I have it on the authority of one child, anyway, that the funny part of this is when the bears make a mess. I remember seeing this at least once when I was a child myself, and I’m not sure how I felt about it then. It’s worth noting, too, that he was pretty mellow about the fact that the cubs were separated from their mom, something I know has bothered other kids before, but I’m not sure he noticed exactly how long they were separated.

Anyway, since I’ve linked to his review, what I’ve decided to do is let him ask me questions about the movie, and then I will answer them. My answers will probably be a little more involved than his, though.

What did you like about it?

I liked that the cubs were eventually reunited with their mother. I liked that it showed that the rangers were trying to make sure people were safe from bears and didn’t want to hurt Nokomis, the mother bear. The movie also showed that the rules against feeding bears are to protect the bears—and showed that not following those rules can be bad for people, too. I also thought bits of it were funny, and I thought the park was pretty.

Why do you like it so much?

I’m not sure I’d say I liked it “so much.” I thought it was cute and funny, and I had a lot of good things to say about it, but I could also say bad things about it, too.

Did you like it?

Yeah, it was okay for what it was. Out of five stars, I’d probably give it three and a half.

Why?

We’ve already talked about the stuff I liked. But it kind of got me that the rangers just assumed that she was too old to have cubs instead of checking around to be sure even while the campsite was being ravaged by bear cubs. And why was the kitchen empty enough for a pair of adolescent bear cubs to cause that much damage? If anyone had been in there instead of just walking away from bread dough and half-baked pies, it would have been safer for Nokomis. The answer, of course, was that “it’s funny,” but I’m the sort of person who thinks about that stuff.

[discussion of questions he could ask]

What music did you liked?

I didn’t really notice any special music in it, which is sad—a lot of Disney stuff has really good music, but the shows like this are just sort of there in that department.

Is there any questions?

Where did everyone in the kitchen go? How old, exactly, is Nokomis that they assume she can’t have cubs? Come to that, how long do bears live after menopause? Did anyone go to Yellowstone in 1963 who could follow a basic sign? Wouldn’t apples have been better to feed bears than marshmallows, if you had to feed bears something which you didn’t because signs? Do you think this stopped later guests from feeding the bears?

Do you like the mom and the cubs?

Yeah. The cubs are adorable. The mom really wants to take care of them. Bears are important to their ecosystem—as long as people don’t keep feeding them marshmallows.

Help me take my kids on trips where we will definitely not feed bears; consider supporting my Patreon!

 

(Note, I don’t know why it’s so hard to find anything but B&W article stills, since it was not filmed in B&W.  Whatever.)