A few months ago I first saw a preview for a new Disney animated movie called Brother Bear. The movie looked like it would be good. I loved the scenes that showed two moose. I decided that I wanted to go see it. I’m glad I saw it because I really enjoyed it.
It was almost time for a special ceremony for Kenai when he would receive his totem. The spirits would reveal the special totem for each person once they reached the proper age. Kenai was looking forward to it. He and his two older brothers, Sitka and Denahi were out fishing before the ceremony. Sitka seemed to be the most levelheaded of the brothers. Kenai was the youngest and still impulsive at times. Denahi seemed to get annoyed with him easily.
Kenai was thinking he would get a totem that stood for bravery or something like that. At the ceremony, he received a bear totem, which stood for love. Kenai wasn’t happy about that. He didn’t think it was a manly totem to receive. Denahi had a lot of fun teasing his brother about the totem he received. Kenai was not happy with his brother’s teasing. Something happened that caused Denahi to get upset with Kenai. Kenai then set off to prove something to his brother. Denahi and Sitka went after him. Kenai encountered a bear and his brothers were helping to fight it off. Sitka did something to save his brothers that cost him his life. Kenai decided to go after the bear. The spirits, including Sitka, were angered when Kenai killed the bear. Kenai was then transformed into a bear so he could learn to see through another’s eyes. Denahi thought that the bear killed Kenai, so he started tracking the bear to kill it.
Kenai wasn’t happy about being a bear. He had to travel to where the lights touched the earth to find the spirits. He tried to ask two moose, Rutt and Tuke, for directions, but they weren’t that helpful. Kenai met a small bear named Koda that got separated from his mother. Koda was heading for the salmon run and wanted Kenai to go with him. Kenai wanted no part of that until he found out that the place where the lights touch the earth was right by where the salmon run took place. Kenai and Koda set off, with Denahi following them. Rutt and Tuke turned up a few more times as well.
VOICES
Joaquin Phoenix - Kenai
Jeremy Suarez - Koda
Jason Raize - Denahi
Rick Moranis - Rutt
Dave Thomas - Tuke
D.B. Sweeney - Sitka
Joan Copeland - Tauana
Michael Clarke Duncan - Tug
Directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker
Brother Bear was released on November 1, 2003. That was a Saturday, which is not a normal release day for movies. I did read that Disney decided to do that since Halloween was on Friday and they didn’t want the movie to compete with the holiday. The movie was 85 minutes long and rated G.
I really enjoyed Brother Bear. It was a cute movie that is good for families. The movie did touch on some serious issues like death, but not in any real depth. Sitka died making sure a bear didn’t kill his brothers. His death wasn’t really shown, but from the reaction of Kenai and Denahi, as well as what happened next, it was clear what had happened to Sitka. A bear was killed, but that also wasn’t really shown. There was no blood or anything like that. The deaths weren’t as graphic as some from other Disney movies, like in The Lion King. Those things were handled well in the movie, though some children may be a bit upset by what happened. There was a little bit of violence in the movie when Kenai and then Denahi were hunting bears, but the violence wasn’t that bad at all. I think there are only a few spots where it could be upsetting to younger children.
Brother Bear dealt with family, like many Disney movies have done. Kenai, Denahi, and Sitka were brothers. They annoyed each other at times, but they were close and loved each other. Sitka was the oldest and felt like he had to look out for his younger brothers. Kenai was very upset when Sitka died, and he may not have been thinking clearly when he went after the bear. He was blinded by his grief and his need for revenge. His actions angered the spirits, which caused them to transform him into a bear to teach him a lesson. Denahi was devastated when he thought a bear killed Kenai, and he let words that Kenai said in anger direct him to hunt the bear for revenge, as Kenai had done. As a bear, Kenai became close with Koda, a young bear who became lost from his mother. Kenai learned many things by being a bear and spending time with Koda. Kenai learned that he had been wrong regarding some things he thought about bears. He learned how love could help him become a better man. Some people may think that part of the movie was too mushy or preachy, but I didn’t think it was. Rutt and Tuke were also brothers. They seemed to have a good relationship, but they also had a few conflicts.
There were some serious moments in Brother Bear, but there were more funny moments in it. Rutt and Tuke, the two moose brothers who first showed up shortly after Kenai became a bear, turned up throughout the movie. They were hilarious in all their scenes. I love those two characters. They were my favorites in the movie. They said and did some silly things and had me cracking up every time they showed up in the movie. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis provided the voices for the two moose and they were perfect. Rick and Dave did perform together as two brothers from Canada in the past. Rutt and Tuke really reminded me of those two characters. They were very funny and my favorite part of the movie. At one point in the movie, Kenai and Koda came across two rams who did something that I thought was funny too. They were pretty funny, but Rutt and Tuke were funnier.
I thought that the animation in Brother Bear was very good. It was the more traditional hand drawn animation instead of computer animation. It wasn’t as amazing looking as the animation in Monsters, Inc. or Finding Nemo, but it was still very good. Hand drawn and computer animation are different, and they really shouldn’t be compared as equals because computer animation is able to do things that can’t be done in traditional animation. But that doesn’t mean that there is no place for traditional animation anymore. Just because computer animation is newer and can do some things easier, doesn’t make it better or that it should completly replace traditional animation. I’ve read many things saying how computer animation is the future and that there is no need for hand drawn animation anymore. I don’t think that is so. Hand drawn animation is an art form, and it should continue to be used. The animation in Brother Bear was beautiful. When the movie started, it seemed like the colors used were more subdued, and became even more subdued as Kenai went after the bear. The picture wasn’t filling up the entire screen at that point either. Once Kenai was transformed into the bear that changed. The move went to widescreen and was full of bright, vibrant, beautiful colors. The change from the darker, dull colors, to the bright, vibrant colors was stunning. The change made everything seem that much more beautiful. I don’t remember seeing an animated movie do that before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any movie that started and then changed to widescreen during the movie.
There was music in Brother Bear, but the characters weren’t breaking into song every few minutes. Songs sung by Phil Collins and Tina Turner played at different times in the movie. Koda did sing a line or two of one of the songs, but then the Phil Collins version of the song took over. I did like how the songs were done in this movie. I didn’t like the Tina Turner song as well as the ones sung by Phil Collins. I’m not sure exactly what my problem with the song was, but for some reason it didn’t seem to fit in with the movie. Phil Collins wrote the songs for the movie like he did for Tarzan.
Kenai was the main character in Brother Bear. He did a lot of changing over the course of the movie. His brothers, Sitka and Denahi had smaller parts in the movie. Koda was in most of the movie with Kenai. They were the most developed characters in the movie. Rutt and Tuke turned up every so often, mainly for some comic relief. They were really funny, but they weren’t that developed.
I thought that the voices in Brother Bear were well done and matched the characters they were for. When I first saw the previews, I thought that the voice of Kenai sounded familiar but I couldn’t figure out who it was. Joaquin Phoenix did a good job with the voice for Kenai. I did recognize that Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis were the voices for the moose right away. I hadn’t known that Michael Clark Duncan provided a voice, but as soon as I heard his character speak, I knew it was him. Those were the only voices I recognized.
CHARACTERS
Kenai - A young man who was very upset when his oldest brother was killed. Kenai blamed a bear for the death and went after the bear. His actions angered the spirits, and he was transformed into a bear.
Koda - A young bear that met Kenai soon after he was turned into a bear. Koda was very talkative and got on Kenai nerves at times. Koda had been separated from his mother when they were traveling to the salmon run.
Sitka - Kenai’s oldest brother. Sitka was more levelheaded than his brothers and felt that he had to look out for them.
Denahi - Kenai’s other brother. He was the middle brother. He enjoyed teasing his little brother at times. Other times he was very annoyed by Kenai’s actions. Denahi tried to stay more calm, but his grief got the best of him when he thought that Kenai had been killed by a bear.
I really enjoyed Brother Bear and look forward to getting the movie on DVD. This is a good, entertaining movie for families to see.
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