In a time of pointless cartoon movies (Atlantis, Spirit,
Sinbad), Brother Bear is a welcome throwback
to the Disney classics of old. Coming to DVD as a 2-disc special edition,
Brother Bear brings home plenty of fun and games, as well as lessons
learned.
After an unfortunate accident, Kenai, an angry young boy, decides to take his
vengeance out on a bear. Sworn to his tribe with the bear idol for love, Kenai
is transformed into a bear to learn his role. Early in his Bear journey, Kenai
meets up with a lost cub named Koda. In exchange for protection along his way
to the “salmon run”, Koda agrees to bring Kenai to where the light
touches the mountain, a place where he must go to regain his human form. Throughout
their adventure, Kenai must learn understanding and love for the animals he
considered his sworn enemy so he can take his rightful place amongst the men
of his tribe.
The animation may not be as great as CGI, but Brother Bear
makes up for that in plot, humor, and dare I say…music? I’m not
exactly a big fan of Phil Collins and Tina Turner, but their music adds a great
deal to the movie. I’m not going to run out and buy the sing along songs
DVD, but the music is catchy and works well in the movie.
Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas lend their voices to the comical moose Rutt and
Tuke. Mimicking their overly Canadian accents from Strange Brew (to which a
subtle reference is made as they exit the screen for the final time), the duo
add to the already decent amount of comedy in the film.
As a 2-disc DVD, Brother Bear comes with two versions of the
film (family friendly and original theatrical aspect ratio) as well as the following
special features:
Disc 1:
- “Rutt and Tukes Commentary”: Easily the best characters to use
for a commentary, the two moose are very enjoyable. Although it is very funny,
I question whether or not kids would desire listening to a commentary throughout
the entire movie.
- “Koda’s Outtakes”: Although scripted like all cartoon outtakes,
many of these are very funny. I think any kid would be happy to watch these.
- “Bone Puzzle”: A game where you put bone pieces together in a
puzzle fashion to create a part of an animal. Once completed you hear some interesting
facts about the animal you have just created. The game itself is OK, but the
animal lessons make this a much more valuable experience.
- “Find Your Totem”: Answer a series of questions, and like Kenai,
you can find out which totem matches your personality. This was very interesting
to play, and at least for me, I think my totem is a good match.
- “Bear Legends”: a series of hieroglyphic style tales about bears.
These might work as a bedtime story, but I found them to be awfully boring.
- “Making Noise: The Art of Foley”: A featurette on the creation
of the sound effects from Brother Bear. If you have never seen how the art of
Foley works, then you really should watch this feature. I find it simply amazing
the imagination and items these people use to create these sound effects.
- “Art Review”: A featurette on all the background research and
development that went into the animation for the movie. This was an interesting
feature, but I find it highly unlikely that any kid would seriously care.
- Other disc 1 special features include “Look Through My Eyes: Music Video”
and “On My Way: Sing Along Song”.
Disc 2:
- “The Making of Brother Bear”: This feature drags on a lot and
ends up at over 45 minutes! I couldn’t handle watching the entire feature,
and I doubt most kids could either.
- “Deleted Scenes”: A set of typical, unanimated scenes that were
rightfully left out of the movie…except for one. I think Muri the squirrel
could have added another comical element to the movie.
- “Fishing Song”: Altered for the movie, this original song introduces
the “salmon run” and how the bears taught Kenai how to fish. The
edited song used was good, so this song is really nothing special.
- “Transformation Song”: A song that was going to be played when
Kenai turns into a bear, it was written by Phil Collins and translated into
Inuit. The translated lyrics were sung by a Bulgarian Choir. Check it out.
Brother Bear is a nice return for Disney to the moral driven
cartoons that used to be the backbone of the movie studios. Lessons about prejudice
and stereotyping come across in the form of misunderstanding an animal, but
the message is apparent. Also mixed in is some decent music and comedy. While
Brother Bear will not find itself amongst the best of all time,
it is one of the better cartoons Disney has released lately. My final verdict:
Brother Bear is a feel good movie for the entire family with
a good mix of story, music and comedy. The DVD brings extra value with its special
features, making this a should-own DVD for any family with young kids.
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