BROTHER BEAR

US, 2000, 80 minutes, Colour.
Voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Rick Moranis, D.B. Sweeney, Jeremy Suarez, Harold Gould, Joan Copeland.
Directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker.

Brother Bear won an Oscar nomination for Best Animation but lost out to Finding Nemo. It is not essential viewing. On the other hand, if it happens to come your way, you might be surprised at how archetypal it is.

The setting is the Pacific Northwest, rugged and beautiful country where the Native Americans roam and hunt and where Kenai (Can I?) is about to be initiated as a man in his tribe. We are definitely in mythic territory, especially when a Shawoman tells Kenai about the land in the north where the bright lights, the traditional spirits, meet the earth in a riot of colour and glory.

Kenai, however, is given the bear as his totem. He is not very pleased because he is told that it symbolises love, not exactly a 'man's' trait. That isn't the quality for a great hunter. In fact, on an expedition with his two brothers, he is pursued by a giant bear. It is only when his oldest brother, Sitka, (whose totem is the eagle, symbol of wisdom) collapses the cliff face and falls to his death along with the bear, who runs away, that Kenai is safe. Kenai pursues the bear and kills it.

Not only are we in wild territory, we are in 'shadow' territory. Kenai's two brothers, Sitka the wise eagle and Denahi the vengeful hunter, offer two sides of Kenai's potential: to acquire wisdom or to pursue violence. Now that Sitka is among the bright spirits, he has the opportunity to complement the initiation begun by the Anima, Shawoman, who has offered Kenai his totem and told him of the quest to the bright meeting-place. Sitka turns his brother into a bear. How better to learn tolerance and to understand than to walk in the pawsteps of your enemy?

Not only that, Kenai is unable to speak in human words but he can communicate with the animals. The Disney tradition is to 'people' films with a range of lovable and frightening animals. Now they are also shadow aspects of Kenai's individuation. Some of them are very funny, especially two rather hip/stupid moose. There are squirrels. There are mammoths. There are flights of migrating birds. They are all symbols of potential.

To all these animals there is a coda. Well, there is a cub bear, Koda, who befriends the bewildered Kenai, who accepts him as a bear, who is able to lead him to the elders of the pack and to the salmon pools. Koda also knows the way to the meeting place of spirits and earth. He is the shadow guide for Kenai's journey and quest, a means of reconciliation between animal and human, because the bear Kenai hunted and killed was Koda's mother. Danger is still ever-present as Danahi now pursues Kenai and Koda, thinking they are killer bears. The quest is, as it should be, fraught with perils and dangers.

The two bears also visit some caves where they see ancient pictures of hunting. Koda is able to enlighten Koda, to see the bears' plight from their point of view instead of that of the fearful and aggressive humans.

Needless to say, but saying it nonetheless, Kenai completes his initiation, sees his visionary brother in the lights of the spirits, accepts his totem and finds himself in harmony with nature - and, to make the point in a nature religion kind of way, Kenai remains a bear.

Some reviewers don't seem to have noticed anything of the above. Sight and Sound thought it was just Disney-like, by the numbers animal story, dispiriting. The reviewer got the message that 'humans are prone to original sins of hate and vengeance' but thought that this was 'over-worthy'. Just when I was going to mention the lyrics of Phil Collins' songs which comment on the themes I have suggested - 'Nothing I can do to change the things I've done', 'The path is hidden from me now... can't be free, can't see, can't face another day...', 'We are all the same, brothers all the same' - the critic referred to the 'disposable Phil Collins songs'.

If you are mainly interested in animation techniques and the box-office potential of a film, then the themes that audiences respond to consciously or sub-consciously can pass you by.


1. The popularity of the film? Oscar nomination for best animated film?

2. The style of the animation, Disney tradition? Animals, people, landscapes? Action sequences?

3. The musical score, the lyrics of the songs, their meaning, psychological background, illumination of the characters and the quest?

4. The mythical background of the story, native American Indians, the Sharman, her explanation of the mythology, the Northern Lights, the lights being the spirits of the dead, the place where the lights met the earth? The ritual ceremonies, initiations, names for totems?

5. Kanai and his wise older brother Sidka? His fights with his younger brother? His cheekiness, the American-style contemporary dialogue?

6. Kanai, the Sharman giving him his name, the loving bear? The taunts of his brother? The trailing of the bear, the fear, the brother falling over the cliff, Kanai saving him? Sidka and his luring the bear away, going to his death? The death of the bear? Sidka and his becoming one of the lights with his totem of eagle wisdom?

7. Sidka and his turning his brother into a bear? The wisdom of Kanai having to experience life as a bear? His shock? Inability to communicate in human language, hearing the animals speak? His sadness, puzzle? His meeting Koda? The antagonism? Koda and his incessant talking, his perceptions of life as a bear, his perceiving humans as the enemy?

8. Kanai's brother, the hunter, wanting to avenge his brother's death, the pursuit of the bears, the dangers for the bears - and Kanai having to save Koda, running away, hiding, the log bridge, the brother dislodging it, their jumping to safety? His falling into the river? His continued pursuit? The painting of the bears and the hunters, Koda's point of view, Kanai's point of view? Kanai having to learn?

9. The animals, their talking, the squirrels and the rabbits? The two moose and their deadpan humour? The mountain goats and their fighting, telling everyone to shut up? The mammoths and their carrying all the animals - and Kanai previously riding the mammoths to disturb everyone? The flock of birds on their way to their destination?

10. The volcanic landscapes, the dangers, Koda playing? Kanai and his reaching the destination, Koda as the guide?

11. The bears, their talking, together, their ordinariness, Kanai and his fears, wanting to run away, learning to understand the bears? The blizzard, the fire going out? The moose squabbling?

12. The reaching of the land where the spirits and the lights met the earth? Sidka's appearance? The vision of beauty? Kanai and his being transformed? The beauty of the lights? The talk of magic? The emblem of the token?

13. Kanai and his continuing to be a bear, the unity between nature and humanity? The story of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear?

14. The language of the songs, brothers, future, the journey and the quest?

15. The finale and the moose jokes and the salutation to the sun?

16. The film as a children's entertainment, the background of native American Indians, the nature of religion and spirituality, for adults, the representation of the ego, the shadow, making friends with one's shadow, coming into full human nature and personality? An archetypal quest?