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“Look
for the bear necessities, the simple be…”
Wait a minute. That’s from that other
Disney movie. Please ‘bear’
with me as I ‘bare’ my soul
about my feelings towards “Brother
Bear 2.” I couldn’t ‘bear’
it if I wasn’t totally honest with
you, I’ll settle down onto my (fake)
‘bear’ skin rug and write out
a few thoughts. Okay, that’s it. Now
that I’ve gotten that out of my system,
I swear I won’t make you ‘bear’
the burden of any more of my really bad
puns. I can ‘barely’ stand them
myself. (STOP IT!!)
“Brother Bear 2” is the newest
of the Disney animated sequels to hit DVD.
The first film told the story of a young
Innuit named Kenai, who was anxiously awaiting
his totem, which was to be his personal
guide through life. He expected it to be
some wise or fierce creature, but instead
he ended up with the love of a bear. This
made him the butt of no end of jokes by
his brothers. But one day a bear made off
with Kenai’s food, and he set off
to find it. His brothers came to his aid,
but sadly his oldest brother died.
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When Kenai set out to avenge his brother he ends
up killing the bear, but was himself transformed
into a bear by the angry spirits. He then set
off on a journey of spiritual enlightenment in
order to turn back into a human.
I had extremely mixed feelings about the original
“Brother Bear.” I found it to be incredibly
animated, and it had a strong mixture of humor
and profound ideas. It was very spiritual in nature,
yet it was extremely violent and sad at times.
I honestly felt that some of the sequences were
a bit much for younger audiences. There were also
some bizarre choices made by the main character
near the end that I had to question, perhaps due
to my own lack of spiritual enlightenment. However,
the main thing I liked about the film came in
the form of an unintentional (I think) message
about hunting. I have always been vehemently against
hunting in any form (though some consider me to
be a hypocrite because I still eat meat, but I
don’t kill it myself). I think the ‘weekend
warriors’ that go out and needlessly shoot
animals are for the most part brainless oafs that
seem to have a problem with their manhood, and
have the misguided idea that this somehow makes
them real men. In reality, they are no more than
real idiots. If “Brother Bear” gave
just one child the idea that perhaps killing animals
is wrong, than I applaud and recommend the film
highly. (End of rant…)
“Brother Bear ” was a very entertaining
film, definitely aimed at older kids. As much
as I got into the story of the main characters,
it was some of the side characters that most appealed
to me. Mainly I’m talking about Rutt and
Tuke. They were a pair of moose (mooses? mise?)
and as voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas,
they completely stole the film. Within their first
few minutes of screen time, adults instantly recognized
Moranis and Thomas doing their infamous McKenzie
Brothers shtick (“Take off, eh”) and
they are hysterical.
"Brother Bear 2", takes up shortly after
the end of the first film and introduces to a
new character. Her name if Nita (Mandy Moore),
and we quickly learn that she is a childhood friend
of Kenai. When they were kids, they used to play
everywhere and after one particular incident where
he saved her from drowning, he gave her a necklace.
When we see her next, she is grown up and preparing
to be married. But the Gods interrupt the ceremony
with a storm and the villagers take it as a sign
that the two should not be wed. When Nita visits
the village mystic, she learns that the Gods consider
Nita and Kenai to be betrothed because of the
necklace. She must find Kenai, travel with him
to the spot where he gave it to her, and burn
the necklace. Only then can she marry.
I found "Brother Bear 2" as entertaining
as the original, but still found a few problems
with it that I couldn't get over. Again I really
wasn't sure I liked the ending and questioned
the choices made. There were some mixed signals
about changing who you are to be with whom you
wish. I also had a huge problem with the village
mystic. The voiceover work was done by comedienne
Wanda Sykes, and while I find her funny in her
own element, the work she does here overshadows
the character. She sounds too 'streetwise' and
'hip' and she drew me right out of the story with
her anachronistic approach.
But aside from these few problems, I was very
glad to see Moranis and Thomas back as Rutt and
Tuke. Once again the almost steal the film with
their antics. I was interested to see that there
was a cast change in the case of the lead. In
the original, the voice work for Kenai was done
by Joaquin Phoenix. He does not return for the
sequel, and is replaced by Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey
does a fine job with the character, but I am curious
why the change was made.
Being that this was a straight to DVD film, there
aren’t too may extras. The main one offers
a look at the music of the film, which is done
this time by Melissa Etheridge. The songs are
good, by the way, but not quite on par with the
ones written and performed by Phil Collins in
the original. Additionally there is a game for
the kids where they answer questions to help Rutt
and Tuke impress the moosettes.
“Brother Bear” is not a perfect Disney
film by any means. It tends to get a bit formulaic,
and the spiritual nature of the legend might seem
a bit high-minded for younger kids, but at the
end of the day it was still extremely entertaining.
Directed by: Ben Gluck
Starring (the voices of): Patrick Dempsey, Mandy
Moore, Jeremy Suarez, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis,
Michael Clarke Duncan, Kathy Najimy, Andrea Martin,
Wanda Sykes
Extras: Behind The Music Of Brother Bear 2, Game:
Trample Off, Eh?
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Disney
Release Date: 8/29/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: G
Website
We'll give Brother Bear 2 a B-.
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