Bärenjunge

***Bärenjunge*** is a Dingo Pictures film released in 2004. The film is notable for containing Dingo Pictures' first use of CGI.

## Bärenjunge

### Knock-off of

*Brother Bear* (Walt Disney Pictures, 2003)

### Starring

Hanna Kandler
Ludwig Ickert
Simone Greiss

## Plot

Yutu is a young Inuit boy with a rebellious spirit. The leader of his tribe, Kallik, is unable to control his feistiness and often compares him to a wild bear. One cold night, shadows of Yutu's ancestors appear in the Northern Lights and take the forms of animals. Descending to earth, they turn Yutu into a bear cub. Awaking in a panic as to what he has become, Yutu runs away.

Out in the wilderness, Yutu meets two moose, Denkshi and Matowa. As thanks for helping them retrieve some hard-to-reach food, they take up the bear cub's request to seek out the next mountain the Northern Lights will appear at. While on the way, stopping to rest in a clearing, Yutu meets another, female bear cub named Nanouk who instantly takes a shine to Yutu, thinking that he's been a bear cub all his life.

Meanwhile, Kallik sets out a search party for Yutu, after noticing bear pawprints leading away from their tribe's home. Even though the other members of the tribe believe that the kid couldn't survive a bear attack, Kallik's experiences with Yutu lead him to believe otherwise. As such, he sets off searching for every bear pawprint he can find, using Inuit tracking methods.

Arriving at the base of the mountain destination, Yutu starts to have doubts about wanting to be human again and confides in Denkshi about it, who tells him that he should do what his heart wishes. Accompanied by Nanouk, the bear cub climbs the mountain and reaches its summit just as the Northern Lights arrive. Kallik arrives at the base a few seconds later, but Denkshi and Matowa, mistaking him for a rogue hunter, attack him. The Inuit barely escapes and starts climbing.

As Nanouk watches, Yutu's ancestors appear in the Northern Lights once again, and transform the cub back into the boy he was before. Kallik reaches the summit as soon as the Lights disappear, and becomes overwhelmed with emotion upon seeing Yutu alive and well. Just as the two are about to leave, Yutu spots Nanouk crying to herself. He feels remorse and goes over to her, but she won't look at him. Seeing exactly what's going on, Kallik decides that Yutu's destiny was being a bear after all. Together with the search party, they take part in an Inuit prayer to summon the ancestors back one last time, and with their power combined, the Lights briefly return to turn Yutu back into a bear cub. The movie ends with Yutu and Nanouk riding on top of Denkshi and Matowa towards a giant lake filled with salmon.

## Cast

* Hanna Kandler as Yutu, Inuit #2
* Ludwig Ickert as Kallik
* Simone Greiss as Nanouk, Inuit #4
* Georg Feils as Denkshi, Inuit #1
* Armin Drogat as Matowa, Inuit #3
* Klaus Mueller as Inuit #5

## Trivia

* *Bärenjunge* contains Dingo Pictures' first ever use of CGI, used for the Northern Lights.
* In the original German dub, Denkshi and Matowa speak with a Frisian dialect.
* Various background character's designs are reused from *Eiskalt*.