Another response to A Bearable Brother Bear:

Hello Rob!

Congratulations on the wonderful review. But I would like to mention some thoughts of mine on the bad points -

1)I do not think the absence of native voices hampered the movie much. In fact, the voices were clear and easy to understand.

2) The native's religion is no doubt oversimplified, but the emphasis of the story is not the life of the natives, so as before, it did not hamper the mood or environment.

3) As Alicia points out, the virtues of the totems are just associated with random animals. It is the virtues that is important, not the animals themselves. The animals are just included to give some life and visualization to the image. Moreover, with some imagination it is not difficult to associate an eagle with guidance, a wolf with wisdom and a bear with love. (Though interchanging the last two works as well.) Also recall that Sitka being an eagle could guide them very easily at the end.

4) Again what Kenai is upset about is love, not the bear. He says something like "bears don't love. they don't think. they are pigs." Here apparently he is in the same confusion as you :D

5) Kenai was angry at the death of his brother, and held the bear responsible, however unjustly. This is understandable in a young and impulsive boy. It is also the main theme of the story: when he realizes the he had been wrong, he becomes a man!

6) Again as Alicia points out, Denahi held the new bear responsible for the death of Kenai. He couldn't actually have fund out what really happened. He could at the most be confused, which he probably was anyway. He was also young, and deeply pained at losing two brothers, he decided to go after the new bear.

7) Kenai does NOT dislike Koda — he just thinks he is irritating. He was probably fed up with bears by that time. And though he kept snubbing Koda, he probably liked him from the start.

8) This is a good point. The pan-animal brotherhood is too simplified. But it is true that animals fear humans more than they fear each other. And the riding of mammoths is a typical disney scene. I find nothing wrong about it. You can't be realistic all the time.

9) Kenai was loving by nature — he loves Koda quite quickly. It was only that loving bears and loving men are different things. The message actually is that animals are as capable of love as humans.

I have watched the movie four days ago, and have liked it very much. It will be a pleasure to talk about it. So please reply!

Cheers, bubka

P.S.: My screenname has been bubka for quite sometime, but I am thinking of changing it to Koda! :D

Rob's reply
Bubka,

I don't have much to say about your comments. You've provided some good excuses or rationalizations for the movie's mistakes and stereotypes. My job is to point out the mistakes and stereotypes, not to excuse or rationalize them.

Rob

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