Review of Brother Bear (2003) by Hannes F — 30 Jan 2010

"Brother Bear" is a wonderful Disney movie with the main theme on brotherly love. We get to walk with Kenai through his journey to becoming a man. Kenai has two older brothers who seem to love their brother but like to joke and play around with him which creates a similar feeling for anyone who has brothers. Kenai is giving a totem called Bear of Love. He doesn't understand the totem and basically thinks its lame. While at his manhood ceremony, a bear comes to their home and steals the fish that he and his brothers worked so hard to gather. Kenai goes out to hunt the bear which leads to a death. After the death in the family, Kenai goes back again to hunt the bear but this time is successful. As his living brother warned him before setting out to hunt the bear, "you will upset the spirits" and that he did. Kenai gets turned into a bear to show with a different life and to teach him a life lesson. In my opinion, this is when the movie turns into a cute and loving story about brotherly love. Now Kenai is a bear and must find where the lights touch the sky. He meets up with a young cub bear, Koda who has been separated from his mother. Koda wants to go to the salmon run to meet up with his mother and Kenai finds out this is where the lights meet the sky. All the while Kenai has his only living brother now hunting him because he is in the form of a bear, and he thinks this bear killed his brother. This is the beginning of Kenai's true journey to manhood.

This movie relates to the indigenous religions in so many ways. There are examples of most features of indigenous religions such as pre-scientific, practical, and earth-focused. The entire movie is based on the ritual technique ancestrism. An example of this is when Kenai is changed into a bear by his brothers' spirit. His brothers' spirit changed him into a bear to show him a different way of life. I recommend this movie to anyone who would like to understand the indigenous religion, as it is a true example with the features, rituals, and archaic hunters. This movie is for any age group and be prepared to cry. It's not a sad cry but a happy and loving cry.