Brother Bear (2003)

Let's continue to the next film in the Disney Canon, Brother Bear.

The Movie:

Brother Bear is the 44th movie in the Disney Animated Canon.  Following the success of The Lion King, Disney CEO Michael Eisner pushed for more animated movies featuring animals.  This push eventually led to Brother Bear.  It was originally slated to be released in 2004 with Home on the Range opening in 2003, but the two were switched so that Brother Bear could be promoted on the Platinum Edition home video release of The Lion King.  Brother Bear had a rare Saturday release date, opening on November 1 instead of the day before, which was Halloween.  It was also the first animated movie to switch aspect ratios in the middle of the film, switching from 1.75:1 to 2.35:1 at the end of the first act.  Brother Bear received mixed-to-poor reviews, ending up as one of Disney's lowest rated films, and it was only moderately successful at the box-office.

Brother Bear is set in Alaska during the post-Ice Age prehistoric times.  Kenai is the youngest of three brothers in an Inuit tribe, and he is disappointed when his totem, representing what he needs in order to become a man, is the bear of love.  When an actual bear steals some salmon, Kenai tracks down the bear, but his brothers come to rescue him, and his oldest brother Sitka dies.  To avenge his brother, Kenai finds the bear and kills it, but the Spirits in turn transform him into a bear.  Kenai's other brother Denahi arrives, and thinking that Kenai was killed by the bear, Denahi attacks, not realizing the bear is Kenai.  Kenai runs away, coming across the cub Koda, who is looking for his mother.  Kenai journeys to find the place he can become human again, while learning to take care of his new little brother.

Brother Bear is a bit of a mess.  Like many Disney films, it tries to find the right balance of drama and comedy, however here it comes across like two different movies.  It doesn't help that the animation is beautiful and grand, and the first act is very dramatic and heavy, so by the time the comedy arrives in the second act, it just seems out of place.  Plus, most of the animal characters are super annoying.  Koda is annoying.  The moose are annoying.  Plus, the whole second act is about Kenai learning to be a brother to Koda, but the pace is so slow that it really doesn't work.  For a movie trying to be another epic, the middle of Brother Bear just fails.

Coming off their success in Tarzan, Phil Collins and Mark Macina return to score Brother Bear, with Phil Collins once again providing songs.  The score is fine, and most of the songs are ok.  However, it seems a little odd that Tina Turner is brought in to sing one of them, "Great Spirits."  It's most definitely a Phil Collins song, and it doesn't sound right with a different voice.  It's a bit more understandable that a couple of the songs are done as choral numbers, though the choice of the Bulgarian Women's Choir for "Transformation" seems odd since the movie is set in Alaska.  The best numbers are when Phil gets to do his thing.  "No Way Out" is considered the theme song of the movie, and it is used twice, once during a critical dramatic scene and once over the credits.  Some people say the song ruins the drama of that scene, but by that point in the movie I had stopped caring, so its hard for me to say.  For my money, the best song in the movie is "Look Through My Eyes," the first credits song.

Also, be aware that if you are watching Brother Bear on home video, the first 24 minutes are going to appear as if the movie isn't completely zoomed in.  This is due to the changing aspect ratio mentioned above, so at that point the movie will expand to the sides and you will have a more traditional letterbox effect.

Presence in the Parks:

Brother Bear has two rather interesting connections to the parks.  First, it was the last movie animated by Walt Disney Animation Florida at MGM Studios.  Second, the song "Welcome" was used as the opening song of the Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams which ran at Disneyland from 2005 to 2008.