Brother Bear (2003)

User Review

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  TheMovieDiorama

  7 / 10

  Brother Bear is a colourful furry animation that lacks a mighty roar. It's extremely difficult for a well renowned animation studio to consistently pump out masterpieces, and instead opt to release lesser stories for artistic value. This film is exactly that. It gave Disney the opportunity to experiment with technical elements and still convey a meaningful message. Kenai's brother is killed by a bear, overcome with vengeance he seeks to kill the beast but in doing so transforms into his spirit animal in an attempt to be taught a valuable lesson. What lesson is that you might ask? Brotherhood. The title gives it away, let's be honest. It's a fairly formulaic narrative evoking themes of maturity and the importance of caring for nature but a consistently heartwarming story that boasts excellent character development. It's not an exciting spectacle, the fact that it knows it's a lesser production enables the animation studio to play around with the plot's structure. Nearly two thirds of the film is just Kenai and Koda communicating as they bond through Kenai's new beastly perspective, that in itself creates memorable characters. Forming a brotherly bond between the two was enough to carry the moral of the story, and it does so with elegance. The animation was exquisite and I loved the experimentation of the widescreen shift. When Kenai is human, the aspect ratio begins at 1.75:1 but as soon as he transforms it increases to 2.35:1 and the colour palette becomes brighter watercolours. This shift illuminates the screen and portrays Earth's natural beauty when viewed innocently. Technically this animation is glorious, it's just a shame the story is told very heavy handedly. Its basic and feels unmemorable despite some interesting and humorous characters embedded within. I also desired more intrigue from the Inuit culture, I found the spirit animal tradition to be interesting but it left me wanting more. Lastly, the musical numbers honestly didn't fit...even if it was Phil Collins singing in the background. Overall though, Brother Bear was a tender yet basic animation.

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