Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Brother Bear
Buena Vista Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures


7.1

based on 28 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: G for General Audiences

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Jason Raize, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, D.B. Sweeney, Joan Copeland, and Michael Clarke Duncan

The powerful and playful bond between brothers, and man's bond with nature, are explored with great drama and comedy in this exciting new animated tale of brotherhood, bears and breathtaking outdoor adventure. (Walt Disney Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Adventure \| Animation \| Family/Kids \| Fantasy
WRITTEN BY:	Steve Bencich Ron J. Friedman Broose Johnson (story)
DIRECTED BY:	Aaron Blaise Robert Walker
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 30, 2004 Video: March 30, 2004 Theatrical: October 24, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

A sweet celebration of brotherhood in its many forms. It gently encourages human communion with animals, nature and our fellow man.

Premiere Susannah Gora

While not a masterpiece along the lines of "The Lion King," and not a super-smart witticism-fest like "Lilo and Stitch," Brother Bear is deeply heartfelt, touching, and beautiful.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The end result is a pleasant experience that is more appropriate for families than for adults unaccompanied by young offspring.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Although the story has more than a little Lion King deja vu-doo going for it, Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix) is likable as both a man, and then a bear.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Sweet rather than exciting.

San Francisco Chronicle C.W. Nevius

It is bearable, in every sense of the word, and that's worth something for parents looking for G-rated entertainment.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

Predictable? Yes. Corny? Sure. But Brother Bear is still good, family fun.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A playful movie that celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a smooth blend of drama and comedy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Has an unforced, pleasingly New Age feel to it; an unexpected but satisfying ending (a la "Shrek"); and a script that -- despite its overdone, body-switching premise -- comes together to nicely convey a cogent, environmentally conscious moral lesson.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Does have a satisfying ending and it's nice to see a G-rated film without bathroom humor, but there is too much formula and not enough reason to pay attention here.

Empire Natasha Aitken

At times is heartbreakingly sad -- maybe not quite Bambi territory, but certainly moving in its own cute and furry way.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A very mild animated entry from Disney with a distinctly recycled feel.

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

Mark it: Phil Collins officially has nothing more to teach us. The tunes he's composed for Brother Bear are so generic, they're modular.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Though Brother Bear is as beautiful as any of Disney's hand-drawn features, the gang-written script is deadly flat.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

All the old Disney trademarks are here, except the wit and surprise that were once the studio's stock in trade. There's little appeal to grownups, but kids should enjoy it.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

This opulent movie, with gorgeous rainbow animation, is heavy on message but light on humor.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

There's something vanilla about the whole enterprise, from the one-size-fits-all spiritualism to Phil Collins' generic world-music songs.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

The oddest movie to come out of Disney since Herbie ran out of gas in Monte Carlo, Brother Bear is a cartoon about a boy who becomes a man by learning how to be a bear.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Fortunately the film's humor kicks in with McKenzie Brothers Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas stealing the show as a dopey pair of moose. Could've done without Phil Collins's generic, annoying tunes.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

After the box-office failures of "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Treasure Planet," I wonder whether Brother Bear might not be the last traditional bit of Disney animation for a while.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Blaise and Walker cleverly widen the aspect ratio as the hero's consciousness changes and make some lovely pictures of the northern lights, but the atrocious Phil Collins score (with a vocal by Tina Turner) filled me with evil spirits.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Unfortunately, Brother Bear doesn't offer much to marvel at beyond its animation.

TV Guide Angel Cohn

While the hand-drawn animation is visually appealing, the story is completely predictable and Phil Collins's music lacks the impact of his Oscar-winning "Tarzan" tunes.

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

Tykes may giggle at the Rick Moranis/Dave Thomas–voiced moose, but there's little for adults.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

An uninspired recycling of themes that were far more gripping in "The Lion King" and countless other earlier Mouse House classics.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Lackluster in narrative and in no way original or innovative, the movie is pretty much generic Disney, a film about universal brotherhood stitched together from parts that worked better in other films.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Today's street-smart moviegoing kids don't need to be so shamelessly pandered to.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

The characters are mechanisms who move along the plot arc from Point A to Point B. They’re not particularly memorable individuals.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jared C gave it a0:
This animated movie is special, its unexpected, mysterious, and interesting. A very appealing movie with hysterical humor. But disappointing as it is, a too short of a film, and a little bit of a weirdo (because it doesn't ever try in anything to make a good movie), it just happens, the movie is the movie. But for my eye, it isn't good enough, I found it a huge letdown for I, myself, and its reputation.

Tony M. gave it a 10:
This Waz One OF The Best Movies Ive Seen This Year I Think It Shows Alot About Brother Hood And That it is so cute how kenai then best bear in the intire world is so cute his fur and eveything is just so cute about him And Koda to waz also one of the cutest things in the whole world Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Suarez r two of the best chracters in the whole intire world they just did a good job over the bears voices.

Zu Xian T. gave it a 9:
A great show for family to watch... a pure and dramatic show which shows you brotherhood would be like... we muz learn to forgive and forget to make peace in the world... i really loves this show as it was damn touching and funny too.

K. C. gave it a 10:
Wonderful movie for the entire family. Don't believe the critics ratings. How many of them took their family to the movie?

Jackie gave it a 10:
This movie was adorable. I was watching it on a field trip. And it shows you are what you are. Koda was adorable.

Rita B. gave it a 10:
I love this movie! It's the cutest movie in the world! 10 thumbs up :)

John C. gave it a 2:
Cute, ahh cute. nonthing at all original. disney trying to teach us once again the ways of some unknown people and i know they mean well, wait it is disney no i don't, but i feel like they are shoveling bs into us and probably over simplifing something a lot more complex. at the end of the day though the movie is cute.

Brother Bear Buena Vista Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures

Brother Bear
Buena Vista Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures