
On Earth Day weekend last April, my family took a trip to the theater to see DisneyNature’s latest film: Bears. This film is educational, exciting, and humorous all at the same time. Sky, Amber, and Scout are the members of a brown bear family and viewers follow them on a year-long journey of survival. The young family deals with weather, tides, predators, and fellow bears’ aggression while they eagerly await the annual salmon run and fantastic feast that follows.
Last week we received a Disney Blu-ray of the film and we watched all of it the same evening. My sons know and love the film’s narrator John C. Reilly from Wreck It Ralph; his flavor of humor in the narration is right up their alleys. He instills incredible personality into the film, and his storytelling makes this my favorite DisneyNature film to date! He does an especially touching job personifying Scout, the male baby bear.
The cinematography is amazing. I spent much of the film asking, “How did they film that?”, with scenes of fighting, scavenging for food, and devouring salmon… As if you’re standing right there on the riverbanks watching it all.
Well wouldn’t you know it? There’s a short seven-minute film included on the Blu-ray titled “How Did They Film That?” It goes over the techniques and challenges the film crew encountered during their two years in Alaska making this film. I was fascinated with how the film crew would snowboard around with their film equipment to get as close as possible to the bears. You’ll even get to experience a videographer as he wipes out in the snow! Viewers will also learn about the underwater filming that was a critical part of the completed movie; the divers used special scuba equipment that kept the bubbles from disturbing the bears. Not only did I learn from the film itself, but the extras on the Blu-ray will offer quite a bit of insight.
The other Blu-ray extra worth mentioning is the six-minute short titled “Welcome to Alaska” about Katmai National Park in the southwestern part of the state of Alaska. The film discusses the logistical challenges in getting all the equipment to the required locations via small airplane and rubber rafts. I enjoyed the discussion about the highly variable weather that the film crew had to endure. It was a huge challenge for the crew to keep up with Sky and her two cubs.

If you are interested in winning one of the three combo prize packs we’re giving away: your very own copy of the DisneyNature Bears as well as a limited edition DodoCase brand Bears commemorative iPad Air case, valued at $95, please take part in our Rafflecopter giveaway below. Winners will be notified on September 5, 2014. Good luck!
DisneyNature Bears is a terrific addition to any family’s Blu-ray collection. It retails for $39.99 and can be purchased at major entertainment retailers such as Amazon.
GeekMom received a copy of this product for review purposes.
I missed this at the theatres and am overkeen to own a copy of the Blu-Ray! I love Nature and Wildlife!
I havent seen it yet… so If I won it would be great! 🙂
This movie is amazing! I love the end when they get to the spot with all the fish. SO happy I could almost cry.
I have not seen it.
Netflix is shipping Bears our way today! My daughter has seen the previews on the Disney Channel and is in love. She asks for it to be rewound no fewer than 3 times.
I have not seen this movie yet.
I’m looking forward to seeing this
we have not seen this yet
I haven’t seen it yet.
haven’t seen it yet
I haven’t been able to see it yet, but I heard that it’s really good!
I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m looking forward to it. Thanks
Watching the little bears play and figure things out!
I have not seen it yet, but I would love to watch it with my three boys!
I haven’t seen it yet.
I have not seen Disney Nature’s Bears but I am looking forward to seeing it. It looks really interesting.
We have not seen this one. We were waiting until it hit DVD. We have seen and own many of the other films in the Disneynature series.
We haven’t seen this, but we are trying to build up our little girl’s collection of movies, and this would be a great addition!
I haven’t seen it yet.