International Cinema Festival of India

Welcome to the wild, wonderful world of Brother Bear. Marking the 43rd film in Disney’s line of animated features, the film, originally entitled Bears, marked a short return to traditionally hand-drawn animation. It was the third feature completed at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently the last. The studio shut down the Orlando facility in an effort to produce computer animated features.

The story revolves around the adventures of Kenai, an Inuit brave who tracks down and kills the bear that killed his older brother. The killing angers the Great Spirits, who transform him into a bear as punishment. Kenai’s living brother, Denahi, thinking he was killed by the newly transformed bear, hunts him down for revenge. As brother mistakenly hunts brother, Kenai’s only hope is to befriend his own worst enemy, a grizzly cub named Koda. Only Koda can show him the way to reverse the transformation.

The comedic high-points are supplied by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. The duo essentially reprised their roles of Bob and Doug McKenzie of SCTV fame. The skit, and subsequently the relationship between Tuke and Rutt, involves two dimwitted brothers who can never agree on anything, but manage to reconcile because of their lack of short-term memory. It’s their relationship that inspires Koda to reconcile with Kenai after their falling out.

While the critical reception was mixed, the indomitable Roger Ebert gave the film a thumbs up, applauding its moving story and convincing characterizations. Other critics especially liked the surreptitious change of the film’s aspect ratio. The film, while Kenai is a human, is projected in standard 1.75:1 ratio. When Kenai is transformed into a bear, the aspect ratio changes to an anamorphic 2.35:1. Likewise, the art direction changes in color and in tone, from realistic and dark to colorful and otherworldly.

While the box office marked it as a success, the DVD release, distributed in 2004, raked in an impressive $167 million. This makes Brother Bear one of Disney’s most successful films to date. This success prompted a direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2, that was released in 2006. When all is said and done, the majority opinion is that the original film is a moving tale, as the tagline describes, of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear.

The brilliance of Brother Bear is it’s ability to draw you into its reality. Purchase your very own copy today.