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If Brother Bear is meant to be a savior for traditional animation, it isn't. Watching this film proves to me that the art is not lost. It really doesn't need saving. Just as there was a fundamental shift from paintings to photography, the art of the animated motion pictures is evolving but it certainly shouldn't signal the death of one process at the hand of the other.
Brother Bear is a gorgeous film full of breathtaking vistas. Watching it still makes me gasp in awe that so many individual drawings can be put in succession to give the illusion of life. How the Disney animators can make one bear look as it does in nature in one scene and then give another bear the full range of human emotions in its facial expressions in a later scene is without parallel.
But the medium is neither the end all nor be all. What is most important is that all elements gel together cohesively to make for an entertaining and enlightening experience. Brother Bear combines great art with an engaging story, humor and pathos, musical score and songs, and a terrific ensemble cast. It may not quite reach the same levels of greatness as Beauty and the Beast or The Lion King but it is better than recent offerings of Atlantis and Treasure Planet.
Brother Bear borrows generously from the Disney animation archive. Its setting is naturalistic like Bambi, its mythology akin to Pocahontas. Transformation from man to beast echoes of Beauty and the Beast. A caribou stampede and traipse through a hellish wasteland seem straight out of The Lion King. It even borrowed Pixar's outtakes (which are worth staying through the credits for). But the imitation, like a theme in the movie, is a tribute to what has come before - an honor of animation's history. Brother Bear adds to the tradition through a very cool, innovative cinematic technique incorporated at the beginning of the movie's second act.
The film toes the line in a couple of areas that could have ruined it. It struck a delicate balance between being a drama with comedic elements and being a comedy with a dramatic story. Luckily, the humor is used in relief and never becomes too over the top. I was nervous from watching the previews that this movie may have been better titled Brother Moose with the inclusion of McKensie-esque brothers Rutt and Tuke. But my fear was never confirmed as the two characters are a nice send up to the old SCTV alums while also serving as a foil to the relationship between Kenai and Koda.
Koda, for his part, could have become annoying but instead made the film, thanks in large part to Jeremy Suarez, who voiced the bruin to perfection. His vocal performance was spot on and a real highlight of the film. Joaquin Phoenix also performed his role of Kenai well as the boy who becomes a man by becoming a bear, inflecting just the right amount of emotion and pathos throughout the story's arc.
Phil Collins' soundtrack employs a similar style to that of Tarzan, whereas the songs help to tell the story but aren't leaping from characters' mouths as in traditional musicals. Though enjoyable on the Brother Bear CD, the songs work even better in context within the film and the use of multiple musical performers rather than simply having Collins sing all of the songs gives the film's soundtrack a richer quality. As a whole, they won't get in your head or stay on your lips, except maybe "I'm On My Way," but they are well executed nonetheless.
Traditional, hand-drawn animation doesn't need saving, it just needs an audience. Brother Bear, like Lilo and Stitch before it, tells a compelling story with endearing characters. It makes an emotional impact. It draws you in. And most importantly, it entertains. When I go to the theater to see a movie, I want to suspend belief for an hour and a half and enjoy the fantasy that only film can deliver. The format shouldn't matter. And in Brother Bear's case, not being computer animated doesn't hurt it.
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