This is a beautifully artistic animated movie. Each scene is set on a beautifully understated water colored back drop. Unlike most modern animated stories this movie does not have a liberal axe to grind. The movie opens up on an innuit mother after she has delivered her own son in a small, isolated one room hut. The
father returns an names the boy bear beacause he has a bear spirit. The mother and father polar bears are chased by wolves and the exhausted near term mother slips off a cliff into the water. Father polar bear dives in and saves mother, later she delivers a still born polar bear. The male polar bear tries to console the female polar bear and is initially unable. He slips into the hut and bonds with the infant. The woman finds the bear holding her infant and attacks the bear with a spear. The bear knocks her across the room unconscious with a swath of his huge paw. The boy is eventually returned to his human family several years later, but never accepts being human or human language. He wishes to become a polar bear and seeks mystical assistance. This movie effectively tugs on heart-strings right to a near breaking point. I'm glad I did not read any of the reviews before I watched it with my 3 and 4 year old sons. The MPAA would have cut the following scenes: -In the opening scene the innuit mother is holding her new born and you can see a slight indication of hair on herbare lower waist. She holds up her son and he has "Simpson-esque"genitalia. -Open on the mother polar bear after she has delivered her new born pup and she licks his muzzle to get him to breathe. After she realizes there is no hope, she lays him down and exits the den and buriers the entrance to protect him from scavengers. The reviews of this movie are parents who want to set there children down in front of the video babysitter while they yap on there cell phones.
September 11, 2010
