Continued Explorations-Brother Bear
Brother Bear
Background Information
Brother Bear is a very powerful and uplifting animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Brother Bear was released back in 2003 and has since made $250,397,798 cumulatively around the world. This movie came out when I was 9 years old so I didn't really grow up watching it, I only started watching it recently because of my two young children who absolutely love it. It is also extremely relevant to where we live- the movie takes place here in Alaska!
Brother Bear is a story about 3 brothers, Kenai, Denahi, and Sitka who, as brothers do, were continually teasing each other. At the beginning of the movie, Kenai, the youngest, was in the dawning of becoming an adult which meant that he would receive a wooden totem. This totem is a symbol of your powerful contribution to the tribe and your family. When Kenai discovers that the spirits carved a bear into his totem which symbolizes "love" he was extremely disappointed and angry. One day when a bear steals the villages fish supply, Kenai decides to go after it. When Kenai's brothers discovered that he was after the bear they followed him. During the altercation with the bear, a disaster occurred and Sitka died. Enraged Kenai chases after the bear and finally kills her. The great spirits intervened and used their magic to turn Kenai into a bear. Although this movie sounds like it has many tragic events, it has an extremely powerful and motivating message.
Throughout his journey as a bear, Kenai meets a young cub named Koda who was recently orphaned when his mother was killed. Since the very beginning of their friendship, Koda and Kenai created a bond that was so tenacious and strong. Kenai's journey as a bear teaches him the responsibilities of being an adult along with what it truly means to be family. The deeper message behind the story is one of strength and personal growth. In the beginning, Kenai seems to be a young, almost immature young man and by the end, he turns into a caring, loving, brotherly figure to Koda. Be sure to check out Brother Bear 2 as well!
No Way Out - Phil Collins
Disney is incredible at choosing artists and music that sincerely describe the scene and storyline. The song "No Way Out" by Phil Collins is perfectly written to portray the emotions in the chorus. The harmonies in the song are admirably orchestrated. Throughout the song, the instruments maintain the same beat and the rhythm is moderato. Phil Collins is extremely talented, and I think that Disney made the right choice by choosing him to write and perform the song.
The message in the song is about the disappointment and hurt you feel when someone betrays you. During the scene of the movie when the song comes on, both Koda and Kenai were experiencing tremendous sadness, because Kenai revealed the truth behind Koda's mothers' disappearance. Kenai feels like he broke Koda's trust, disappointing him, and in turn felt shameful. Once Kenai and Koda made amends, the song takes a turn and becomes positive and uplifting.
I have always enjoyed Disney movies for more reasons than one! But something that they are exceedingly gifted in is picking talented artists that illustrate the sentimental emotions in the storyline.
Lyrics
"Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone
But there's nothing I can say to change
the things I've done
Of all the things I hid from you
I cannot hide the shame
And I pray someone, something will come
to take away the pain"
Taking a positive turn......
"I know its hard but you
found somehow
To look into your heart and
to forgive me now
You've given me the strength to see
just where my journey ends
You've given me the strength
to carry on"
Sources
“Brother Bear, an Example of Personal Growth.” Exploring Your Mind, 31 July 2018, exploringyourmind.com/brother-bear-an-example-of-personal-growth/.
“Brother Bear.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 1 Nov. 2003, www.imdb.com/title/tt0328880/.
I love this cartoon! When it first came out my kids and I would watch it. We would play I spy on our road trips and my oldest daughter would say "I spy something tall and green." We still use that phrase. I enjoyed reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteMy brothers and I absolutely loved this movie as kids! It is one of the best movies we watched, and is one that I can still enjoy watching with my younger sister. It was one of the movies that we could actually relate to, and like you said, it had a great message in it as well. The song you chose does a great job of summing up Kenai’s journey from a young, rash man, to a caring bear. He hurt those he cared about, and it drove him to make more mistakes, but after being turned into a bear, he became a better man. I agree with you about the message that this song carries. It perfectly portrays the hurt and betrayal that Koda feels, as well as Kenai’s sadness over what he had done. Instead of staying sad, the song becomes more uplifting, and the two bears forgive each other and move on. This was a perfect song for the particular scene that it was used for in the movie, and also sums up the basics of what Kenai feels throughout the movie. This movie had a pretty awesome soundtrack in general, and each song added to a scene in the show. I agree, Disney does a great job finding artists and songs that align with the stories in their movies. I found an article that showcased some other Disney songs that have become popular, and gave some general information about each one. Sadly, there were no Brother Bear songs in the article, but there were many others from popular Disney shows, including several I remember from watching as a kid. Here is the link in case you’re interested: https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/7/17/20696940/forty-best-disney-songs-ranked-lion-king.
ReplyDeleteMy brother absolutely adored this movie and made me watch it with him to no end- so I have mixed feelings about it, haha! ( I bet you're assuming he was a younger brother, but he's three years older than me). I was never able to get passed the mother dying. Stuff like that was (and is) really upsetting to me. That's the same reason I could never really get into Bambi. I agree that Brother Bear harbors invaluable lessons and the music aids those lessons tremendously. I remember really enjoying the soundtrack! Really well done blog in general, as always!
ReplyDeleteThis movie always reminds me of my brother. Great song choice. The song is very meaningful and I agree with you when you stated that Disney does great at choosing artists and music that emphasize the the scene and storyline! In your song choice, I admire the backup vocals. They really enhance the song and bring out the emotions behind the song. Especially when they sing in forte. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I enjoyed reading your blog post!
ReplyDeleteBrother Bear is a favorite in our family! The movie really does justice towards our culture. My nephew watched this movie on repeat and I never minded watching it with him, it was so powerful and often made me tear up! Did you know that the song, "Transformation" was translated into the Inuit Eskimo language? Phil Collins loved this because he had never done anything like it before and he felt like it was something that Disney had never done before either to make the music sound cross-cultural. Check out this article I found about all of the songs featured in the film with commentary from the singers. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/68741/diverse-acts-interpret-collins-for-brother-bear. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Candice!
ReplyDeleteBrother Bear is definitely one of my favorite movies from my childhood! I always loved the wilderness theme, because it felt so Alaskan. I haven't heard the soundtrack to that movie in a long time, so it was nice to give it a listen again. I still have an old stuffed animal from when I was about 4 that is one of the moose in the movie and when you squish it, it says a phrase like, "that bear, over there, he's CRAZY!" Anyways, the song No Way Out, is very well done. I don't remember it from the movie, but the artists that were picked for early 2000s Disney movies will always be better than today's voice actors/singers (though they still sound good too). Great post!
Hi Candice!
ReplyDeleteOnce again, what a great blog! Phil Collins is truly talented in the music industry. Brother Bear and Tarzan are two Disney movies that I hold very close to my heart because of Phil's amazing talents. My younger sister was blind and she really loved music, but whenever she heard Phil Collin's voice she would go wild! She couldn't tell us (she was mute as well), but you could see from her reactions that Phil Collins was her favorite artist. His voice still reminds me of her, and she's been gone for 15 years now, so thank you for reminding me of my dear little sister, Britney with this great blog!