by Panpardus » December 1st, 2016, 8:31 am
The Lion Guard and now Moana are making me feel kind of nostalgic for the few Disney movies I really enjoyed growing up, and I've been meaning to re-watch both Brother Bear films for months now. (College has a tendency to get in the way of those things but I'm taking a year off now, so I'll eventually get around to it one of these weekends.) All this is to say that I'm currently speaking from the perspective of not having seen Brother Bear in about a decade.
I've always found at least the original Brother Bear to be one of Disney's more emotionally powerful films, or at least it was more unique because of its Ice Age Alaskan setting (I'm a big biology and paleo-nerd) and the fact that it delves into and employs elements of a Native American culture, generalized as it may be. As others have said, I really like the soundtrack, and the opening and third acts were quite moving to me. "Great Spirits", Sitka's funeral, and Kenai's transformation scene collectively had a "Circle of Life" vibe to me, and Kenai's confession to Koda about killing his mother was almost up there with Mufasa's death the more I sat and just soaked in the moment. (Unlike with The Lion King, I remember the first time I saw this movie, so I remember the experience of almost crying during that scene.) Overall I've always thought it was a good movie, among my favorites from Disney, actually. Just writing this makes me really want to re-watch it now...
As far as the sequel goes, I may try to re-watch that one too, but I barely remember anything about it other than Kenai's old girlfriend eventually became a bear herself, and Wanda Sykes voiced that film's obligatory shaman-women character. Maybe that's already saying something towards the film's quality considering how much I liked its predecessor, but then again I only watched the sequel once because I happened to find it airing on TV at some point.
Once I finally get around to re-watching at least the first movie, I'll probably have shifted my opinions a little since I'm older now and consider myself a little more sophisticated, but I kinda don't think it'll change all that much; I'll probably just have deeper thoughts on my current positions.