Koda, fratello orso

(Brother Bear)
by Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
85’, USA, 2003

Kenai is a young, impetuous and stubborn Inuit hunter. On the trail of a bear that caused the death of his brother, Sitka, Kenai wins his battle with the animal when out of nowhere, on the peak of a promontory, the spirit of his dead brother appears and transforms Kenai into a bear. Th is punishment serves to teach Kenai to love and respect Nature in all its forms. Believing he is dead, the third brother, Denhai, goes looking for the bear who he believes killed Kenai, not knowing that he is actually Kenai himself. And so, the young hunter, transformed into a bear, departs on a long voyage toward the mountain “where the lights touch the earth”. Only up there can he return to his human form. It is during this trip that Kenai encounters the little bear Koda, who will accompany him toward the mountain and become his friend. Koda does not know that Kenai is the hunter who killed his mother. When he discovers this, he flees from Kenai, who reaches the mountain alone. Up there he will again
meet Denahi who, having followed him to the top, will attempt to kill him. Little Koda will save his life, before the spirit of Sitka transforms him, once again, into a man.

Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
Aaron Blaise was born in Burlington, Vermont, where he studied at the Ringling School of Art and Design. From an early age he hoped to become part of the Disney team, and succeeded in doing so in 1988. Since then he has worked as an assistant and then a director of animated films. Brother Bear is his fi rst fi lm with Robert Walker, a young television director who, with Koda, has also directed his first animated fi lm.