Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003

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Brother Bear was much, much better when it was called The Lion King. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) As young Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) prepares for the ritual that will make him a man in the eyes of shaman Tanana (Joan Copeland) and the rest of their tribe, his carelessness leads to tragic consequences for Sitka (D.B. Sweeney), tribe chief and Kenai's oldest brother. In trying to save Kenai and middle brother Denahi (Jason Raize) from being attacked by a bear, Sitka loses his own life - and an angry Kenai vows revenge against all bears. Denahi, as new tribe leader, wasn't down at first, so after exchanging angry words, Kenai sets out on his own, pursuing the bear to the top of a mountain. But in Moses-like fashion (no lie: I kept expecting to hear a bad Ten Commandments voiceover from "God"), Kenai's anger leads to him being transformed into his own worst enemy, when the spirit of Sitka turns Kenai into a bear. Denahi, thinking both his brothers dead, pursues the Kenai-bear with great vengeance and furious anger. Fortunately for Kenai, he stumbles upon a lost bear cub named Koda (voiced nicely by Jeremy Suarez of The Bernie Mac Show), who will eventually lead Kenai back down the straight and narrow path. bah. THE UPSHOT Pixar Studios - makers of fine fare like Toy Story and Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., and my personal favorite, Finding Nemo - have spoiled me. They made me believe you can have your cake and eat it too; that is, mainstream animation can be targeted at kids, but appeal to adults, too. Then Disney comes along and busts my bubble yet again with sickly sweet, regurgitated, recycled pablum like Brother Bear, aimed directly and only at the toddler set that wasn't quite born when The Lion King first roared onto the big screen (and said toddler's parent's money roared into the Disney Merchandise Machine's pockets). To Disney's shame, they even try to take a page from the Pixar folks' habit of adding fun "outtakes" at the end (most of my audience left before they played through). Stop it, Disney; you're just hurting yourselves by comparison. Beautiful scenery aside (and granted, the traditional animation here was colorful enough to have saved this movie from a straight redlight), Brother Bear was bereft of a single original idea ("Kenai learns about the 'cycle of life'"? Sitka's Spirit guides Kenai to Ultimate Wisdom? Does Disney really think so little of their target audience? Wait, don't answer that). The lack of originality in Bear was only made worse by the most horrid, saccharine songs possible by Phil Collins (who, no doubt, will garner yet another Oscar nod for that stale soundtrack). I don't know what was worse: the awful music, the straight out of Romper Room storyline, or the Noble Savages, made to sound like they came straight from Cali. Dude. Wait, I actually know what's worse: the forced humor of Rutt (Dave Thomas) and Tuke (Rick Moranis) as goofy Canadian ("eh?") moose who were the equivalent of audience-warm-up comics here. "Worse", I say, because they were actually the best things about this irritating production. That sounds conflicted, I'm sure; but it points out the thing that's killing Disney animated productions most: the storylines are so devoid of real interest except on a very elementary level, that Comic Relief Jokesters must be called in to fill in the ever-widening gaps. This is a step up from the dumb production numbers which used to plague Disney cartoons...but not much of a step. Yeah, yeah, I know. Believe me, I've heard it all before - from disgruntled parents who call me a cruel hack who doesn't like animation (though I've clearly stated in review after review that I love animation...when it's done right) and won't let kids enjoy "their movies" in peace, to others calling me a shill for Pixar, implying that I dislike any animated movie that doesn't come from that studio (I'm guessing they didn't catch my glowing review of Dreamworks Pictures' Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, let alone Shrek). That I'm risking the wrath of those folks again, should tell you that I'm sincere when I say that Brother Bear should be made extinct. Not that my lone voice will matter; judging by the kid-filled audience I saw on opening day, and the critics so willing to forgive Disney's self-plagiarism for sake of the Pretty Pictures, Brother Bear will make hand over tiny-fist bucks at the box office. So whadda I know...except that as a standalone film, Brother Bear should stand alone. Way far alone. Over there, on the direct-to-video shelf on which it belonged in the first place. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE The more Disney cartoons I see lately, the more I realize that they should relinquish the animation reins to the Pixar side of the family. BROTHER BEAR:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/