141 – Brother Bear

The trail through the Wilderness Years continues into the American wilds, as film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers discover the true meaning of brotherhood – and bears – in 2003’s Brother Bear. Along the way, they discuss a lesser batch of Phil Collins songs; unpick the odd morality at play in the film’s depiction of nature; and discover what happens when brothers become bears, bears kill brothers, bears become brothers, brothers kill bears, and every other possible combination of that you could possibly imagine. Plus, there’s much talk of those ‘hilarious’ moose, Sam gets into the deeply unsavoury questions of animal attraction posed by Brother Bear 2, and we wave goodbye to the straight-to-DVD era. Next up: Bonus special on the straight-to-DVD sequels. Then, Home On The Range! Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney. — Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney’s animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we’ll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Wish. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film’s historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.