Brother Bear: Critic Reviews

The film blatantly strip-mines The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and anything else its makers can get their paws on.

If Brother Bear aspires to be The Lion King Plus, that plus is the infusion of ethnographic kitsch recycled from earlier Disney hits like Mulan and Pocahontas that adds moral tone, but no extra entertainment value.

A sweet celebration of brotherhood in its many forms.

It's not that the movie is bad. It's just innocuous.

Give one chef eggs, cream, and sugar, and he'll produce creme brulee. In another kitchen, you'll get plain old vanilla pudding. What we have in Brother Bear, for all the potentially tasty ingredients, is pudding.

Tykes may giggle at the Rick Moranis/Dave Thomas-voiced moose, but there's little for adults.

Though Brother Bear is as beautiful as any of Disney's hand-drawn features, the gang-written script is deadly flat.

A lame duck of a movie.

While the result may seem a departure for Disney, it's a stirring new direction in storytelling well suited for a new and more emotionally complex world.

Disney has turned the call of the wild into the stultifying murmur of group therapy.

Children and their parents are likely to relate on completely different levels, the adults connecting with the transfer of souls from man to beast, while the kids are excited by the adventure stuff.

There's something vanilla about the whole enterprise.

Modest but guileless.

A generally upbeat and engaging tale of friendship and understanding.

Messages about appreciating the world around you and a reworking of The Lion King circle-of-life riff are likely to be warmly accepted.

The hand-drawn animation is alternately static and inconsistent, and the story may be too downbeat for younger kids, who are most assuredly the target audience.

Brother Bear is a very mild animated entry from Disney with a distinctly recycled feel.

An uninspired recycling of themes that were far more gripping in The Lion King and countless other earlier Mouse House classics.

Brother Bear is bearable, but just barely.

The film can be recommended to parents of headstrong children who are up for a wild, frequently entertaining, but not always coherent ride. Everyone else might want to download the Disney screensaver.

A pleasant experience that is more appropriate for families than for adults unaccompanied by young offspring.

A playful movie that celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a smooth blend of drama and comedy.

Brother Bear does have a satisfying ending and it's nice to see a G-rated film without bathroom humor, but there is too much formula and not enough reason to pay attention here.

...often just as dull as it is engaging...

Lackluster story only for kindergarteners.