Discover some interesting facts about the history and behind-the-scenes of the Disney classic ‘Brother Bear’, which celebrates 21 years of release today (01)
One of Disney’s most exciting films, and one that many people sometimes forget about its existence, is “Brother Bear”. The film tells the story of Kenai, a young indigenous man who doesn’t like bears at all, but after a tragedy in his life, ends up turning into one. Now, he needs to go to a magical mountain to reverse this situation and he will need to trust little Koda, a bear cub who just lost his mother. Remember the trailer!
On this day, November 1st, 21 years ago, “Brother Bear” was being released worldwide. To celebrate this anniversary, Recreio has separated some interesting facts about the animation that you may not have known about.
1. Language Expert
The animation focuses on a North American indigenous community and, therefore, Disney turned to the anthropologist Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley, who is also a teacher of the Yup’ik language, to address the language and customs of this people in the most correct way possible. At the end, Kawagley He ended up being cast as the film’s narrator.
2. Older Koda
At first, Koda would be called Griz, and he would be an older brown bear than we know. The character should be like Kenai’s older brother, so that there would be this interaction between brothers of different ages. However, the Indian who becomes a bear is already the youngest in his family, that is, he already knew how to interact with older brothers, and needed to know how to interact with someone younger.
Thus, Disney decided to change the character’s age so that the protagonist could learn to deal with a younger brother, and mature in several aspects, which we see throughout the film.
3. Recording Error
In a scene from the film, Kenai repeats a story that was told by Koda, but deliberately getting some details wrong, such as changing the name of a friend, so that the bear cub could correct the story. But this “mistake” was not planned.
In truth, Joaquin PhoenixKenai’s original voice actor, messed up a line during recording and Jeremy Suarezwho voices Koda, immediately corrected. The line was kept, as it very well showed the fraternal relationship between the characters.
4. Fish animation
“Brother Bear” broke a common animation rule: when portraying a fish in an animated film, if it is not the protagonist, the animal needs to be as realistic as possible. This is due to the fact that in these films, fish can be food for other animals and, if they are very caricatured, they can be seen as friendly. Therefore, the protagonist feeding on a cute fish would not be viewed favorably by viewers.
The Disney film shows a very realistic fish at the beginning, but things change in the post-credits scene. In the excerpt, we can see Koda parodying a disclaimer and ensuring that no fish were harmed during the making of the film. However, it is possible to hear a fish in the background asking for help while running away from a bear, so the fish is no longer realistic.
Check out the post-credits scene!
5. Spin-off
Few people know, but there is a sequel to “Brother Bear”. Before the sequel was produced, Disney had plans to make an animated series about Kenai and Koda, and it would take place right after the events of the first film. However, production did not go ahead.
At that time, rumors arose that there were plans for an alternative spin-off, which would star the moose brothers Rutt and Tuke. Production was never confirmed or even developed.
Also read: In addition to Anna and Elsa: 5 notable animation siblings
Source: Recreio
