Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Ezrahmae M — 26 Jan 2012

Brother Bear is a 2003 Disney Animated movie, about a young Native American boy named Kenai, whose older brother is killed by a mother bear protecting her cubs. Filled with hatred and a lust for revenge, Kenai sets out to the woods to find the bear and ends up killing it. However, the Great Spirits were enraged by his action, and as a punishment by the needless death of the bear, they changed Kenai into a bear himself forcing him to examine the world through the eyes of his enemy and see life from a different perspective. The spirit of his older brother appeared to him, and told him that, if he wants to be changed back into a human again, he must travel to the place where the lights touch the Earth, which are the Northern Lights. Fueled by hope, Kenai sets off on his long journey, and, along the way, encounters a younger bear cub name Koda, which became his helper. Through their journey together, Kenai discovers that he likes being a bear, with a whole new view on life, he started to question everything that he knows about life and learns many important lessons, especially about the true meaning of brotherhood. At the end, he realizes that his physical transformation from a man to a bear is not as important compared to the changes that occurred within him, and makes a decision that will change his world forever.

I really like the fact that this movie is combined with religious and cultural aspects related to the indigenous people. It gives a good representation of the spiritual aspect of the Indigenous Sacred Ways. The movie demonstrates respects and dependence for the earth and it shows different rituals such as dancing and communicating with the ancestors, ceremonies, and animal totems that symbolize wisdom, love and guidance. The movie also demonstrated the belief about Shamanism, Spirits, Animalism, and Anscestrism. Kenaiâ(TM)s tribe has a Shaman, which was introduce in the beginning of the movie. They believe in the relationships between the spirit of the animals and humans, and they believe in the âgreat spiritâ? which was the ones who decided to turn Kenai into an animal. Throughout Kenaiâ(TM)s journey, he was guided by his brotherâ(TM)s spirit, which is known as anscestrism.

Brother Bear was a great animated movie not only for children but also for adults. It is full of life lessons, and also very spiritual. I would say it is a good film to learn about the religious and cultural aspects of the indigenous people. My daughter and I really enjoyed watching it together. I would definitely recommend it for children to watch. Overall, it is a really good movie.