DVDizzy Forum

I really like Brother Bear too - and I was surprised I did! You should really check it out. The story is touching, the art is beautiful, and I like the songs.

I love Brother Bear! I think that it's a really sweet story- it defintely has a great mix of heart and humor. I get teary eyed whenever I watch it, but I also laugh a lot. The animation and backgrounds are wonderful, and I really enjoy the music. I highly recommend it!

blackcauldron85 wrote:I love Brother Bear! I think that it's a really sweet story- it defintely has a great mix of heart and humor. I get teary eyed whenever I watch it, but I also laugh a lot. The animation and backgrounds are wonderful, and I really enjoy the music. I highly recommend it!

I couldn't agree more.

By the way, I noticed that many people who liked "The Lion King" have a strong dislike for "Brother Bear" and vice versa - those who hated "The Lion King" love "Brother Bear" (like myself).

I really don't like Brother Bear, it does nothing for me at all. I just find the moose annoying as hell! I'm not a massive fan of the lion king though, but I think I'm just not as enthusiastic about the animal based classics, as the human ones.

Enchantress wrote:I'm just not as enthusiastic about the animal based classics, as the human ones.

My feelings exactly. I prefer Brother Bear to the Lion King but i do not really care about either really. I always have preferred human vs animal stories because i find that i can relate more to the human ones. For me the 3d animation generation is especially frustrating since i prefer not only 2d to 3d but human to animal movies and lately there has been a plethora of annoying 3d animal movies. I'm now scouring the Internet and my local DVD stores to find any 2d animated movies that i haven't seen (mostly European) but i haven't had much luck. If you know a site where i can watch or download 2d European flicks let me know, i would really appreciated it. I recently watched Kirikou et la Sorcière and i loved it!

^reach into the world of anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game
Whisper of the Heart
Howl's Moving Castle
Paprika
Evangelion 1:1 You Are (Not) Alone
Voices of a Distant Star

All extremely high quality films in terms of animation and story. Why? Japan doesn't view animation as child's play.

yukitora wrote:^reach into the world of anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game
Whisper of the Heart
Howl's Moving Castle
Paprika
Evangelion 1:1 You Are (Not) Alone
Voices of a Distant Star

All extremely high quality films in terms of animation and story. Why? Japan doesn't view animation as child's play.

I already have. I didn't mention anime because it's so easy to find and plenty to chose from.

yukitora wrote:^reach into the world of anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game
Whisper of the Heart
Howl's Moving Castle
Paprika
Evangelion 1:1 You Are (Not) Alone
Voices of a Distant Star

All extremely high quality films in terms of animation and story. Why? Japan doesn't view animation as child's play.

I don't quite like the animation in anime....

The_Iceflash wrote:

yukitora wrote:^reach into the world of anime.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure: Our War Game
Whisper of the Heart
Howl's Moving Castle
Paprika
Evangelion 1:1 You Are (Not) Alone
Voices of a Distant Star

All extremely high quality films in terms of animation and story. Why? Japan doesn't view animation as child's play.

I don't quite like the animation in anime....

I've seen Paprika and I own Howl's moving Castle along with Spirited Away. I've also seen Grave of the fireflies So sad, not a story for Disney to adapt.

Lucklily the films I mentioned don't have the typical Anime style of characters with "Big round eyes, small pointed nose and chin" (oh wait, I think that's called Manga). I don't like that either. They all look alike and rather weird. I prefer the Disney style to that!

About Brother Bear I owe it, but I think it's overall a dissapointing movie that missed several opportunities at good storytelling. I think that most Disney movies have more heart and humor than this one.

Although Brother Bear's story does have elements from previous Disney films, I don't think it degrades it. I find the characterizations interesting and the story inspired. The whole plot about the three brothers and the eventual revelation scene as well as the use of aspect ratio and colour toning as a storytelling device works very well.

The animation is beautiful, and I like the way how nature itself is given room in the film as we see grand vistas that are full of life. As for the songs and score, they aren't as good as Tarzan's (the previous collaboration of Collins and Mancina), but I still like it. The songs do have heart and some of them are quite memorable, and the score manages to pull off decent ethnic touches with some great choral and percussion stuff blended into the tracks.

Brother Bear may not be the best Disney film, but it's definitely not the worst. As long as you don't have too high expectations, it's worth a watch. I'm one of the people who liked it and considers it a hidden gem in Disney's animated canon.

The biggest thing that keeps me from liking this film is the script/voice acting. I really think nearly every character was miscast, and could've been better off if done by less annoying/more interesting voices. The plot is also mostly a re-hash and I really thought they handled the spirituality of the film horribly. Still, the backgrounds are beautiful (though the character designs range from the ugly--Kenai as a bear--to the boring/interchangeable--the brothers).

But it's funny that so many people hated the mooses (?), because they were the only slightly entertaining part of the film for me.

Overall, yes, I do think TLK is the better film if you were to compare the two.

I haven't seen Brother Bear in a while, but i thought it was a disappointment.

Also, I think the trailer was contradicting of itself. It spent all that time trying to make the movie look like something big and epic, and then cut to the title, "Brother Bear". What's up with that?

Oh man, the choir during the transformation sequence nearly brings me to tears every time o_o

And I love both Brother Bear and The Lion King, but maybe because I have more of a fetish for animated animal features

God, I don't know what half of the people here actually do when they what movies, but I swear half of you don't have your brains switched on.

Whilst not being a perfect film, Brother Bear's story and character relationships are quite possibly the most unique and and daring of any Disney film there is. I mean come on, Brother Bear is the only Disney movie where the villain and the protagonist are the same character!

I genuinely don't see how anyone could be moronic enough to call it a knock off of other Disney films.

mooky_7_sa wrote:
By the way, I noticed that many people who liked "The Lion King" have a strong dislike for "Brother Bear" and vice versa - those who hated "The Lion King" love "Brother Bear" (like myself).

I like them both, because this are the only 2 classics that make me cry everytime I watch them.
I was really surprised that I liked it, it didn't attract me at first, but I loved how mature the film was and the story is just haunting.
I did hate the mooses though.

Now this is what I call a bump.

As for my thoughts on Brother Bear, I haven't seen it in about four years now. I think that I ought to revisit soon, perhaps. I remember really liking it though (the animation and the Boreal setting seemed to appeal to me in particular), and from what I remember, the DVD (the Region 1 that is, since nearly all the Region 2 ones use the crappy cropped-so-as-not-to-confuse-kiddies-when-the-aspect-ratio-changes version only ) had some pleasant bonus features, even if they weren't exactly the quality of a platinum edition or a normal 2 Disc DVD.

ichabod wrote:God, I don't know what half of the people here actually do when they what movies, but I swear half of you don't have your brains switched on.

Whilst not being a perfect film, Brother Bear's story and character relationships are quite possibly the most unique and and daring of any Disney film there is. I mean come on, Brother Bear is the only Disney movie where the villain and the protagonist are the same character!

I genuinely don't see how anyone could be moronic enough to call it a knock off of other Disney films.

Ichabod,

You don't have to resort to insult to make a point.
Sure the story is unique, but I do not think it's properly worked out. That's what makes it unsatisfying for me.

I think the problem with the moose was the fact that they were based on a fairly obscure comedy sketch and unless you got the reference they might come off as annoying.

I don't care for the songs, and while the story may be "unique" it just wasn't all that interesting. The whole movie was a let down for sure.

ichabod wrote:God, I don't know what half of the people here actually do when they what movies, but I swear half of you don't have your brains switched on.

Whilst not being a perfect film, Brother Bear's story and character relationships are quite possibly the most unique and and daring of any Disney film there is. I mean come on, Brother Bear is the only Disney movie where the villain and the protagonist are the same character!

Kenai is never a "villain", he's a boy transformed into an animal and informed by a woman he has been cursed because of the wrong he's done and now he must do penance and become a man and learn the power of love. Hmm...what does that remind you of? You mean, like, oh, I don't know...the Beast in Beauty and the Beast?

You call people "moron" and you hang yourself on your own pitard.

Bebopgroove wrote:Oh man, the choir during the transformation sequence nearly brings me to tears every time o_o

Yeah. Many fantastic transformation scenes tend to get great songs or score tracks playing, and I just like the overall thematic development of these scenes.

I'm somewhat disappointed that Collins's and Mancina's teamwork didn't turn out to be as good as in Tarzan, but I nevertheless like their work on Brother Bear. There are some interesting and touching leitmotifs going on in the background, and the overall tribal feel of the score with its ethnic choirs and instruments does bring an air of credibility to the music and the setting it takes place in.

As for the villain stuff, I don't see Brother Bear as a film with set villains. There are antagonists, sure, but not anything I could classify as Maleficent or Scar.

I like the overall moral greyness of the plot. For example, I found Denahi's transformation from a happy and goofy character into a determined and truly troubled individual who wishes to avenge his brother's supposed death to be a rather fascinating development, and it really made him an interesting and tragic character.

Of course the flashback scene which reveals the connection between Koda and the bear that Kenai killed is downright chilling, and such darkness does its share to show that the plot isn't just comedy or happy-go-lucky adventure all the time. I'm glad that Disney didn't shy away from using such a plot, because it served the film well not only as an animated film but also as a psychological study.