Release Date: August 12, 2014
Rating: G
Running Time: 78 minutes

From Disneynature, the studio that brought you Earth and Chimpanzee, comes Bears — an epic story on a breathtaking scale. Showcasing a year in the life of a bear family — mother Sky teaches her two impressionable cubs, Amber and Scout, about life’s most important lessons. Set against a majestic Alaskan backdrop, their journey begins as winter ends. Emerging from hibernation, the three face the bitter cold and an exciting but very risky outside world. Astonishing footage captures the fast-moving action and suspense of an endearing family learning to live life to its fullest in one of the planet’s last great wildernesses.

Brown bears in Alaska? The first few minutes of this documentary almost look like the real life Ice Age! But seriously, I wish there were more documentaries like this across all subjects because these would totally be game changers in the classroom. And these Disneynature films help us appreciate, love, and be in awe of animals even more than we already do and are.

In Bears, we follow a mother, Sky and her cubs, Scout and Amber. First, we follow the family across the snow, running into conflicts such as the dreaded avalanche. Then, we follow the three across the shore to the meadow. They encounter friendly bears and they encounter aggressive, starving bears. Magnus and Chinuk to name a few. After Sky’s encounter with these two, let’s just that I didn’t even know that bears eat cubs when they get to a certain point of hunger. Wow! So not only are there grey wolves like Tikani to watch out for but their own kind! Sheesh. And not only are there bears to compete with for food but ravens. Thankfully, the raven Sky encounters is more of a help though. Eat, play, survive. That’s the name of the game here.

Sky must stock up on salmon in the summer before hibernation in the winter. Not only for her but so she has enough milk to feed her cubs during hibernation. Boy, I had no idea the extent of how and where bears go to get their food until now. What an exhausting and at times, terrifying mission. The sound effects and music really made for an even more intense impact as the bears fought for the best spots to feed. It was pretty wild! My oh my. Dangerous.

There’s so much that I learned about bears and their journey as they prepare for hibernation, I wouldn’t know where to begin detailing my favorite facts. I was also surprised at how fun the narration was. John C. Reilly (Talladega Nights) did a wonderful job narrating and I was definitely way more engrossed in this doc than I expected to be definitely because of his narration. That said, African Cats is, for me, much more gripping and tugs at my heart even more though I am biased when it comes to cats, big and small. But this does a fabulous job as well and now I know a lot more about bears!

Plus, you’ll get to see Alaska like never before. What beautiful directing, I must also mention! Absolutely phenomenal. So if you were deciding whether or not to give this a watch, I don’t know why you were still on the fence! Go ahead and pick it up! It’s well worth your time. And if you really like it and want to see the bears in person, perhaps consider Hallo Bay Bear Camp. Anyone?

Bonus Features:

* Welcome To Alaska (7 minutes) – In this feature, we follow the crew as they set up camp in Alaska, search for Sky, deal with the different weather patterns, and pass the time.

Appearing in this Feature:
Director & Producer, Keith Scholey
Wildlife Cameramen, Mark Smith, John Shier
Field Assistant, Oliver Scholey
Guides, Daniel Bunker, Dewaine Tollefsrud

* The Future For The Bears (7 minutes) – In this feature, Director & Producer, Keith Scholey shows viewers the importance of protecting the wilderness. This can’t be stressed enough. It really can’t be. If you even think about skipping this feature!!! Don’t.

Also Appearing in this Feature:
Lead Guide, Simyra Taback-Hlebechuk
Guide, Dewaine Tollefsru
UN Messenger of Peace, Dr. Jane Goodall

* A Guide To Living With Bears (8 minutes) – This feature was especially fun as we get to see how the team interacted with the bears, for everyone’s safety and enjoyment while getting great coverage on film for this project. What a sight to see! This is probably my favorite feature.

Appearing in this Feature:
Co-Director & Producer, Adam Chapman
Lead Guide, Simyra Taback-Hlebechuk
Wildlife Cameraman, Gavin Thurston
Director & Producer, Keith Scholey

* How Did They Film That? (8 minutes) – This is a fascinating behind the scenes feature that gives viewers an even better view of the challenges the crew faced getting certain shots in the mountains and underwater over the course of two years of filming. That two years brought over 400 hours of footage. Wow. And look what they had to do to get these shots. Beyond amazed by this crew.

Appearing in this Feature:
Wildlife Cameramen, John Shier
Mountain Safety, Joseph St. Onge
Underwater Cameraman, Didier Noirot
Field Producer, Jonathan Smith
Co-Director & Producer, Adam Chapman

* “Carry On” Music Video By Olivia Holt

Own Disneynature’s Bears on Blu-ray and DVD today.