Film Addict's May Film Choice

I couldn't decide what film I wanted to review for this month because nothing of major significance happened that stuck out in my mind but recently, I saw my best friend who I've known since I was a kid.  As I missed her so much because we don't live right down the road from one another anymore, I asked her if there was a particular film she liked to watch with me so the Film Addict's May Film Choice is Brother Bear, a film we watched repeatedly over the years and absolutely adore.

Brother Bear was released in 2003 and was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert A. Walker.  As with a number of Disney films which don't feature a princess, this is an animated adventure feature with comedic and dramatic elements, focussing on a young person going through a particular journey.  Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Walk the Line) stars along with Jeremy Suarez (The Bernie Mac Show, Zambezia), Rick Moranis (Ghostbusters, Little Shop of Horrors), Dave Thomas (SCTV, The Adventures of Bob & Doug McKenzie: Strange Brew), and Joan Copeland (As the World Turns, The Peacemaker) to name a few.

As this was a request review, I've added another point to the review list which is something that reminds me of my best friend who requested Brother Bear.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Disney fans; siblings

Favourite Characters: Tanana

Favourite Part: Koda: Thanks Sitka, if it weren't for you, I'd have never met Kenai.  I always wanted a brother.

Good Points: Sibling relationship - even if it's not blood/family; background artwork and animation is beautiful; very sweet film

Bad Points: Very predictable and uninspired; the symbolism behind some of the part of this film could be complicated for this film

Special Point: Mabel: This year, I lost my dear husband, Edgar.
Edgar: Quit telling everybody I'm dead!
Mabel: Sometimes I can still hear his voice.
[...]
Mabel: If only Edgar was still alive.
Edgar: I told you, woman! I'm right here!

Brother Bear follows Kenai (Phoenix) as he is preparing to receive his totem from Tanana (Copeland), the shaman-woman of his tribe so that he can begin is journey from being a boy to a man; a totem is a necklace in the shape of an animal which symbolises what each tribe member must achieve to call themselves a man/woman.  Kenai's elder brothers, Sitka (D.B. Sweeney, Dinosaur) and Denahi (Jason Raize, Lion King: The Musical) have already been through this rite of passage and have received their totems, the eagle of guidance and the wolf of wisdom respectively; when Tanana returns and presents Kenai his totem, he is appalled as it is the bear of love, something he believes bears are incapable of and are just thieves.  His opinion is reinforced when he finds the salmon he and his brothers caught earlier to be gone (even though it is Kenai's fault for not tying the basket up properly) so he goes out to get the bear with his brothers trailing behind to make sure he is okay.  When Kenai nearly gets himself killed, his brothers rush to help him as the bear tries to protect itself; Sitka lures the bear away so that his younger brothers are safe and causes part of the glacier they are on to crack and fall so to keep the bear away from Kenai and Denahi.  Unfortunately, the bear survives while Sitka doesn't; feeling vengeful because of his big brother's death, Kenai goes after the bear which he finds at a nearby mountain.  Yet again, a fight ensues and this time, Kenai kills the bear; the Great Spirits (which take the form of the Aurora Borealis), represented by Sitka's spirit, are horrified by what Kenai has done and transform him into a bear.  Denahi arrives just as Kenai, in bear form, is released by the Great Spirits and mistakenly believes Kenai to be dead and the bear is responsible and vows to avenge his little brother.  Before Denahi can kill Kenai, the latter falls into the river below and comes to on the river bank with Tanana right by, explaining everything to him and tells him to go back to where "the lights touch the Earth" to find Sitka so he can be turned back to normal.  When she disappears, Kenai meets Rutt (Moranis) and Tuke (Thomas), two moose who mock him for believing he's not a bear, as well as Koda (Suarez), a lost bear cub who wants to go to the salmon run to find his mum.  Adventures ensue as Kenai and Koda make their way to the salmon run and Kenai reluctantly starts to bond with the younger cub.

Films that focus on siblings always connect with me because of my kid sister and our relationship; I understand the sibling relationships that come up in Disney films because of her.  What is great about this film is that being a brother isn't exclusively biological; siblings, especially the eldest, look out for one another and care for one another, sometimes forsaking their own safety.  You could see Kenai's love and concern growing for Koda over the course of the film which was great because it is unusual to see in a relationship like this where someone (Kenai) will go out of their way to protect someone else (Koda) from a sibling (Denahi) and it is heart-warming to see this self-centred young man/bear care for someone else.

As with many animated films in the 1990s and 2000s that used a digitally drawn background plate to animate over the top of, the background was visually stunning and was clearly well thought out.  The sheer amount of detail that was put in to the background, from the ice cliffs to the trees made the film nerd in me scream with happiness because you can see the amount of effort, care, and thought that went into just the background shows me that someone cares enough about this film to dedicate their time to make it beautiful so watching it shows your appreciation of their work.

As well as the background, the way the animation looked was amazing too as it was detailed and eye-catching; my absolute favourite piece of animation was the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) sequence because they are beautiful and the inclusion of the animal cave paintings hypnotises me as I find them fascinating to watch and I could watch it over and over again so that I could spot every animal and admire very detail and colour as they run around.  Another wonderful thing about the animation was the transition between Kenai's transformation from human to bear; the colours that were used became a lot brighter as if he is looking through a new pair of eyes and I find it interesting to see.

This is an incredibly sweet film because of the relationship between Kenai and Koda and the voice actors behind them, especially Koda because he is adorable as the abandoned young cub which Disney knows and will milk every drop of cuteness they can get.  It is one for the whole family to sit there and watch as that is the main message; family is important, even if it's not blood.

Tanana, the shaman-woman of Kenai's tribe, is such a great character and I love her and her role in the film as Kenai's initial guide.  Her conversation with Kenai when he is turned into a bear first off sticks in my mind because she just babbles away at him as he comes to because she knows what's happened to him and knows he'll need a familiar face and voice to break the news to him.  It shows this sensitive side to her that I love in characters, especially the mentor types because it made her sympathetic and loveable rather than mean and strict.  All of her lines were laced with this great sense of humour which made her even more appealing because it is a sad story initially and she relieves this air of sadness that has fallen over the film.

While it is a sweet film, it is extremely predictable which is acceptable for a kids' film but it does make it less enjoyable for adults who watch the film with a child.  It carries all the Disney ingredients - loveable characters, stunning colours, musical numbers (thought there are only a few), and a sweet ending, it doesn't bring any originality and lacks the same wow factor that previous Disney films have, Lion King for example.  If this film didn't mean so much to me, this could be an easily forgettable film which is probably why it is overlooked so much when someone is speaking about Disney Classics.  Unfortunately, the fact that this film is predictable brought down my rating even though I love watching it with my best friend.

Part of me always thinks that the symbolism behind the totems and Kenai's transformation was complicated for a film directed at this particular audience.  I am not trying to undermine a child's intelligence but a large number of the kids I know have a habit of questioning something they don't understand, such as why a bear means love or an eagle means guidance, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but can make watching the film with them harder as they could be confused by these small details.  Maybe this is just my opinion and I'm overthinking it.

Koda: Thanks Sitka, if it weren't for you, I'd have never met Kenai.  I always wanted a brother.

I love Koda, he is just so cute and I love this part when he finds out that Sitka indirectly brought him and Kenai together.  What was a great part about this line was that Kenai didn't correct him when Koda said they were brothers which shows Kenai, to me, has come to really love Koda as if Kenai was his big brother, a role he has never had to take on as he is the youngest of his brothers.  This is also one of those moments where Koda is just adorable and you just want to hug him (even if he is a bear) and Disney played on this part well.

Mabel: This year, I lost my dear husband, Edgar.
Edgar: Quit telling everybody I'm dead!
Mabel: Sometimes I can still hear his voice.
[...]
Mabel: If only Edgar was still alive.
Edgar: I told you, woman! I'm right here!

Whenever I watch this film with my friend, or even when we just see each other, we always quote this part or even just a small bit of it because it's just stuck in our minds.  Even when I'm watching this film randomly without her - because I'm having a spur of the moment Disney Day, I always laugh and smile because it reminds me of her so much and I miss her a lot now that we don't live down the road from one another.

While my rating was brought down because of the predictability of the story as well as the possible complexity of the symbolism behind the totems, I loved the artwork and animation, especially the Aurora Borealis and the animated cave paintings that were inside them.  If I could, I'd have that projected on my ceiling all the time.  I love this film because it reminds me of my best friend who is practically a sister to me and I can relate to certain moments of this film because of my actual kid sister so I'm glad I shared this with everyone out there and encourage them to watch it alone or with your kids.

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