"Brother Bear"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Joaquin Phoenix as KENAI Jeremy Suarez as KODA Jason Raize as DENAHI Rick Moranis as RUTT Dave Thomas as TUKE D.B. Sweeney as SITKA Michael Clarke Duncan as TUG Rated G Studio: Disney Directed by: Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker Back to DVD Review Home |
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I’ll be the first to admit. “Brother Bear” has really grown on me. I attribute much of this to my two-year old son, who loved the film in the theaters and gets excited whenever a preview comes on when we boot up a Disney DVD. I put “Brother Bear” in a category for myself that I did with “Finding Nemo.” Initially, I wasn’t a big fan. However, the DVD (and the positive effect it has on my kids) has brought me around.
“Brother Bear” is the story of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear. Confused yet? Well, here’s the break-down. Before the last ice age, three Inuit brothers - Sitka, Denahi and Kenai (D.B. Sweeney, Jason Raize and Joaquin Phoenix, respectively) - are going about their daily life, hunting and fishing. During Kenai’s coming of age ceremony, he is given the symbol of a bear to signify love, his guiding spirit. After receiving some good-natured ribbing from his brothers, Kenai discovers their catch of fish has been stolen by a bear. Desperately wanting to prove himself to his family and his tribe, Kenai goes after the bear.
When he is cornered by the bear, Kenai is saved by his brothers - but not without cost. His oldest brother Sitka sacrifices himself to save the other two. Driven by vengeance, Kenai vows to hunt down and kill the bear he blames for Sitka’s death.
After Kenai kills the rouge grizzly, the spirits of the sky intervene to teach him a lesson. They transform him into a bear himself, leaving him to be hunted by his brother Denahi who is now avenging both brothers’ deaths. Along the way to find the spirits to change him back to a man, Kenai encounters Koda, a young bear cub who has been separated from his mother. Kenai reluctantly takes Koda under her wing and becomes the brother Koda never had.
Like most of Disney’s wide-release DVDs, “Brother Bear” contains a wealth of extras and features that make it well worth the money to buy - or at least rent. There’s stuff in there for the adults as well as the kids. The extras as spread out over the two discs and include music videos, sing-along songs, deleted scenes, DVD games and several other behind-the-scenes featurettes.
These DVD games are above average as DVD games go. The Bone Puzzle challenges kids to put together skeletons of animals from an assortment of bones. (Trust me, it’s not nearly as morbid as it sounds.) The other game gives viewers a chance to find their totem and see which animal they most represent. (I’m proud to say that I have been bestowed with the Bear of Love.)
However, the best feature on the DVD is clearly the commentary track by Rutt and Tuke, the two moose voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas from “Strange Brew” fame. This is one of the funniest, most clever and brilliant commentary tracks I’ve heard on a DVD in years. It’s like a 90 minute stand-up comedy routine in which they compare the old Shaman lady to Yoda and discuss the use of stunt doubles in animation. It was marketing brilliance to take the best part of the film (the moose) and give them a larger part with the commentary track.
Another fun feature is Koda’s outtakes, a blooper reel from the film. I know, I know. Pixar has been doing this thing for years in all of their films from “A Bug’s Life” to “Monsters, Inc.” However, that doesn’t stop them from being funny. Basically a run of slapstick jokes, these “bloopers” are pretty cool. (And I’m glad someone other than Pixar is getting in on this gag.)
After watching the “Making of Brother Bear” documentary, there will always be a warm place in my heart for this film. It was the first movie I took both of my sons to. One was two, and the other was 4 months at the time (now they are almost 3 and 10 months, respectively). Both loved the film - so much that my wife took them to see it again when it hit the second run theaters.
So here I was, watching the “Making of Brother Bear” documentary. My boys were up early, so they were rolling around on the floor in our morning routine. However, when the documentary moved into a discussion about the themes of brotherhood found in the film, my two son started watching the television together. By the end of that segment, they were sitting on the floor, my youngest laying in the lap of my eldest.
As a parent, it can bring tears to your eyes. Maybe there is something to Disney magic after all...
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. THX-Certified, including optimizer. Family-friendly aspect ration (1.66:1) and original theatrical widescreen (2.35:1), enhance for 16x9 televisions. French and Spanish language track; English language subtitles for the hearing impaired.
