Brother Bear (2003)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Aaron Blaise
Robert Walker

Writers:

Tab Murphy (screenplay) and
Lorne Cameron (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

The story of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear.

Plot:

A young Inuit hunter seeks vengence against a bear, only to be magically changed into a bear himself, and his only chance to change back is with a talkative bear cub.

Plot Keywords:

Bear | Revenge | Brotherhood | Bear Cub | Survival

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix	...	Kenai (voice)
Jeremy Suarez	...	Koda (voice)
Jason Raize	...	Denahi (voice)
Rick Moranis	...	Rutt (voice)
Dave Thomas	...	Tuke (voice)
D.B. Sweeney	...	Sitka (voice)
Joan Copeland	...	Tanana (voice)
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Tug (voice)
Harold Gould	...	Old Denahi (voice)
Paul Christie	...	Ram #1 (voice)
Danny Mastrogiorgio	...	Ram #2 (voice) (as Daniel Mastrogiorgio)
Estelle Harris	...	Old Lady Bear (voice)
Greg Proops	...	Male Lover Bear (voice)
Pauley Perrette	...	Female Lover Bear (voice)
Darko Cesar	...	Foreign Croatian Bear (voice)

Also Known As:

Bears (USA) (working title)
Tierra de osos (USA: Spanish title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Inuktitut | Serbo-Croatian

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:o.Al. | Finland:K-3 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/4 | Australia:G | Brazil:Livre | Philippines:G | Singapore:G | Spain:T | Switzerland:8 (canton of Zurich) | UK:U | USA:G (certificate #40113)

Filming Locations:

Orlando, Florida, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Feature Animation

Trivia:

Originally, Kenai was supposed to have an older bear named Grizz guide him through the woods and become like a brother to him. He didn't work out, and was replaced by Koda.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene, Denahi says "This is a story from long ago, when the great mammoths still roamed our lands", whereas the main story takes place during his lifetime and mammoths are clearly too plentiful to have disappeared so quickly.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Denahi as an Old Man: This is a story from long ago, when the great mammoths still roamed our lands. It's the story of my two brothers and me. When the three of us were young, we were taught that the world is full of magic. The source of this magic is the ever-changing lights that dance across the sky...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#31.3)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Look Through My Eyes

Beauty and the "Bear"

"Brother Bear" is the latest Disney feature to be done in hand-drawn animation. In it, a young hunter in the Pacific Northwest of the Ice Age is transformed into a bear to look at life from another perspective. The animation is beautifully done, depicting breathtaking scenes of nature. And things like a herd of caribou or a school of salmon were eye-catching. The story is fascinating, letting you know what it's like to go from being the hunter to being the hunted. Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis make funny cameos as Rutt and Tuke, a pair of moose patterned after their "MacKenzie Brothers" characters. The vignettes during the end credits are funny as well. So, "Brother Bear" offers a good example of what 2D animation can still do.