The Bear (1998 Video) User Reviews

Another sublime Raymond Briggs adaptation

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 26 December 2012]

THE BEAR, an enchanting 30-minute animation about a young girl's relationship with a polar bear that escapes from the local zoo, is very much a spiritual follow-up to that timeless Raymond Briggs classic, THE SNOWMAN. The two productions look and feel very similar to each other and, while THE SNOWMAN has the edge, THE BEAR comes close to reaching the same level of quality.

As usual, there's far more going on than meets the eye, something that makes these Briggs stories suitable for adult viewers as well as the kids. On the face of it, it's simply a humorous tale about an unlikely relationship, but underneath it's all about friendship, being comfortable in your own skin, the tribulations of finding one's place in society, mysticism and nature versus technology and progress.

Needless to say it's also touching, thought-provoking and magical, with expert, hand-drawn animation and beautifully realised characters.

Walking in the Bear

[owen-watts · 6/10 · 6 May 2023]

Ever since the evergreen hit of Raymond Brigg's The Snowman Channel 4 have tried the formula again and again in attempt to replicate the strange melancholy and success of the original. Here it's another Briggs book, The Bear, which replaces the snowman with a colossal polar bear. The plot is almost identical, including a misjudged sequence with the child trying to hide the monstrosity crashing around the house. They even watch "The Snowman" on TV as the Bear looms improbably over them. Some of the "arctic bear spirit dancing over London" sequences are really beautiful but it feels a hollow sort of affair. A cash-in. A far better successor is the goofy and vulgar "Father Christmas" which I always watch as a double bill. It's the polar opposite, rather than a polar clone.

The Bear

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 31 December 2005]

If you liked The Snowman or Father Christmas, then here is another Christmas film from Raymond Briggs. It doesn't have any dialogue, but the music just makes it just as good as The Snowman, it even appears a tiny bit from it. Basically a little girl really loves bear's, especially polar bears. When she loses her teddy bear in the polar bear sanctuary, she is one night visited by a polar bear that returns it. Together that night they go through the snow, follow a large ghost polar bear, have a bath and much more. The animation is just quality, the music is perfect and the end theme sung by young Charlotte Church makes this one of the essentials for Christmas television. Very good!

The Snowman with added polar bear and less snow – a rerun but still seasonal family fun

[bob the moo · 8 January 2007]

While at the zoo a young girl loses her favourite teddy bear into the polar bear enclosure. Later that night she is still upset and goes to sleep with no toys. However in the night the polar bear comes to her house to return the teddy and she lets him stay as a result. The morning comes and sees the girl keeping the bear a secret from her parents – not an easy feat in a three bedroom house. Later that night the pair go out into the snow to see the sights and play games.

With The Snowman being on television every single Christmas from the moment it was made until the very end of time itself, I took the opportunity to see his animation from another Briggs book for the first time. The thing that struck me immediately (and stayed with me throughout) was how very similar it was to the Snowman in terms of theme, look, sound and overall delivery. In fact it is pretty much The Snowman but with a polar bear and no Aled Jones. On one hand this did make me wonder if Briggs only had one trick to play and he had already done it but I did try to be fair and watch it as a film just on its own merits.

Doing so finds an enjoyable film that has all the strengths of the Snowman as it is cheerful with simple animation and good characters. The music is good and the final song is from a younger and less "laddy" Charlotte Church. So it may well be The Snowman with more polar bear but it is still a good short film for the family at Christmas time. It is not as famous as Snowman and I suspect a lot fewer people have seen it, which is probably a reason in itself for seeking it out as an alternative next time the festivities come around.

Watch it when the snow comes

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 4 January 2017]

"The Bear" is a 26-minute animated short film that was made for the Christmas holidays back in 1998, so this one will soon have its 20th anniversary already. The team behind this are the ones who worked on "The Snowman" and "The Snowman and the Snowdog" and you can easily see it from the animation style. And as with these I just mentioned, there is also no (or hardly any) spoken dialogue in here, no voice acting, at least not in the version I saw. Apparently Judi Dench is the narrator for the American version, so if you are a great fan of her then check out that one. I can imagine her voice going pretty well with the atmosphere. Anyway, in terms of the story it is pretty decent as well without ever reaching greatness really and same goes for the music. I personally was not too fond of the way the human protagonist looked, but I liked everything else. This is entirely subjective of course. All in all, this short film at slightly under half an hour is certainly a good pick to check out when there is a lot of snow outside your house that gets you in the spirit. Apart from the very general plot idea, the film scores through realism and love to detail. I think it's a decent watch for the young ones and those still young at heart.

Come Travel Under Northern Stars

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 11 January 2003]

THE BEAR, huge and gentle - which makes its way from the London Zoo into the bedroom of a lonely little girl - takes her on a magical journey across the Wintertime landscape.

Haunting & evocative, this lovely little animated film - told entirely without narration or dialogue, is a most fitting successor to author Raymond Briggs' earlier triumph The Snowman, to which, at one point, it pays subtle homage. After enjoying the broad comedy of the Polar Visitor trying to hide in the proper English home, the viewer is swept into the Northern sojourn which fulfills the Bear's quest.

Howard Blake's score propels the fanciful images onward; the final song is sung by Charlotte Church.

Fab

[orliorliorli · 9/10 · 25 January 2005]

I love this film and i thought it had so much charm and was delightful to watch. I almost felt obliged to like before i saw it not only because it was my godmother who worked with the producers and animation team to create the film, but also because i had photo's taken of me to model Tilly, but when i saw it i was delighted and was over the moon to have contributed to it. The music is lovely and the atmosphere is simply gorgeous. congratulations to the producers and to Charlotte Church who sang at the end. Well done all! I hope to see many more films of the sort and i am sure they will live up to the same standard at films like The Snowman and of course the Bear.

Sublime, wordless film

[liftin · 9/10 · 21 January 2005]

The Bear and the other animated Raymond Briggs (based on his books), The Snowman, are examples of how drawings and music, without dialog, can give a sublime narrative experience. This film is romantic and fantastic, about imaginative power. Anyone with young kids knows it is rare to find a movie equally enjoyable for adults 6-year-olds and 2-year-olds, but these films are as close to universal as it gets. The music is wonderful -- it reminds me of George Enescu's Octet.The drawings are simple in style, but the animation is actually sophisticated and quite beautiful - although I've only seen it on VHS with its low quality. I"m sure that on film these films look even better.

The kid will have pneumonia just in time for Christmas.

[adamjohns-42575 · 3/10 · 23 December 2021]

This film doesn't quite have the structure that the films of the Snowman/Father Christmas/Snowdog trilogy do. It's more of an interpretive dance than a story and that probably makes it quite artistic and beautiful for some. Children may enjoy it for it's simplicity and pretty style and without thinking too hard about it, but as an adult I find that it poses a lot of questions.

Firstly, it's unclear how the Bear got to her house? I'm sure the zoo would have noticed it's absence and I'd like to have seen him sniff out her location to give a tad more information to start.

Also, the music could have been a little bit less like The Snowman in the same way that the 'Superman', 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' themes are all a bit similar. It kind of took me out of the story as I tried to remember which bit I was recognising from the other festive favourite and which scene it came from.

As I say though, if you're just watching it to show your child a special little picture of fun and adventure and can get past the music issue (Maybe you haven't seen The Snowman at least 300 times), then it's a nice piece, but I tend to want a little bit more, even for a children's film, as they are an important way to teach them new things. I'm not sure this shares much of anything.

319.63/1000.

Simple, haunting and just sublime

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 6 March 2010]

I love "the Snowman" and "Father Christmas", they are timeless Christmas classics. "The Bear" is a simple, haunting and sublime seasonal film, not quite as good as the other two but an essential nonetheless. The story is simple, and so are the characters particularly the warm and loving bear but very effective. The animation is beautiful, very similar to the animation from "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas" and to the illustrations from the book. The music has a haunting and dreamlike quality, with the end song sung beautifully by a young Charlotte Church.

Overall, I highly recommend "The Bear". 10/10 Bethany Cox

Popular English Children's Book by Raymond Briggs

[aclockworkbear · 9/10 · 19 December 2001]

An Animated tale in the style of Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas", This tale is about a girl named tilly who visits the zoo and accidentally drops her teddy bear into the polar bear exhibit. Crying herself to sleep she wakes to find the polar bear in her room with he teddy bear. Tilly cares for the polar bear and hides it from her parents, which is no small feet. But he call of the wild bear constallation takes her on an adventure accross the night sky.

This is a must have Briggs' movie, all the charm and warmth of the first two animations are contained inside. Children and adults watch spellbound through another half hour of music and storytelling.

My best to the author and producers, please make more.

A very beautiful short

[Rectangular_businessman · 9/10 · 25 December 2022]

It's undeniable this short has many plot similarities with "The Snowman" (Something quite understandable, considering it was based in another book by Raymond Briggs, the same author of The Snowman,), but this is a beautiful short nonetheless; having enough merits to be considered a Christmas classic on its own right.

From beginning to end, The Bear featured a rather gorgeous animation, filled with pretty whimsical sequences filled of a child-like wonder; like in The Snowman, this beautiful dream ends in a bittersweet, yet at the same time very satsifying, note of melancholy.

And the overall result is quite wonderful, being perhaps one of the best animations from the United Kingdom ever made.