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I cannot muster up much in any direction regarding Brother Bear. The story is assembled from various disparate parts of prior Disney films, and it continues the Post-Renaissance tradition of indifference. Many of these films feel like they’re the product of too much group-think and studio interference, beating out much of the scope, originality, and ambition along the way.
We’re a long way from the messy, artistic heights of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, or the masterpieces like Beauty & the Beast or The Lion King, which it openly rips from. Not even ten years after those neo-classics, we’ve descended this far down. I just don’t know what happened to the Disney studio. During this era the rise in direct-to-video sequels probably had something to do with it. Why bother to make something great, when you came make something designed to sell then spin it off into a massive amount of merchandise and inferior sequels?
The only artistic choice that announces itself as something different is the switch in aspect ratios. Having never watched Brother Bear before, I simply thought there was something wrong with either my TV or the file went weird on Netflix. I’m still not sure why it changes from a more limited view when the main character is a human to the expansive scope when he changes into a bear, but at least it’s something distinguishing. It is perhaps needlessly artsy, but it gives the film some personality, if only briefly.
The rest of it plays out in broad strokes that Disney has done many times before. Cute talking animals, easily digestible cultural flourishes, tonally contrasting sidekicks, dead relatives, and ancestral spirits reaching down from heaven to awaken the lead’s journey – everything is present and accounted for. None of it is given a fresh spin, unless the goofy comic sidekicks being Canadian counts. I’m not entirely sure it does.
Is there an original image, idea, or character in this movie? I don’t think so. A general sense of indifference permeates the film, a feeling of “good enough” to not diminish the brand too much. The animation is only so-so, a step down from the previous Treasure Planet’s lush space opera or Atlantis: The Lost Empire’s comic book angularity or The Emperor’s New Groove’s slapstick old school style. It’s the generic prestige house style, but corners have obviously been cut. It feels closer to something from the Bronze Era.
Shortly after this film’s release, Disney announced that they were transitioning from 2D hand-drawn animation to 3D computer-generated animation. I get the sense that Disney was just burning off the last few films they had in production, eager to dive into the new format, and only continue with hand-drawn as a means to create more sequels to their famous titles. Brother Bear is not a good film, it’s not the worst thing they’ve produced either, but it is the sight of brand dilution.
