Toon Talk: Brother Bear
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(c) Disney Enterprises

The most striking aspect of Brother Bear is how undistinguished it is … taken as a whole, it lacks a lot of the distinguishing Disney touches, those little moments of awe or magic, that set the Disney animations apart from those of other studios. Which is as troublesome as it is unfortunate; given the story’s rich potential, Brother Bear could have been grander, or at least greater, if handled with a more serious, less formulaic manner.

Ever since the rebirth of Disney animation in the late 80s/early 90s, many have worried if the increased output by the studio would diminish the ‘specialness’ of the Disney features. After all, they say, how eventful can these films be if they’re cranked out like clockwork year after year? I’ve resisted such fatalistic views in the past, even when tested with such lackluster receptions granted to The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet.

But with Brother Bear, I wonder if such views have finally been proven true. Sure, Bear is an average example of the Disney storytelling art, pleasant yet unremarkable … but these are words certainly never said about The Lion King, Bambi or Tarzan.

Toon Talk Rating: B-

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Toon Talk Trivia:

• An alternate title for the film, Bears, was used during production.
• Joaquin Phoenix (voice of Kenai) co-starred in last year’s Signs. He’ll reteam with director M. Night Shyamalan for the upcoming The Village.
• Byron Howard (supervising animator for Kenai as a bear) also supervised on John Henry and contributed character designs to Lilo and Stitch.
• Jeremy Suarez (Koda) can also be heard in Treasure Planet.
• Alex Kupershmidt (supervising animator for Koda) was an animator for Roller Coaster Rabbit, Beauty and the Beast (Gaston), Trail Mix-Up and Aladdin and was the supervising animator for the hyenas in The Lion King, Khan in Mulan and Stitch in Lilo and Stitch.
• Rick Moranis (Rutt) starred as Professor Wayne Szalinski in the features Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, the Epcot attraction Honey, I Shrunk the Audience and the video Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.
• Dave Thomas (Tuke) guest-starred in the TV series Raw Toonage and Even Stevens.
• Broose Johnson (supervising animator for Tuke) also wrote John Henry and was an animator for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan (supervising Ling and Chien Po).
• D.B. Sweeney (Sitka) voiced Aladar in Dinosaur and also starred in Roommates.
• Anthony Wayne Michaels (supervising animator for Sitka) was an assistant animator on Trail Mix-Up.
• Jason Raize (Denahi) originated the role of adult Simba in Broadway’s The Lion King.
• Ruben A. Aquino (supervising animator for Denahi) was an animator on The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective and was supervising animator for Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Maurice in Beauty and the Beast, adult Simba in The Lion King and Shang in Mulan.
• Joan Copeland (Tanana) co-starred in Jungle 2 Jungle.
• Tom Gately (supervising animator for Tanana) was an animator on Pacha for The Emperor’s New Groove.
• Michael Clarke Duncan (Tug) was just heard as the voice of the Mean Lion in George of the Jungle 2.
• Harold Gould (Old Denahi) was just seen in this summer’s Freaky Friday remake.
• Also heard in the cast are Estelle Harris (Toy Story 2’s Mrs. Potato Head) and Bill Farmer (the current voice of Goofy).
• First time director Aaron Blaise was an animator on Roller Coaster Rabbit, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin (supervising Rajah), Trail Mix-Up, The Lion King (supervising young Nala) and Mulan (supervising Yao and the Ancestors).
• Co-director Robert Walker is also making his directing debut with Brother Bear. Previously he worked on the layouts for Roller Coaster Rabbit, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Trail Mix-Up, The Lion King, Mulan and Lilo and Stitch.
• Co-writer Tab Murphy also contributed to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.
• Songwriter and co-composer Phil Collins won an Oscar for his Tarzan song “You’ll Be In My Heart�?. Named a Disney Legend in 2002, he was last heard as Lucky in Jungle Book 2 and is currently working on adapting Tarzan to the Broadway stage.
• Co-composer Mark Mancina previously scored Con Air and Tarzan and also contributed to The Lion King, both on film and on stage. His song, “He Lives In You�? can be heard in the Broadway King and the video sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride. He won Grammy Awards for both the Lion King soundtrack and cast album, as well as the soundtrack for Tarzan. His work will next be heard in The Haunted Mansion.

Coming Soon:

• Fans will be Finding Nemo at home come November 4^th, when the record-breaking animated blockbuster makes its DVD debut in a special 2-disc set.
• The DVD debuts of two recent Wonderful World of Disney productions, Eloise at the Plaza (starring Julie Andrews) and Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man (starring Matthew Broderick), as well as the Lilo and Stitch Islands of Adventure DVD Game, go on sale November 11^th.
• Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, along with Brendan Fraser, Steve Martin, Jenna Elfman and the rest of the wacky Warner Brothers toon gang, all star in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, opening November 14^th.
• The Special Edition DVD of Frank and Ollie, a documentary on the legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, will be available in general release November 18^th. Also available that day will be the DVD debuts of The Santa Clause 2 and DreamWorks’ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.

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Related Links

• Leave Your Own Review in the LaughingPlace.com Guide to Brother Bear
• List of all Toon Talk articles

-- Kirby C. Holt

Kirby, a former Walt Disney World Resort Cast Member (and Trivia Champ), is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...

Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.

The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.

-- Posted November 3, 2003