Brother Bear (2-Disc Special Edition) | Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez

Brother Bear (2-Disc Special Edition) | Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez | Cute, Spiritual, and funny!

DVDs:

Brother Bear (2-Di...

	Brother Bear (2-Disc Special Edition) Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez Walt Disney Video, 2004 average customer review:based on 215 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent!

I watched this movie at the recommendation of a friend and could not have been more pleased. The animation is incredible, from the lush scenery to the emotion of the characters (two and four-legged), the Disney animation department has taken extra special care to details in this movie. The story is so touching, there were several points I was moved to tears and the ending is perfect. The cast is excellent as well, from the talented young actor who voices Koda to the hilarious Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as the moose, and Joaquin Phoenix as Kenai. I cannot say a bad thing about this movie, see it and let that be reward in itself.

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Cute, Spiritual, and funny!

Koda of course is the cutest one, Rutt and Tuke are the funny ones, and Sitka is the wise one. The DVD is good. Not sure about the VHS though.

A Disney Review From A Disney Employee

I had actually been looking forward to this for a little while. I was working at Walt Disney World at the time. The film was made at Disney's Florida Animation Studios, and boy was it highly publicized at the theme parks. I had seen the trailer many many times over a period of a few months and it has done the trick, I was getting excited to see Brother Bear.

And now, here it was - BROTHER BEAR - I had really high expectations, and only marginally did it not live up to my expectation. The story of a man who is magically turned into a bear. The songs by Phil Collins were catchy and beautiful. And let me tell you about the two Canadian moose. They keep saying "eh" at the end of each sentence, they sometimes talk about you - right in front of you - in cough language - thinking there's no chance you'll understand what they're saying, and they're basically hilarious. If you want to see more of the moose you should buy the Brother Bear Disney Sing Along Songs DVD.

Another interesting thing you'll find is that the film starts off in 4:3 and then opens up to a widescreen, about a quarter of the way through the movie. I think this is to symbolize that the man (who has now been turned into a bear) is truly having his eyes opened to the world around him.

Disney have made quite an effort with this 2-Disc set, so you should have fun working your way through the special features. I really consider Brother Bear to be on of the best Disney animated features. I just get this sense that it doesn't quite achieve its full potential. Still, it's definitly recommended.

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Mediocre Disney Effort, but Good for Little Tykes

"Brother Bear" easily falls into the second tier of Disney animation -- nowhere near the class of "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and the other high-water marks, but along the lines of "Pocahantas" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Preachy, simplistic, and plagued by Phil Collins tunes (where, o where, did "Against All Odds" go?), "Brother Bear" is nevertheless a beautiful film with some good supporting characters.

"Brother Bear" is set in Alaska, which according to Disney is the Garden of Eden in Winter. Three brothers -- Sitka, Denahi, and Kenai -- engage in gentle sibling rivalry and hijinx in this wonderland as the youngest, Kenai, eagerly awaits his manhood ceremony where he will receive his totem. Eagerly awaiting a "manly" totem like the Sabretooth of Bravery, Kenai is disappointed to receive the Bear of Love. Kenai is no fan of bears, which we will see is what passes for subtle irony in this heavy-handed film.

Soon, one of the dastardly bears takes advantage of Kenai's laziness and steals a bunch of the tribe's salmon. Kenai goes after the bear, only to see his beloved oldest brother Sitka die trying to save Kenai and Denahi (this scene is pretty scary for younger kiddies, by the way). In death, Sitka's spirit becomes a magical eagle, and he has plans for his naive youngest brother.

Kenai, distraught at Sitka's death, casts aside his bear totem and chases after the bear (who survived Sitka's heroics). After a dangerous battle atop a mountain, Kenai exacts his revenge . . . only to see Sitka's spirit show up and transform Kenai into a bear. This animation scene is pretty impressive, although there are some minor continuity problems as the bear's corpse disappears once or twice before officially being whisked away into the heavens.

Kenai, bear-hater that he is, is pretty upset to be transformed into a bear. Fortunately for the audience, Kenai the Bear can speak Animal -- the language shared by all animals regardless of species -- and this allows Kenai to speak with some characters who are more interesting than he is. One of these is Koda, a diminutive bear cub who can't shut up. Two other great supporting characters are Rutt and Tuke (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who channel Bob and Doug McKenzie for these parts), two yoga-loving moose. If you have not seen SCTV or "Strange Brew," check them out before watching "Brother Bear" and your enjoyment of the movie will skyrocket.

Kenai must find "where the lights touch the earth," which will see him Transformed Back Into a Man, or where he will Learn the Answers to His Questions, or some other cliche. Completely confused about his destination, Kenai is forced to adopt Koda as his guide. In perhaps the best-handled subplot, Kenai learns that Koda's mother is the bear Kenai killed avenging Sitka.

Complicating matters is the vengeance now sworn by Denahi, the middle brother. Denahi blamed Kenai, not the bear, for Sitka's death, and his last words with Kenai (the human) were harsh. Coming on the mountaintop after the battle, Denahi mistakenly believes that the bear killed Kenai, and chases after Kenai like Ahab. This leads to some scary fight scenes between the brothers.

Being Disney, this movie is wrapped up in a tight little package. Had Disney attempted to make a less-musical film (such as "Mulan," which is superior film to "Brother Bear"), "Brother Bear" would have been more enjoyable. But the songs by Phil Collins are just too much sugar for this already-sweet story and are the general low point of the movie.

To sum it up, "Brother Bear" is fine family entertainment for younger tykes who won't catch the cheap sentimentalism or be bothered by the too-on-the-nose songs. But if your child is at the age where Pixar's "The Incredibles" is the coolest movie ever, you may have missed your "Brother Bear" window.

A surprisingly good package of DVD extras -- most notably a comic commentary by the two moose, Tuke and Rutt -- makes this a very good DVD for a pretty good film.

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