Brother Bear
Year: 2003
Director: Aaron Blaise & Robert Walker
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jason Raize & Jeremy Suarez
Runtime: 85 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 20/07/21
Director: Aaron Blaise & Robert Walker
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Jason Raize & Jeremy Suarez
Runtime: 85 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 20/07/21
Not to sound like a broken record, but the Post-Renaissance Era of Disney Animation is widely overlooked in the studio’s long history. But from Treasure Planet onwards the studio’s film output was often entirely ignored back when they released and have since only garnered cult followings with the masses tending to forget that Disney even made films during this time. Brother Bear is another such case, which despite performing well commercially did not fare well with critics and has since been largely forgotten. So why is Brother Bear not as fondly remembered as other Disney Classics of a similar ilk such as Pocahontas?
In post-Ice Age Alaska, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is a member of an Innuit tribe who believe that the spirits of all living beings are controlled by powerful and mystical forces who determine someone’s life journey. Kenai is granted the spirit totem of love, a gesture that is mocked by his brothers for being unmanly. But when a bear steals some fish that Kenai and his brothers Denahi (Jason Raize), and Sitka (D. B. Sweeney) caught earlier that day, Kenai goes after the bear with the intention of killing it and returning the fish. However, things do not go to plan and Sitka is killed saving the lives of his younger brothers, and when Kenai succeeds in killing the bear he is swept up by the Great Spirits and transformed into a bear. Unable to communicate with his surviving brother Denahi who believes him to be the same bear they were hunting; Kenai embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) in the hopes of being returned to human form.
In post-Ice Age Alaska, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) is a member of an Innuit tribe who believe that the spirits of all living beings are controlled by powerful and mystical forces who determine someone’s life journey. Kenai is granted the spirit totem of love, a gesture that is mocked by his brothers for being unmanly. But when a bear steals some fish that Kenai and his brothers Denahi (Jason Raize), and Sitka (D. B. Sweeney) caught earlier that day, Kenai goes after the bear with the intention of killing it and returning the fish. However, things do not go to plan and Sitka is killed saving the lives of his younger brothers, and when Kenai succeeds in killing the bear he is swept up by the Great Spirits and transformed into a bear. Unable to communicate with his surviving brother Denahi who believes him to be the same bear they were hunting; Kenai embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) in the hopes of being returned to human form.
Brother Bear’s story is sweet, yet ultimately safe by Disney standards. In fact, for better or worse, it feels like a step back from the more unique films the studio had been making so far in this era. It’s predictable and never makes any attempts to do anything you haven’t seen before, it’s still enjoyable but it means that Brother Bear does struggle to stand out against its contemporaries because of its refusal to go against the grain.
I still very much enjoy Brother Bear because of the emotional crescendo’s the story hits in the back end, but if it were not for these cathartic payoff’s then Brother Bear’s story would be a relatively generic and unremarkable experience.
This also extends the to the film’s musical numbers. For the first time in the Post-Renaissance Era frequent musical numbers make a return, however they’re presented in a similar manner to Tarzan where the songs are not performed by the characters in the story, but instead by Phil Collins. Yes, Collins returns for Brother Bear, and I feel that harms its ability to create its own identity because the songs are so similar to Tarzan’s. Again, they’re not bad, in fact a couple of them are excellent, but hearing Collins perform during this film just made me think of Tarzan and how much I adore that film, which is not what you want when trying to appreciate something else.
Visually Brother Bear is interesting. Not because of the art direction, but because of how it uses relatively unique visual storytelling techniques. In film stills you’ll think that it looks like any other Disney film from the early 00’s, but actually watching the film you may pick up on subtle and extremely clever visual cues. The most noticeable of which is the charge of aspect ratio upon Kenai’s transformation which lasts for the rest of the film. At this same time, the colour palette becomes considerably brighter and more vibrant, as well as character models becoming more ‘cartoony’ with rounder designs and bigger eyes. It’s a clever trick to visually communicate the changes Kenai is going through, and how his view of the world quite literally changes. There are other subtle shifts throughout the film and for those who pick up on them, it does make the film considerably more rewarding come the time the credits roll.
Perhaps the reason why Brother Bear is often so quickly forgotten is because its story is just ok. Narratively it doesn’t do anything, bad or good, to stand out from the crowd of other animated films; nor does it showcase a significant step forward for Disney’s technological prowess. Brother Bear does have some good tricks up its sleeve and an extremely emotional finale which merit the film a reason to watch it and likely enjoy it; but it does feel like Disney were more focused on their future projects that would distance themselves from traditional 2D animation, leaving Brother Bear feeling somewhat safe.
I still very much enjoy Brother Bear because of the emotional crescendo’s the story hits in the back end, but if it were not for these cathartic payoff’s then Brother Bear’s story would be a relatively generic and unremarkable experience.
This also extends the to the film’s musical numbers. For the first time in the Post-Renaissance Era frequent musical numbers make a return, however they’re presented in a similar manner to Tarzan where the songs are not performed by the characters in the story, but instead by Phil Collins. Yes, Collins returns for Brother Bear, and I feel that harms its ability to create its own identity because the songs are so similar to Tarzan’s. Again, they’re not bad, in fact a couple of them are excellent, but hearing Collins perform during this film just made me think of Tarzan and how much I adore that film, which is not what you want when trying to appreciate something else.
Visually Brother Bear is interesting. Not because of the art direction, but because of how it uses relatively unique visual storytelling techniques. In film stills you’ll think that it looks like any other Disney film from the early 00’s, but actually watching the film you may pick up on subtle and extremely clever visual cues. The most noticeable of which is the charge of aspect ratio upon Kenai’s transformation which lasts for the rest of the film. At this same time, the colour palette becomes considerably brighter and more vibrant, as well as character models becoming more ‘cartoony’ with rounder designs and bigger eyes. It’s a clever trick to visually communicate the changes Kenai is going through, and how his view of the world quite literally changes. There are other subtle shifts throughout the film and for those who pick up on them, it does make the film considerably more rewarding come the time the credits roll.
Perhaps the reason why Brother Bear is often so quickly forgotten is because its story is just ok. Narratively it doesn’t do anything, bad or good, to stand out from the crowd of other animated films; nor does it showcase a significant step forward for Disney’s technological prowess. Brother Bear does have some good tricks up its sleeve and an extremely emotional finale which merit the film a reason to watch it and likely enjoy it; but it does feel like Disney were more focused on their future projects that would distance themselves from traditional 2D animation, leaving Brother Bear feeling somewhat safe.