Bear (The Fox and the Hound)

## Character information

### Personality

Bad-tempered, vicious, ruthless, aggressive, dangerous, extremely violent, cruel, protective, territorial, bloodthirsty, ferocious, brutal, fierce, wild, powerful, and harsh

### Fate

Falls down a waterfall to his death.

**The Bear** is the final antagonist of Disney's 1981 animated feature film, *The Fox and the Hound*. He is a giant bear with black fur and red eyes. He does not tolerate intruders or trespassers, who enter his territory, and will kill them if they do so, but is accidentally awakened by Amos Slade and Copper, who are looking for Tod and Vixey.

## Background

### Personality

The Bear is extremely violent, ruthless, and highly territorial. He does not tolerate trespassers and if they cross into his territory or attack him in any way, he will not hesitate to kill them.

### Physical Description

The Bear is a gigantic and burly animal with black fur and red eyes. He is likely a melanistic grizzly or Kodiak bear.

## Appearances

### *The Fox and the Hound*

The Bear first appears after he is accidentally awakened by Amos Slade and Copper, who were trespassing in the woods while looking for Tod and Vixey. He awakens in a rage and towers over them. In a panic, Amos shoots at the Bear, but the bullet only grazes the Bear's shoulder, causing him to growl in pain, and anger him further. He lumbers forward, and swipes at Amos, but ends up causing the alarmed hunter to tumble down a hillside, lose his hat in the procress, and drop his gun just out of his reach, and now continues to pursue him.

While trying to escape from the Bear, Amos, in fear, starts walking backward, and has got his foot caught in one of his own steel traps, while his gun has landed on a small tree, slightly out of his reach. As the Bear encroaches on the injured and terrified hunter, Copper bravely attempts to protect his master and attacks the Bear. But despite being smaller and more agile, he is soon easily overpowered and beaten in a very vicious and brutal fight, yelping in pain. Tod hears Copper's yelping echo, turns and is horrified to see his childhood friend nearly getting killed.

Against his better judgment, Tod quickly runs back to save his friend. As the Bear prepares for a final blow on the wounded Copper, Tod leaps onto his back and bites his ear, making the Bear turn his attention toward Tod. Biting and scratching wildly, Tod is able to lead the Bear away from Amos and Copper. Eventually, he manages to lead the Bear onto a log protruding over a huge waterfall. While Tod hangs for dear life, the Bear attempts to deliver the final blow, but the log breaks under his weight, sending them both plummeting down the waterfall several meters below. Tod survives while the bear most likely drowns and gets washed away by the rapids.

## Trivia

* The Bear's roars, snarls, and growls are the same as Brutus and Nero from *The Rescuers* and Shere Khan from *The Jungle Book*.
* When Amos shoots him in the shoulder, blood is shown. When Copper bites the Bear on the muzzle, blood is shown on the right side as well. This is one of the film's controversial points.
* The Bear was animated by Glen Keane. John Lasseter, Mark Henn, and Henry Selick did work on him since he was being trained under Keane and Eric Larson. Selick would later become the director of films such as *The Nightmare Before Christmas* and *James and the Giant Peach*.
* The Bear's design may have been the original inspiration for that of Mor'du, the villain of Disney/Pixar's film *Brave*.
* Due to the color of his fur, the Bear is often presumed to be an American black bear. But judging by his size and aggressive behavior towards trespassers and the visible shoulder hump, he is a grizzly with, for some reason, black fur (probably a melanistic grizzly bear).
* Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, provided the Bear's roars and snarls, while Jimmy MacDonald provided the growls, despite neither being credited. Aside from this, the Bear is the only forest animal character in the movie who doesn't speak a word of English.

## Gallery

The Bear's first appearanceRearing up as a warning to the intruders in his territory.The Bear is grumpyThe Bear gets shot in the shoulder by Amos Slade's gunThe Bear roars in pain.The Bear really angry nowThe Bear lets out a deep growl and steps toward the alarmed hunterThe Bear goes in pursuit.Amos is caught in one of his own steel traps as the Bear reaches him.The Bear and Copper in confrontationCopper leaps at the bear and bites into his neck.The Bear swipes Copper away.The Bear slashed in the snout by Copper.The Bear forcefully swats Copper.The growling Bear circles around the wounded CopperThe Bear approaches Copper.The Bear prepares for the final blow to kill Copper......until Tod comes to the rescueThe Bear bitten on his right ear by TodThe Bear roars in pain as Tod bites and pulls on his ear.The Bear vainly trying to shake Tod offThe Bear chases after Tod.The Bear swipes his paw at TodThe Bear tries to bite Tod but missesThe bear continues chasing Tod up a cliff.The Bear swats Tod with his left pawTod biting the Bear againThe Bear roars in pain as Tod continues biting himThe Bear fed up with Tod biting him.The Bear swats Tod with his paw, sending him onto an old log.The bear emerges out of the mist and onto the log.The snarling bear climbs onto the old log.The log shakes under the Bear's weight as he stalks closer to Tod.The Bear's fierce lookThe Bear corners Tod.The Bear raises his paw to kill Tod on his final attack......only for the log to break and send both of them plunging several dozen meters down the waterfall.The Bear plummeting to his watery grave.