In an era of films where plot lines revolve around something so mundane as taking people’s desserts by accident, there occasionally comes a piece that vividly arouses both your imagination and your intellect. After receiving a false low grade from the newspaper, I can safely say that Brother Bear is one of these pieces; because for the first time, a Disney movie touched deeper upon certain subjects (such as spiritual guidance) than ever before.The first critic to describe this film labeled it as one in which “there were three script writers,” as though to suggest that all of the elements within the movie did not smoothly interconnect with each other. Yet after I did the smart thing and saw it myself, I can proudly say that their comments are untrue. For instance, the small bits of humor with the Moose Brothers were no distraction to the main storyline. Instead, they helped serve to lighten the mood at first, complete with the “How’s-it-going-eh?” attitude of Canadian comics in the midst of intense hunting sequences, deep soul searching, frightening representations of human hunters through the viewpoints of their prey, and spiritual undertones relating to the beliefs of the native tribes of Alaska.
Later on in the movie, they bring about a touch of normalcy and leadership to what could be called a hopeless situation-the transformed Kenai was responsible for the death of Koda’s mother, horrifying the small cub into running away and trying to live on his own. Instead of the Moose Brothers never speaking to each other again after a small fight, however, they soon learn to forgive each other and work the situation out in a peaceful manner. Because of this, the intense moment in which Kenai discovers himself to have taken an innocent life also ends in the same way-he does not end up the wicked villain who dies a justified death, but rather enters the role of the penitent wrongdoer, choosing to make up for his crime by assuming the duties of watching over Koda in the mother’s place.
And not only does Kenai’s personality ultimately get transformed after he experiences life through another’s eyes, but so also does that of his brother Denahi, who slowly evolves from “a scary monster with a stick” to a wise and understanding human being, as was originally foreshadowed by his totem symbol. When these parts are examined in detail, Brother Bear is not “shameless drivel,” but rather a well-planned, well-created, and perhaps even epic tale of living life from someone else’s point of view.