50 Fun Facts About Brother Bear

In what year was Brother Bear released in US cinemas?

It premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre on October 20 and went wide on Saturday, November 1.

Who voices Kenai, the young man turned into a bear?

Fresh off his Gladiator Oscar nomination he joked, 'Don't call me a leading man... I'm a leading bear.'

Where is Brother Bear set?

The tribe believes the Great Spirits appear in the form of the aurora.

Kenai is the youngest of three brothers. What are the other two called?

Sitka is the eldest, Denahi the middle brother.

Which animal is on the totem Kenai receives, to his disgust?

It stands for love; Sitka had the eagle of guidance and Denahi the wolf of wisdom.

Who is the tribe's shaman, who gives Kenai his totem and later heals him?

She is voiced by Joan Copeland and tells him to seek the mountain where the lights touch the earth.

What does the bear steal that sets the tragedy in motion?

Kenai had failed to tie the basket properly in his hurry to receive his totem.

How does Sitka die?

The bear survives the fall, and Kenai later hunts it down and kills it.

Who turns Kenai into a bear?

It happens on the cliff after he slays the bear; the dead bear's body evaporates and joins the Spirits.

Denahi wrongly believes what after finding torn clothes on the cliff?

He vows revenge and hunts the bear that is actually his brother for the rest of the film.

The shaman tells Kenai he can be changed back if he reaches what?

But only once he has atoned for his actions.

What is the name of the bear cub Kenai befriends?

The cub's mother is missing; the pair strike a deal to travel to the salmon run together.

Who voices Koda?

He was hired after the filmmakers heard his audition tapes for Finding Nemo.

Rutt and Tuke, the comic moose brothers, are based on which comedy duo?

Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas voice them, just as they played the McKenzies on SCTV.

How did the moose voice actors record their lines, unusually for animation?

Phoenix and Suarez, by contrast, recorded separately apart from a couple of joint sessions.

Who voices Tug, the wise old grizzly who leads the bears at the salmon run?

He had originally been cast as Grizz, an older mentor bear who was rewritten as the cub Koda; the filmmakers liked his voice too much to lose him.

What does Kenai realise during story time at the salmon run?

Koda tells a story about his mother fighting human hunters on a glacier.

How does the film end for Kenai?

Sitka changes him back, but Kenai asks to be a bear again because Koda needs him, and Denahi supports him.

Jason Raize, who voices Denahi, was best known for originating which Broadway role?

Brother Bear was his only film; he died in 2004, so Denahi does not appear in the sequel.

Which Disney film's success led Michael Eisner to call for more animal-centred features, prompting Brother Bear?

Eisner also suggested a North American setting inspired by an Albert Bierstadt landscape painting he had bought.

The original story concept was inspired by which Shakespeare play?

It centred on an old blind bear travelling the forest with his three daughters.

What reason did animator Aaron Blaise give for attaching himself to the film as director?

He joined in 1997 and co-directed with Robert Walker; his two-page father-son treatment became the basis of the story.

Brother Bear was the third and final animated feature made mainly at Disney's facility in which city?

The Florida studio closed in March 2004 as Disney pivoted to computer animation.

In which state did the crew take their 1999 research trip, visiting Kodiak Island and Denali?

Later trips took in Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Sequoia; artists also drew live bear cubs at Fort Wilderness in Florida.

Who wrote the songs for Brother Bear, following his success on Tarzan?

He composed six songs and co-wrote the score with Mark Mancina, but was disappointed not to sing them all himself.

Which legendary singer performs the opening song of the film?

She sang it live at the New York premiere after Collins performed 'No Way Out'.

Which vocal ensemble performs the song 'Transformation', with lyrics translated into Inupiaq?

The Blind Boys of Alabama also feature on the soundtrack.

What was the first single from the soundtrack?

'Welcome' was later reworked as the theme for Disneyland's Parade of Dreams.

What visual trick happens 24 minutes into the film, when Kenai becomes a bear?

It was the first film since The Horse Whisperer to shift widescreen ratio mid-movie, and the only animated one until The Simpsons Movie and Enchanted.

Roughly what was Brother Bear's production budget?

It grossed about $250 million worldwide and another $169 million in home video by January 2005.

Which film beat Brother Bear to number one on its opening weekend?

It took $18.5 million and then held steady against Elf and The Matrix Revolutions the following week.

Brother Bear was nominated for which Academy Award?

It lost to Finding Nemo at the 76th Oscars.

Brother Bear was originally scheduled for spring 2004 but swapped release slots with which Disney film?

The switch let Disney promote it on the Platinum Edition DVD of The Lion King.

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars, saying it lacked the 'zowie factor' of which two films?

He called it 'sweet rather than exciting'; the CinemaScore audience grade was an A.

Who replaced the original actor as the voice of Kenai in Brother Bear 2?

Jason Marsden was cast first, as heard in the trailer, and is still listed among the additional voices.

Who voices Nita, Kenai's childhood friend, in Brother Bear 2?

Wanda Sykes voices the shaman Innoko and Catherine O'Hara plays Kata.

Which singer-songwriter contributed three songs to Brother Bear 2?

The sequel went straight to video on August 29, 2006.

In Brother Bear 2, what must Nita and Kenai burn to break the bond between them?

Kenai gave it to her as a child after saving her from drowning; they must burn it at Hokani Falls before the equinox.

How does Brother Bear 2 resolve the love story between Kenai and his childhood friend?

Kenai refuses to leave Koda, so Nita volunteers to be transformed, with her father Chilkoot's blessing.

A cancelled Brother Bear TV series would have replaced Phoenix as Kenai with which actor?

The pilot tested well but Disney Channel felt the show would not reach its tween audience, and the film had underperformed.

Which two comedians voice the moose brothers Rutt and Tuke?

The pair recorded their lines together, and Rutt and Tuke also supply a commentary track on the DVD.

When Joaquin Phoenix announced his casting in 2001, what did he say the film was called?

Fresh off his Gladiator Oscar nomination, he joked that the real pinnacle was being 'a leading bear' in a Disney film.

What is the title of the film's opening song?

Phil Collins wrote six songs for the film but, to his disappointment, handed several to other voices, including the opener.

Which animal totem did the eldest brother Sitka receive?

Denahi got the wolf of wisdom, and Kenai the one he loathed; after Sitka's death his spirit appears as a bald eagle.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

It made $85.3 million in the US and Canada and $165.1 million abroad, then another $169 million in home video by January 2005.

What average grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film?

Critics were far cooler: 38 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes and a 48 on Metacritic.

Around 2000 the story had the transformed Kenai taken in by an older mentor named what?

The team felt the film lacked charm, so the mentor became the cub Koda, and Michael Clarke Duncan's voice was kept for a new character instead.

Who voices Sitka, the eldest of the three brothers?

Harold Gould narrates instead, speaking as an older Denahi looking back on the story.

Into which language did narrator Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley translate his lines?

The University of Alaska professor was never given a script, faxed his translation to Disney and recorded it in Anchorage while being filmed for reference.

The film was the first since which 1998 drama to shift aspect ratio mid-picture?

No other animated film used the trick until The Simpsons Movie and Enchanted both did in 2007.