Brother Bear

Theatrical release poster

***Brother Bear*** is a 2003 American animated comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 44th Disney animated feature film. In the film, an Inuit boy named Kenai pursues a bear in revenge for a fight that he provoked in which his oldest brother Sitka is killed. He tracks down the bear and kills it, but the Spirits, incensed by this unnecessary death, change Kenai into a bear himself as punishment. In order to be human again, Kenai must travel to a mountain where the Northern lights touch the earth. On his way, Kenai is joined by a bear cub, and learns to see through another's eyes, feel through another's heart, and discovers the true meaning of brotherhood.

The film was the third and final Disney animated feature produced primarily by the Feature Animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida; the studio was shut down in March 2004, not long after the release of this film in favor of computer animated features. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. A direct-to-video sequel, *Brother Bear 2*, was released on August 29, 2006.

## Plot

In a post-ice age Alaska, the local tribesmen believe all creatures are created through the Great Spirits, who are said to appear in the form of an aurora. A trio of brothers, Kenai, the youngest; Denahi, the middle; and Sitka, the eldest, return to their tribe in order to receive their totems, necklaces in the shapes of different animals. The particular animals they represent symbolize what they must achieve to call themselves men. Unlike Sitka, who gained the eagle of guidance, and Denahi, who gained the wolf of wisdom, Kenai receives the bear of love. He objects to his totem, stating that bears are thieves, and believes his point is made a fact when a Kodiak bear steals their basket of salmon. Kenai and his brothers pursue the bear, but a fight ends on top of a glacier, during which Sitka gives his life to save his brothers by dislodging the glacier, although the bear survives the fall. After Sitka's funeral, an enraged Kenai blames the bear for Sitka's death. He hunts down and chases the bear up onto a rocky cliff, fighting and eventually slaying it. The Spirits, represented by Sitka's spirit in the form of a bald eagle, show up and transform Kenai into a bear after the dead bear's body evaporates and joins them. Denahi arrives and, believing that Kenai was killed by the bear from earlier, vows to avenge Kenai by hunting it down.

Kenai falls down some rapids, survives, and is healed by Tanana, the shaman of his tribe. She does not speak the bear language, but advises him to return to the mountain to find Sitka and be turned back to a human, but only when he atones for his actions; she vanishes without an explanation. Kenai quickly discovers that the wildlife can now speak to him, meeting a pair of moose brothers named Rutt and Tuke. He gets caught in a trap, but is freed by an outgoing bear cub named Koda. They make a deal: Kenai will escort Koda to an annual salmon run and then the cub will lead Kenai to the mountain. As the two eventually form a brother-like relationship, Koda reveals that his mother is missing. The two are hunted by Denahi, who is still determined to avenge Kenai, unaware that the bear he is pursuing is actually Kenai himself. Eventually, Kenai and Koda reach the salmon run, where a large number of bears live as a family, including the leader Tug. Kenai accepts his new surroundings and is comfortable living with the other bears. During a discussion among the bears, Koda tells a story about his mother recently fighting human hunters on a glacier, reminding Kenai of his and his brothers' fight with the bear that lead to Sitka's death and making him realize that the entire time, the bear he killed was Koda's mother herself.

Shocked and horrified at his actions, Kenai runs away in a fit of guilt, but Koda soon follows him. Crestfallen, Kenai confesses the truth to Koda, who runs away, grief-stricken. An apologetic Kenai leaves to reach the mountain. Meanwhile, Rutt and Tuke, having had a falling-out, reform their brotherhood in front of Koda, prompting him to forgive Kenai. On the mountain, Kenai is cornered by Denahi, but their battle is interrupted by Koda, who steals Denahi's spear. Kenai sacrifices himself for Koda, out of love, prompting Sitka to appear and turn him back into a human, much to Denahi and Koda's surprise. However, upon realizing that Koda needs him because of his own mistake, Kenai asks Sitka to transform him back into a bear with Denahi's support. Sitka complies, and Kenai is transformed back into a bear. Koda is reunited briefly with the spirit of his mother, before she and Sitka return to the spirit world. In the end, Kenai lives with the rest of the bears and gains his title as a man, through being a bear.

## Voice cast

* Joaquin Phoenix as Kenai, the younger brother of Sitka and Denahi. After he callously kills a bear, Kenai is turned into one himself to teach him to see through another's eyes, feel through another's heart, and discover the true meaning of brotherhood. John E. Hurst and Byron Howard served as the supervising animators for Kenai in human and bear form respectively.
* Jeremy Suarez as Koda, a cheeky grizzly bear cub who helps Kenai on his journey to where the Lights Touch the Earth. Alex Kupershmidt served as the supervising animator for Koda.
* Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as Rutt and Tuke, a comedic Canadian moose duo.
* Jason Raize as Denahi, the middle brother. This was Jason Raize's first and only film role before his death in 2004. Harold Gould provides narration from an older Denahi's point of view. Ruben A. Aquino served as the supervising animator for Denahi.
* D.B. Sweeney as Sitka, the oldest brother.
* Joan Copeland as Tanana, the shaman-woman of Kenai's tribe.
* Michael Clarke Duncan as Tug, a wise old grizzly bear.
* Greg Proops as Male Lover Bear
* Pauley Perrette as Female Lover Bear
* Estelle Harris as Old Lady Bear
* Darko Cesar as Foreign Croatian Bear
* Paul Christie and Danny Mastrogiorgio as Rams
* Bumper Robinson as Chipmunks
* Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley as Inuit Narrator

Additional vocals by Patrick Pinney, Bob Bergen, Rodger Bumpass, Roger Rose, Debi Derryberry, Randy Crenshaw, Phil Proctor, John Schwab, Bill Farmer, Pamela Adlon, Hope Levy, and Sherry Lynn.

## Production

### Development

Following the critical and commercial success of *The Lion King*, Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner urged for more animal-centric animated features, and suggested a North American backdrop, taking particular inspiration from an original landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt that he bought. To track the "king" idea, the hero would naturally be a bear, the king of the forest. At the time, the original idea, which was inspired by *King Lear*, centered around an old blind bear who traveled the forest with his three daughters. In 1997, veteran animator Aaron Blaise came on board the project as director because he "wanted to be attached so that [he] could animate bears", and was soon joined by co-director Robert Walker. Because Blaise desired a more naturalistic story, Blaise and producer Chuck Williams produced a two-page treatment of a father-son story in which the son is transformed into a bear, and in the end, remains a bear. Thomas Schumacher, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, approved the revised story and proclaimed, "This is the idea of the century." Tab Murphy, who had co-written the screenplays for *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*, *Tarzan* and *Atlantis: The Lost Empire*, came on board to write an early draft of the script.

After the project was green-lit, Blaise, Walker, and the story artists embarked on a research trip in August 1999 to visit Alaska where they traveled on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and Kodiak Island, as well as traveling through Denali National Park and the Kenai Fjords National Park, where they visited Exit and Holgate Glacier. A year later, the production team took additional research trips through the Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Sequoia National Park. Around 2000, the story evolved into a tale in which the transformed Kenai is taken in by an older bear, Grizz, who was to be voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan. However, Blaise explained that "we were struggling [with the story], trying to get some charm into the film. So we turned Grizz into a cub named Koda", who was voiced by Jeremy Suarez. Because Blaise, Walker, and Williams enjoyed Duncan's vocal performance, Tug, the de facto leader of the bears at the salmon run, was written into the film.

### Casting

In March 2001, Joaquin Phoenix confirmed he was cast in the film, exclaiming, "Oh, but forget the Oscar nomination (for *Gladiator*). The real pinnacle is that I'm playing an animated character in a Disney film. Isn't that the greatest? I play a Native American transformed into a bear. It's called *The Bears.* Don't call me a leading man. I don't care about that. I'm a leading bear. I am content!" After the filmmakers heard his audition tapes for *Finding Nemo*, Jeremy Suarez was cast as Koda.

Much like contemporary animated films where most of the cast members record their voices separately, Suarez and Phoenix voiced the roles separately, although they both did a recording session together at least two times. Voicing the moose brothers Rutt and Tuke, Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis performed simultaneously throughout the recording process. Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley, an associate professor who taught courses on Alaska Native philosophy at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, claimed he was never given a script, but was instead given "the dialogue that they had written, which was being told by a Native person". For the role as the Inuit Narrator, Kawagley translated the dialogue in written form into Yup'ik and faxed the translation back to the Disney studio. He later recorded his translation at an Anchorage studio while being videotaped for animation reference.

### Design and animation

The film is traditionally animated but includes some CG elements such as "a salmon run and a caribou stampede". Layout artist Armand Serrano, speaking about the drawing process on the film, said that "we had to do a life drawing session with live bear cubs and also outdoor drawing and painting sessions at Fort Wilderness in Florida three times a week for two months [...]". In 2001, Background supervisor Barry Kooser and his team traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and studied with Western landscape painter Scott Christensen, where they learned to: "simplify objects by getting the spatial dimensions to work first and working in the detail later."

According to Ruben Aquino, supervising animator for the character of Denahi, Denahi was originally meant to be Kenai's father; later this was changed to Kenai's brother. Byron Howard, supervising animator for Kenai in bear form, said that earlier in production a bear named Grizz (who resembles Tug in the film and is voiced by the same actor) was supposed to have the role of Kenai's mentor. Art Director Robh Ruppel stated that the ending of the film originally showed how Kenai and Denahi get together once a year to play when the northern lights are in the sky.

## Music

Main article: Brother Bear/Soundtrack

Following the success of the *Tarzan* soundtrack, Phil Collins was offered the opportunity to compose songs for *Brother Bear*, as well as let him "co-write the score". However, Collins explained, "Slowly, the bad news started to trickle down that I wouldn't be singing it all. It was a bit of a disappointment, because I [usually] write songs that I sing myself." While Collins composed six songs for the film, he shared vocal performance duties with Tina Turner, who had announced her retirement from touring and had not released an album since *Twenty Four Seven* in 1999, who had signed on to sing the opening song, as well as the Blind Boys Of Alabama and the Bulgarian Women's Choir, who performed the song, "Transformation". Collins's lyrics were translated into the Inuit Eskimo language for the performance, which was arranged by score co-composers Collins and Mark Mancina, and vocal arranger Eddie Jobson.

## Release

*Brother Bear* was originally slated for a spring 2004 release, while *Home on the Range* was scheduled for a 2003 release. However, Disney announced that *Brother Bear* would be released in fall 2003, while *Home on the Range* was pushed back for a spring 2004 release. Contrary to speculation, news writer Jim Hill stated the release date switch was not because *Home on the Range* was suffering from story rewrites, but to promote *Brother Bear* on the Platinum Edition release of *The Lion King*. On July 15, 2003, Disney announced that the release date would be moved up by one weekend from its previously scheduled slot of November 7, 2003. However, instead of opening on Halloween, the film would be released on Saturday, November 1, 2003.

On October 20, 2003, *Brother Bear* premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre where fellow attendees included New York Governor George Pataki and cast members Michael Clarke Duncan and Estelle Harris. Following the showing of the film, Collins performed "No Way Out" before introducing Tina Turner to the stage where she performed the opening song, "Great Spirits".

### Home media

Main article: Brother Bear/Home media

*Brother Bear* was released on VHS and two-disc DVD on March 30, 2004. The DVD release presented two versions of the film, the theatrical widescreen and an anamorphic presentation. Also, included on the DVD is a documentary on the production of the film, an audio commentary track by Rutt and Tuke with an option for visual mode, an artwork gallery narrated by the artists, three deleted scenes, outtakes, two games called "Find Your Totem" and "Bone Puzzle", and the "Fishing Song" performed by Phil Collins. The home video release brought in more than $167 million in DVD and VHS sales and rentals. In April 2004 alone, 5.51 million copies of the film were sold.

The film was released in a Blu-ray special edition combined with its sequel, *Brother Bear 2*, on March 12, 2013.

### Video game

*Disney's Brother Bear* games were released in November 2003 for Game Boy Advance, PC and mobile phones.

## Reception

### Critical reaction

The film received mostly mixed reviews from film critics, praising the film's animation but criticizing its story. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reported that 37% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 132 reviews with an average rating of 5.48/10. The site's consensus is "*Brother Bear* is gentle and pleasant if unremarkable Disney fare, with so-so animation and generic plotting." Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 48 based on 28 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."

On the syndicated television show *At the Movies*, film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper both gave the film positive reviews. Writing in his review for the *Chicago Sun-Times*, Ebert wrote the film "doesn't have the zowie factor of *The Lion King* or *Finding Nemo*, but is sweet rather than exciting. Children and their parents are likely to relate on completely different levels, the adults connecting with the transfer of souls from man to beast, while the kids are excited by the adventure stuff." *USA Today* film critic Claudia Puig gave the film three out of four stars praising the film for its "message of tolerance and respect for nature rings loud and clear. And family audiences are treated to a vibrantly hued movie with appealing characters." Writing for *Variety*, Todd McCarthy summarized that "*Brother Bear* is a very mild animated entry from Disney with a distinctly recycled feel [because] the film's characters and narrative simply fail to engage strong interest, and tale is probably too resolutely serious to enchant small fry in the way the better Disney titles always have." Kenneth Turan, reviewing for the *Los Angeles Times*, complemented "the richness and fluidity of its visuals" and the "satisfying ending", but derided that "*Brother Bear* has an appeal that can't be denied. Too often, however, this film's lack of a fresh dramatic approach and not its technique makes it difficult to embrace as much as we'd like to".

Of note to many critics and viewers was the use of the film's aspect ratio as a storytelling device. The film begins at a standard widescreen aspect ratio of 1.75:1 (similar to the 1.85:1 ratio common in U.S. cinema or the 1.78:1 ratio of HDTV), while Kenai is a human; in addition, the film's art direction and color scheme are grounded in realism. After Kenai transforms into a bear twenty-four minutes into the picture, the film itself transforms as well: to an anamorphic aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and towards brighter, more fanciful colors and slightly more caricatured art direction. *Brother Bear* was the first feature since *The Horse Whisperer* to do a widescreen shift. It was the only animated film to feature this technique, until *The Simpsons Movie* and *Enchanted* in 2007.

### Box office

In its limited release, *Brother Bear* played only in two selected theaters in Los Angeles, California and New York City, grossing $291,940 for a per-screen average of $145,970. The wide release followed on November 1, 2003 expanding to 3,030 theater venues, grossing $18.5 million opening second behind *Scary Movie 3* in the box office ranking. On its second wide weekend, the film continued its strong showing grossing $18.6 million against new competing films such as *Elf* and *The Matrix Revolutions*, collecting $44.1 million in three weeks. The film made $85,336,277 during its domestic theatrical run and then went on to earn $164,700,000 outside the United States, bringing its worldwide total to $250,383,219.

### Awards and nominations

The film was nominated at the 76th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, along with Sylvain Chomet's *The Triplets of Belleville*, but lost to another Walt Disney Pictures film, *Finding Nemo*.

## Legacy

The song "Welcome" written by Phil Collins was later used as the theme song for Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams during the Happiest Homecoming on Earth, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Disneyland. For the parade, the song had slightly changed lyrics and was performed by an ensemble.

## See also

* *Brother Bear 2* - the 2006 sequel
* List of Disney theatrical animated feature films