how "Brother Bear" compares to other Disney films, but how much you enjoy it in a single viewing. Admittedly, it's funnier than any of than many older films. "Brother Bear" rating: 8/10

Good movie except for the music

[deexsocalygal · 6/10 · 11 December 2021]

The only thing holding this back from getting better ratings is the Phil Collins music. It doesn't work. Why didn't they just have some new age Indian type stuff without words when music was needed? And then put in the usual 1 or two short songs? That would if put this right up there with Beauty & the Beast and all the rest of them! Instead we have a cool Disney flick ruined by Phil Collins singing all the way through the whole thing. It wrecks the whole experience. The animation is tops, the story is great with a good morals & a happy ending, the characters are fine (the two moose are hilarious).

Disney's last animated classic

[Lupercali · 9/10 · 1 May 2004]

Having (I think) seen all the Disney animated features, I would have to say that 'Brother Bear' is the finest Disney feature since 'The Fox and the Hound' - which is to say the best around 25 years. It's a shame, and a bit ironic, that this sudden return to form should happen now, after a string of 90's movies which were nearly all good, but rarely brilliant; and on the cusp of the death of the classical 'hand drawn' style of animation from the people who invented the animated feature.

At first I had misgivings. Particularly when I heard Inuit using valley girl phrases - but these reservations disappear quickly enough (as indeed, do the Inuit characters).

Briefly, 'Brother Bear' is about a young Inuit man who rejects his totem ('the Bear of Love'), and goes so far as to kill a bear which he somewhat erroneously blames for the death of his friend. He is then magically transformed into a bear, and the rest of the film... doesn't really matter at this stage: I don't want to spoil it.

There are only a few minor faults which prevent this from scoring a 10: the moose and ram characters are really pretty dispensable, but they don't take up much screen time. Koda, the bear cub, elicited a bit of an 'oh, no' response from at first, but he grows on you fast.

The animation, as you would expect, is well ahead of the field (at least in the 'classical' style). While it isn't perhaps quite as eye-popping and panoramic as 'The Lion King', I think this only goes to show that good storytelling will win out over superficial eye-candy covering a third-hand script.

The final scenes of the movie are genuinely surprising (there is a sort of stock surprise ending, followed by something I really didn't see coming), and at the same time, it's genuine lump in the throat stuff - something Disney seemed to have been a bit shy about lately with films like 'Atlantis'. They shouldn't be. They do it well.

I've enjoyed nearly all of Disney's prolific output of the past ten years, but this is the pick of the bunch, IMO. It's not perfect, but if this had been the film which Disney's animation dept had bowed out with, it would have been a fine swansong.

Funny and beautiful

[raulfaust · 7/10 · 29 September 2011]

The main idea of "Brother Bear" is quite simple. Before judging other people and their acts, we should put ourselves in their place to have an idea of why they do that. Instead doing this, people usually just like to criticize everyone all around as if they were perfect and flawless people. More than that, Brother Bear is a lesson of love between brothers and how we can actually become someone's brother just by affection, not necessarily by blood. Also, there are some possibly unintentional funny scenes in the ride of bears.

I used to watch this film repeatedly back when released, since I was younger in my 10~11 and was still satisfied with animations. Now I'm a 19 college guy about to become an adult, and if I ever have kids, I'll surely buy this film for them :)

Fine family flick.

[mambododi · 5/10 · 1 November 2003]

Disney does it again with a fine family film that teaches tolerance and respect of the land. Brother Bear Is one of Disney's better films to come out of late, and I hope not the last.

See with your kids and be amazed.

A great masterpiece of a film

[almanjit25 · 10/10 · 17 February 2013]

I have learned that sometimes critics have their heads up their a**es and their prejudice, arrogance and jaded perspectives make them disregard anything with pure heart and emotion and love, praise and adore mindless fart humor and depravity. If you are one of those people who loves what critics say and can't form your own opinion, you'll probably have a preconceived opinion of this movie so disregard my review. Also if you hate stories that teach and educate and make you inspire to be a better person, disregard the rest of this review.

This film is a breathtaking, emotional roller coaster of intellect,wit, pure heart and moral. It takes you on an astonishing journey filled with soul. It is visual eye-candy, epic and breathtaking. The vividness of the colors and brush strokes actually takes you on a magical enchanting journey and leaves you awestruck with its beauty. So yeah the animation is AMAZING!

The voicing by the actors is so fitting and they do a marvelous job. Effortlessly so if i may add.

The music is pretty amazing and in fact adds to the amazement of the story. It carries the emotion of the story. Most people listen to the instrumentals instead of the words. Try listening to the words and they will carry you on an immensely emotional and feeling ride. The words add to the story and the characters thoughts. Wonderful. Not particularly the best ever in terms of instrumentals, but the words and their meaning make up for this ten-fold. The transformation song and "On My Way" were a particular delight.

Now to the story which i feel is the most important thing: It is firstly educational and takes a more cultural turn by taking you through the mythology of the Inuits and way of life. It is a different time and culture and it is both awe-inducing and educating. Not for people who prefer films like Shrek or Simpsons. Now the emotional depth of this film can make you weep throughout as it showcases love, arrogance, prejudice, intolerance, tolerance, pain, death, family, darkness and finally light. It transcends above nearly all films in terms of emotions and heart. It is heart-breaking and tear inducing as it showcases human cruelty and arrogance. A subject people will really dislike or feel in denial about. It showcases pain and heartache like no animation does these days since people prefer the superficial. It shows the themes that are present today such as intolerance, arrogance and sheer heartlessness. And finally it shows a journey of education not only in terms of cultural differences but learning that intolerance and preconceived notions are imbecilic, it is about responsibility, it teaches the importance of stepping into another's shoes and feeling what they feel as well as learning the power of love. It is very intelligent so very few will get or be able to understand and appreciate its messages. And plus if you hate emotion, education and being taught valuable life lessons or feel you are too superior for them, you will not like this movie. Otherwise if you are intelligent and have a heart, you will adore it as i have.

Definitely one of my favorite animated films and i've seen over 200. Actually it is one of my favorite films period, not just from the animated ones. A masterpiece and i know i will get hate for saying this but it is the truth, this movie is way better than several Pixar films which are good visuals but superficial story lines that don't capture heart, horrors of the world and emotion as Disney films of the past do. I said several Pixar films and not all. Up, Wall-E and Monsters Inc are masterpieces and Brother Bear is in their league of excellence. Though it is way way way more magical and beautiful than the Toy Story Trilogy, Brave, The Incredibles, Cars and Finding Nemo. I have watched this film every year since i was a kid when it released and it has still not lost its magic and that is the true mark of a pure classic, one that will never lose its charm.

"Family Friendly" but more for the adults.

[GiraffeDoor · 7/10 · 21 August 2019]

10 year old me was not impressed. It's simpering little narrative on hunters getting their comeuppance, it's saccharine bonding story and the lack of a real antagonist made this, to my mind, a dud from the get go.

However... rewatching as an adult I have decided to re-evaluate it. If we don't judge it by the standard the "good vs evil" paradigm and more by the "misguided people vs themselves" angle we actually get a very well written account of changing points of view that makes a compelling drama of reluctant companionship that becomes strained friendship as one's only company in the world turns into our worst nightmare.

Visually captivating as we go from the quasi-photorealism of the human world to the slightly more cartoonish but still dignified world of the animals accompanied by a rich autumnal color scheme and some killer tunes by your boy Phil Collins (who also did the songs Tarzan; not the score, the songs).

A gentle but agreeable sense of humor that's never excruciating and plenty of well executing pathos and set pieces make this a memorable story of revenge, proving oneself, identity and personal growth that is worth a few views.

Beautiful animation, but with a boring characters and sub-par songs.

[kevinmalonefan-39258 · 5/10 · 3 August 2020]

Let me get one thing out of the way: this film has beautiful animation. I can't help but want to visit Alaska after seeing the beautiful mountain vistas shown in this film. Rotten Tomatoes claims the animation is "so-so" and this couldn't be further from the truth. This film is worth watching just for the animation and Kenai's transformation. But . . . the rest of it kinda sucks. Phil Collins, who wrote some great songs for Disney's Tarzan, ruined any emotional poignancy the film could of had by drowning out the dialogue of the reveal scene with his awful song. The songs detracted from my over all enjoyment of the film. The characters were boring. I wasn't invested in the plot because I wasn't invested in the characters. Koda was alright, but I couldn't have cared less about Kenai's journey or Denahi's revenge. The rams (which were on the box even though they were on screen for less than a minute) were not funny whatsoever. The only good characters were the moose. Yeah, it was stupid that their minor spat over "crashing the Mammoth" was what convinced Koda to forgive Kenai, but I thought they were funny. I think the film was trying to be North American Lion King, and it really shows in some scenes (that scene with Kenai and Koda in the volcanic area is practically identical to the Elephant Graveyard), but it doesn't have the emotional significance due to the blandness of the characters. The plot twist that Kenai killed Koda's mother was obvious the instant Koda said he had lost his mom that it boggles the mind that Kenai didn't realize sooner. Rotten Tomatoes ranked it as the worst movie in the Disney Animated Canon. Yes, even worse than Chicken Little. And that's just not true. While Chicken Little's animation physically hurts to look at, this film's animation was stunning. And this one didn't have the awful, stingy pop culture jokes that Chicken Little had. This film is not awful, but just for kids. While most Disney films can be enjoyed by adults and kids alike, this film is just for kids. It's not Chicken Little, but don't expect The Lion King.

Underrated Tale from Disney

[Michael_Elliott · 4 May 2014]

Brother Bear (2003)

*** (out of 4)

Underrated Disney film about a Inuit hunter (voice of Joaquin Phoenix) who kills a bear without cause and ends up being transformed into a bear where he must help a young cub who has lost its mother. In order to take human form again, the bear must grow a heart and learn the true meaning of love. BROTHER BEAR seems to get a lot of mixed reviews among Disney fans but I really don't understand why because I thought it was a pretty good film with several memorable characters, some good laughs, the needed pulling of the heart-strings and of course some great animation. I really thought the animation here was quite wonderful from the opening scenes that were full of darkness to the middle of the picture when things are a lot more colorful. The attention to detail was just marvelous and especially the scenes early on with the ice, the flowing water and several scenes inside a cave. There lights in the sky were another impressive bit of animation from the studio who were obviously legends by now. Another major plus were the vocal performances with Phoenix doing an extremely good job in the role of the bigger brother who takes on this young cub. You can just really feel a love and naturing feeling to the vocal work. Jeremy Suarex, Rick Moranis and D.B. Sweeney are also very good in their supporting roles. As you'd expect, there's certain messages that the filmmakers try to get across and I think they did a fine job without having to beat the viewer over the head. The ending, which I won't spoil, was quite touching as only Disney can do. Again, I'm really not sure why this film got so many negative reviews but it's certainly a winning addition to the studio's great work.