Brother Bear | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Aaron Blaise Robert Walker |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Produced by | Chuck Williams |
Starring | Joaquin Phoenix Jeremy Suarez Rick Moranis Dave Thomas Jason Raize D. B. Sweeney |
Edited by | Tim Mertens |
Music by | Phil Collins Mark Mancina |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
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Running time | 85 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Inuktitut |
Budget | $46 million[1] |
Box office | $250.4 million[2] |
Brother Bear is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chuck Williams, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and the writing team of Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman. The film stars the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Jason Raize (in his only film role), and D.B. Sweeney. Brother Bear follows an Alaska native boy named Kenai who kills a grizzly bear as retribution for his older brother's death. The Great Spirits, incensed by the unnecessary killing, transform Kenai into a bear himself as punishment.[3] In order to become human again, Kenai travels to a mountain where the Northern lights touch the earth, forging a relationship with a cub named Koda along the way.
The film was the third and final Disney animated feature produced primarily by the Feature Animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida; the studio was shut down in March 2004, not long after the release of this film in favor of computer-animated features. Brother Bear was released in the United States on November 1, 2003, to mixed reviews from critics and received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the 76th Academy Awards, losing to Pixar's Finding Nemo. The film grossed $250 million against a $46 million budget. A direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2, was released on August 29, 2006.