Br'er Bear
Br'er Bear is a fictional character from the Uncle Remus folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris.
Br'er Bear is a villain in the animated sequences of the 1946 Walt Disney-produced film, Song of the South; the character was voiced by Nick Stewart. Br'er Bear is portrayed as stupid, slow-witted and prone to violence when provoked, leaving him open to being tricked repeatedly by Br'er Rabbit when he accompanies Br'er Fox. Unlike the character's depiction in the earlier illustrations of Frederick S. Church, A. B. Frost, and E. W. Kemble, the Disney animators redesigned Br'er Bear in a more slapstick, cartoony style.[1]
The same folktales also inspired the 1975 Ralph Bakshi adult animation film Coonskin, which moves elements from the stories to a then-contemporary urban setting.
Other appearances
- Br'er Bear and many other characters from Song of the South appear as the main storyline of the Disney ride Splash Mountain. He appears as an audio-animatronic character in multiple scenes during the ride. In the attraction, as in the movie, Nick Stewart voices Br'er Bear.
- Br'er Bear has made cameo appearances in two other films. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, he was one of the "toons" in the final scene and in The Lion King 1 1/2, he is among the crowd coming into the theater to watch the film.
- Br'er Bear has also made sporadic appearances in Disney's Gladstone comics, such as one time when Bambi and his friends were being hunted by Br'er Bear. The Wicked Witch from Snow White is also near the forest, and she apparently knows Br'er Bear when he visits her, but cautions him not to drink what is in her caludron. Br'er Bear helps himself to it, as he believes she is making a potion for super strength, but is then taken aback when she scolds him for not listening to her warning and that she was just mixing ordinary turpentine. Br'er Bear is then too weakened and too humiliated to continue trying to hunt Bambi and his friends, who rejoice that his own arrogance and stupidity led to his own defeat.
- Br'er Bear also appears with Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet-and-greets, parades and shows.
- Br'er Bear makes cameo appearances in several episodes of the Disney's House of Mouse television series and in the direct-to-video release Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.
References
- ^ Brasch, Walter M. (2000). Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus, and the 'Cornfield Journalist': The Tale of Joel Chandler Harris. Mercer University Press. P. 275.
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