Disney Brother Bear always felt a little left out of the company's slate of animated films. It lacks the title recognition of a centuries-old fable like Sleeping Beauty or Snow White, and parts of its story seem split between impulses that oscillate between melancholic drama inspired by Native American werewolf tales and more modern comedy. But these are features exciting animation scenesand it is built on heartfelt messages about the connection between humanity and the natural world.
Both of these latter elements come into play in “Snow Bear,” an 11-minute hand-drawn animated short. Brother Bear co-directed by Aaron Blaze, now featured on YouTube. Blaze, lead animator Lion King And Mulanonce said in an interview with EW that he took upon himself Brother Bear as his directorial debut “so I can animate bears.” He returned to his Snow Bear obsession—Blaise's rep says he personally did 11,000 drawings for the film, spending three years creating the film himself.
The wordless short film follows a lone polar bear as he wanders the Arctic in search of a friend. When he tries to connect with other animals, he is rejected until he builds a friend out of snow. “Snow Bear” is cute and kid-friendly, but at its core is a message about… The threat climate change poses to polar bearsas polar ice caps disappear and their habitats change. A statement about the short film said Blaze has teamed up with a human rights group. Polar Bears International make “Snow Bear”.
Five-minute short film about the short film also featured on YouTubeexplains how Blaze approached the Oscar winner and Brother Bear composer Mark Mancina, who created the score for the short film, and how he brought his background as an artist to the animation, design and color selection of the project.
Blaise also created the artwork for the accompanying card game, inspired by the short film now on Kickstarterdescribed as “a mix of Rummy and Uno with a bit of puzzle thrown in.” The campaign, now fully funded, will run until December 28th.
