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. 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.

Plot

In a post-ice age Alaska, the local tribes believe all creatures are created through the Great Spirits, who are said to appear in the form of an aurora. An elderly Denahi tells a story about him and his brothers to the people of his tribe. A trio of brothers, Kenai, the youngest; Denahi, the middle; and Sitka, the eldest, return to their tribe for Kenai to receive his totem, necklaces in the shapes of different animals, from Tanana, the shaman of the brothers' tribe. The particular animals they represent symbolize what they must achieve to call themselves men.