My husband and I were fighting back the tears at the happy/sad/melancholy yet perfect ending of this beautiful movie. The movie tackles weighty topics such as prejudice, inequality, and wanting to be an artist in a disapproving world (it is French after all) without the feeling of a lecture or a syrupy kid’s lesson. In fact, the lessons here are not only more real and with more nuance than you would find from Disney, Pixar, or the like, they are more real than almost every adult American blockbuster. Some people may not be ready.
While Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a well deserved 97% fresh rating, some comments on Common Sense Media show parents
of young kids may be a bit cautious. They say it is harsh, and they are not wrong. While they don’t dwell too much on the bad, except maybe for a moment at the end, we are talking about a mistreated orphan and a lonely, hungry bear (man) in a world that doesn’t want them. There are also some truly scary parts, just like life.
And, they really do break the law. There is breaking and entering, a car theft, and escaping from the police, although we are (I love this but not everyone will) made to feel less bad about it by seeing the victims as money hungry, ordinary, upper-middle class bears (people) who will probably be ok in the end. But none of this is the real meat of this movie. It is the beautiful, expertly animated water color artwork, coupled with music to tremendous effect, and the touching, paternal friendship that develops between two outcasts who want nothing more than to be left alone with each other.
We watched this movie at the Alamo Draft House Kids Club, which is so much fun, but you can probably get it streaming. Be prepared to fall in love with the grumpy Ernest.