DAC 44: Brother Bear

Brother Bear - 7.6/10

As far as I know, this is only the second original story - as in, not based on anything - that Disney has ever done (the first being Lilo and Stitch). Needless to say, it doesn't quite live up to the quality of the first one. That's not to say it's a bad movie. It isn't. It's merely...okay. Much like Treasure Planet, there just isn't really much about it that's memorable. The main character is pretty blah, the cub is mildly annoying but not too bad, the two moose (the comic relief) were amusing but not hilarious...you get the idea.

I did like the setting. Prehistoric life has been done before in animation, but rarely do they portray it with such sincerity. The animation was pretty good, though again nothing to write home about. They took their lead from Tarzan in that instead of the characters singing, songs relating to their thoughts and the current situations were overlaid. This style can work well, but the songs were nowhere near the level of Phil Collins's work in the other film.

They did do one of my favorite things: once again there was no villain. All conflict in the movie came from misunderstandings and misconceptions rather than antagonism. It was a nice touch and it kind of took the "Who's the monster?" theme from Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame and put it into a different light. Kind of like those movies mixed with Dances With Wolves. Er, Dances With Bears?

All in all, another good diversionary film, but nothing particularly special. I do remember enjoying it when I saw it the first time, back as a counselor at YMCA Summer Camp, so it at least left me with positive feelings.