Brother Bear: A Transformation Tale

by Hiro Clark Wakabayashi

Rooted in the lore of Pacific Northwest culture, Brother Bear is a tale of the strong brotherhood between all living creatures. It is also about discovering the power of change in our world, whether it be the change from winter to spring, or from small to large, or the transformation of a boy to a man. This epic story combines humor and emotion with breathtaking images of nature and wildlife from a time long forgotten.

Genres: Art, Media Tie In

124 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love to read the Disney art books, not only because there's awesome artwork and even concept art included but because it's always extremely fascinating to see the stories behind the final product. With Brother Bear, apparently, there was so much more of a struggle to get the film complete and epic than I ever would have realized.

This book was a little inspiring, too. Right in the first section it talks about the director's career and how he got his start at Disney. He was an intern! It's so awesome to see someone climb up the ladder like that, to really--eventually--make all of their dreams come true and create something that is such a classic.

It's also inspiring to see what can come out of such hard word. This book details three other full scripts--full scripts--they had to use before Brother Bear settled into its final form. Can you imagine putting all of that time, love, and effort into something that just doesn't quite end up working in the end and needing to rewrite it entirely? The important message her, however, was that the basic theme and heart of the movie remained the same throughout this process. It was just a journey needed to explore the characters that would be presented and how the story would unfold.

And it's absolutely hilarious that they had the idea of the moose brothers early on and even when they weren't working they were basically like "okay they're going to end up being funny so we're keeping them". Author problems. And they ended up tying into the movie so well in the end, so it just goes to show that you can be stubborn about parts of the story you relentlessly love.

I'd recommend this book so, so much. It's so inspirational and beautiful.

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say this is more of a production diary from one of the artists. Included are some concept art, paintings and storyboards.

The book details the journey for creating the animated movie. It's like how the artists look at their work and think about what they have done, how far they have come. It's more emotional talk than technical talk.

I wish they had included more art because they are terrific.

This review was first published on parkablogs.com. There are more pictures and videos on my blog.

[τλιϓλ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I didn't like the ending of the movie but it wasn't a step holding me from buying this book, very late to but at least I did it in the end and the book is here between my hands.
I have to say that I enjoy every chapter, each one is a unique in its own way, sketches, pictures and the beginning of the was so lovely that I fell in love immediately with it.
The cover was absolutely wonderful and magical.
I'm so happy to have this book & it won't be read for once, I know I'll read it every now & then.