Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Bianca E — 18 Nov 2012

In the Disney-animated film Brother Bear,the main character Kenai is truly an inspiration for love. Kenai was once a boy who wanted to become a man and tried proving himself by fighting a mother bear. This mother bear was protecting her cubs while Kenai and his two older brothers fight off the mother bear, unknowing of her cub, Koda. Sitka, the oldest brother, died in the brothers' attempts to get rid of the bear once and for all. (The bear had been stealing their fish.) Seeking revenge, Kenai tracked down the bear while his other brother tracked him to stop him from harming the bear. Kenai found the bear and they fought for a while through caves and on mountain tops. In the end came the bear's demise. Immediately, the spirit lights came and changed the entire environment. Sitka's eagle spirit flew down from the lights showed Kenai that bears became spirits too. Kenai saw the mother bear leave into the spirit world and he seemed confused. Kenai then turned into a bear. When he awakened, his other brother was tracking him because he believed Kenai was the mother bear and killed Kenai. Kenai met a cub named Koda, who became like his little brother in all sorts of ways. He annoyed him day and night by talking until he fell asleep and he also showed him true love and companionship. Kenai eventually understood why the spirits changed him into a bear and became a fan of bears. He learned bears were not stupid or emotionless, but that they did have love in their hearts. Once he reached the mountain where the lights touch, Sitka appeared to him, his human brother, and Koda and transformed Kenai back into a man. Kenai chose to stay as a bear to help Koda since he took his mother from him. They all lived in peace in the end, together.

Brother Bear relates to the World Religion known as Primal or Indigenous Religions. There were many things throughout the movie that proved it to be associated with an Indigenous Religion. One thing was the old woman, Tanana. Tanana was sort of like a shaman, or a medicine woman. She could contact the spirits and she knew little things, for example, that Kenai was transformed into a bear. She was not the leader, but everyone respected her as one, as they listened to her every word about the spirits and life. Another way is having kinship with all creation. Even though it took time for Kenai to understand this concept, it was still a major factor in the movie. The man at the beginning of the movie seemed to be a storyteller, and in indigenous religions, people usually told stories and poems about their history; the brother who told Kenai's story was also a form of storyteller, because their stories were always orally told. A last thing that associates Brother Bear with an indigenous religion were the rituals they practiced in the movie, for example, initiating one's manhood by burning a bush, receiving a totem, and marking their hands on the wall. You could consider Kenai's journey to be a vision quest as well.