Tuesday, October 19, 2004

learning to be a man by becoming a bear ... and the end of jungle terror

Disney's Brother Bear marks another of their ventures into "original" stories (aka not based on popular fairy tales). The story is engaging and the songs are often entertaining. The makers use an interesting filmic device (a device that seems to be a retort to television's deplorable panning and scanning of movies). The film begins in 1.85:1 and switches to 2.35:1 when Kenai becomes a bear. Other recent uses of varying aspect ratios include Kill Bill Vol II and The Incredibles (a reference from the future as it were, since this film hit theatres in December 2004). Watch the credits carefully and you'll see the name Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson) in the list of voice coaches. The song accompanying Kenai's transformation was translated into innuit and then performed by the Bulgarian women's choir. And stick around for the end credits to see Koda talk to the camera (in accordance with all federal and state wildlife regulations no fish were harmed during the making of this film), while, in the background, a bear is chasing fish to death; the film ends with a blackout and a bear's belch.

The news that Veerappan was finally captured and killed seemed to add a touch of irony to my recent viewing. All things considered now, I wonder what happens to RGV/Shimit Amin's Let's Catch Veerappan?

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