"Brother Bear" - A Review

How would you respond if your older brother sacrificed himself to save you from an angry bear? Disney's animated film Brother Bear deals with the consequences to a young man's answer to that question. See, Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix) and his brother Denahi (voiced by Jason Raize) were about to be attacked by an angry bear when their older brother Sitka (voiced by D.B. Sweeney) sacrificed himself in order to remove the bear from the immediate vicinity. Denahi does not blame the bear for Sitka's death, but Kenai is furious with the bear even though it was not actually the bear that killed Sitka. Kenai tracks the bear and kills it. His actions offend the Great Spirits, and they turn him into a bear. Denahi sees the newly transformed Kenai near Kenai's torn clothes and assumes that Kenai was killed by the bear. Kenai escapes, but now Denahi is after him.

This Disney pic is a very entertaining romp. It's hilarious and the storyline and character development is wonderfully executed. However, there are several themes running through this film that should concern Christian parents - especially parents of young children. One such theme is the whole concept of the Great Spirits. As you could probably guess from the plot description above, the Great Spirits are essentially the god figures in the story. However, they are not gods; they are the spirits of those who have died. These spirits show forth their wisdom and guide all living things. This applies to humans and animals alike. Not only do the spirits guide both humans and animals, but some of the spirits were animals before they died. We also see Sitka appear as an eagle after he becomes one of the spirit.

Underlying this religious premise is the main theme of the film: the equality of man and animal. Before Kenai turns into a bear, we see a fear of bears in the humans. But after he is turned into a bear, we learn that the bears are just as scared of the humans. Furthermore, the reason the Great Spirits are angry with Kenai for killing the bear is because the creature he killed was as much a person as he is. There is no distinction between man and animal. Deep down, they are all the same. This message is a concern for Christian viewers because as Genesis teaches us, God made man superior to the animals.

On the other hand, there are some themes in this movie that Christians would approve of. Brother Bear upholds the importance of family. It presents us with a contrast between love and hate, and tells us that it is better to love than to hate. The film is a story of redemption and forgiveness, even though the film's theology of redemption is not sound.

As I said, the film is very entertaining. The jokes are clean, and the violence tends to be more implied (as is typical for Disney's animated films). However, the non-Christian themes in this film are very prevalent, and Christian parents should not let young children view this film because of them. Even for older children, parents should consider discussing the film's themes with them instead of letting the kids just watch the film.