Brother Bear

Name: Brother Bear
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Family
Released: October 24, 2003
Duration: 85 min
Rating: 48
Cast: Jeremy Suarez, Joaquin Phoenix, Rick Moranis

2003

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 87 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 87 Ratings

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Brother Bear

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Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: October 24, 2003

Starring: Jeremy Suarez, Joaquin Phoenix, Rick Moranis

Summary: 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]

Director: Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker

Genre(s): Adventure, Fantasy, Animation, Family

Rating: G

Runtime: 85 min

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Awards & Rankings

55	#55 Most Discussed Movie of 2003
54	#54 Most Shared Movie of 2003

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

The New York Times - Stephen Holden

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

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

Halozone16

Sep 24, 2011

This is the great movie whe i was child, but sometimes is simmilar to the other movies.
But is funny, beautiful the forest, and drama. Well is short than the others disney movies, but great.

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

sil3nt_nick

Mar 27, 2013

Great tale of a boy learning the ways of the wild bear after he kills one, avenging his brother's death. He learns throughout the film about the bear's point of view, accompanied by a young bear named Koda.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

PaulaW.

Nov 12, 2003

The poor reviews are hard to understand. Brother Bear is a kid's movie, and as a kid's movie it is great. It's got endearing characters, lots of cute animals, and gorgeously animated scenery. The moose provide comic relief, and the moral of the story is a nice lesson about The poor reviews are hard to understand. Brother Bear is a kid's movie, and as a kid's movie it is great. It's got endearing characters, lots of cute animals, and gorgeously animated scenery. The moose provide comic relief, and the moral of the story is a nice lesson about maturity. Just one caveat: the hunting scenes were a little too intense for the 27-month old who saw it with me, even though there is no actual gore. Oh, and the Phil Collins songs are skippable. I actually enjoyed this more than The Lion King, which to me seemed to be trying too hard to bring the adults in with a story that nevertheless remains kiddie-level. I also liked it better than Shrek, which just annoyed me with its precocious attempt at hipness. It was more heartwarming and aesthetically pleasing than Ice Age. It didn't have the clever charm of Lilo and Stitch, but I don't think kids really need that. There's plenty of time for cleverness and snark later in life. Let kids be kids - take them to see Brother Bear. … Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful

MovieLonely94

Oct 23, 2010

it wasn't the best disney movie when it was overshadowed by Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo, but this movie was pretty much worth a try.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MrMovieBuff

Mar 22, 2016

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The best Disney films are the anthropomorphic ones, in other words, the ones where the animals are the main focus of a story. We see this in such classics like; 'Bambi' (1942), 'Lady and the Tramp' (1955), and 'The Lion King' (1994), and in 2003, Disney decides to tackle it again in 'Brother Bear'.

What the movie focuses on is a young man named Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix) who, along with his older brothers; Denahi (Jason Raize) and Sitka (D.B. Sweeny) try to achieve their goals and get their rewards. Kenai is hoping to receive his totem, a necklace that is shaped like an animal, and what the animal represents can differ. The bear, which is the one he receives, means love, and he is dismayed at this as his brother, Denahi, teases him constantly about getting such a non-masculine totem.

Kenai wants to prove himself, but ends up coming across an incident with a vicious looking bear. The eldest brother, Sitka, decides to sacrifice himself to save his two brothers from the vicious animal. The bear escapes, and the leaves the two brothers to feel guilty. But Kenai isn't done yet, he decides to search for the bear, and kill it there and then so he can mourn for the death of his brother.

Little does Kenai know that after he slaughters the bear, the lights that touch the mountain where he was standing on that contain the spirits of the dead, including his oldest brother, Sitka, decide to transform him into a bear as some form of punishment. It is one of those stories where we see our main hero attempting to learn his lesson the hard way, and realize that what he is doing, or what he has done, is wrong.

Kenai, now transformed into a bear, ends up coming across a little bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez), and they agree to help each other find the lights and head back up to the mountain. We learn about Koda's story and how he and his mother were separated, and now he must feel it is his time to find her. We also learn that, later, Kenai is the one responsible for Koda's mother's death which is what transformed him into a bear in the first place. This is an effective twist as it may catch the viewer off guard, but can also be a little predictable given how many times you have seen this story told in the past.

At the end, Kenai does reach the mountain with Denahi present, as he believes that he is the bear that killed Kenai. The lights touch Kenai and transforms him back into human, however, he decides that it is best to become a bear as he has grown to become fond of little Koda.

The ending here, for me, is extremely flawed and incredibly rushed, the fact that we were rooting for this character to become human within the first two acts of the movie, and then decides that he should stay as a bear due to the fact that he feels guilty for the mother Bear's death seemed odd.

The music here is good though, it has that "Lion King" vibe to it which is nice to listen to on an adventure like this. The songs by Phil Collins are also good, though, given that this is supposed to be a musical, none of the characters sing, and it is mainly in the background which seems a little off. There is this one scene, in particular, where a guilty Kenai (as a bear) confesses to Koda about what happened to his mother, but all we get is the camera spiraling around the two characters as he tells the story, with Phil Collins singing in the background. I understand what Disney was trying to do there, crafting an emotional scene only through facial expressions and music, but it didn't quite work as well as expected.

Overall, 'Brother Bear' is mediocre Disney fare, it isn't a great Disney film like; 'Beauty and the Beast' (1991) (my absolute favorite), 'The Lion King' (1994), or 'Mulan' (1998), but it's still something for the kids to enjoy. As a child however, I don't remember enjoying this movie as much as the others I listed, and even as an adult, it still doesn't agree with me. It's not that this is a bad film, it's just, the story could have been told more effectively without depending too much on the visuals and the music.

Speaking of visuals, they are marvelous, the landscapes and colorful backgrounds do prove to be eye-candy, especially in 2D animation, since 3D animation was making its way into mainstream films with Pixar leading the way in innovation.

'Brother Bear' tells a good story, the execution needed some tweaking here and there, we could've been looking at the next 'Lion King'.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FranzHcritic

Jul 7, 2014

I vaguely remember watching this movie when it came out. I remember sweetness, but also very cynical and now, after re-watching it, I could easily picture out how the film would finish and I even found the most tragic scenes hard not to fall asleep to.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

JaredC

Jul 30, 2007

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, 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.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

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