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. The film was the third and final Disney animated feature produced primarily by the Feature Animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida ; the studio was shut down in March , not long after the release of this film in favor of computer-animated features.
A direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2 , was released on August 29, 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.
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.
Unlike Sitka, who gained the eagle of guidance, and Denahi, who gained the wolf of wisdom, Kenai receives the bear of love. He objects to his totem, stating that bears are thieves and dumb creatures without feelings, and believes his point is made a fact when a brown bear steals their basket of salmon, which Kenai did not hold properly in a hurry to receive his totem.
Kenai searches for the basket and finds it destroyed. He sees the bear, provokes it, his brothers find him, and a fight ends on top of a giant glacier. When the bear gets the upper hand, Sitka gives his life to save his brothers by dislodging the glacier, although the bear survives the fall. After Sitka's funeral, an enraged Kenai blames the bear for Sitka's death and rejects his totem.
