While on a camping trip with Father Bear, Little Bear meets a wild bear named Cub, and the two become quick friends. After learning that Cub lost his parents, Little Bear and his friends, Duck, Hen, Owl, and Cat, set out to find Cub's parents in the wilderness, encountering friends, as well as lots of troubles along the way. What I really love about this is that it doesn't shy away from any of the dangers in the wilderness. There are chances for rock slides, harsh rivers and rapids, there are even predators. We meet a Mountain Lion early on in the movie and he shows up again at the end. The great thing is though, they don't shove the Mountain Lion in the story that much, he appears like three times in the movie. They could have thrown him in and have him stalking the main cast, but no, they just keep it to the two major appearances and one minor one, and I am really happy they made that choice because nature is enough, getting separated from your group is enough, being lost is enough. Don't get me wrong, I love a good villain, but sometimes you don't need a Maleficent, a Magica De Spell or even a Lady Tremaine, sometimes the best obstacles are the ones found in the environment.
On top of that the characters are very likable. Little Bear is naïve, but optimistic. A nice contrast to Cub, who is a bit more cynical due to his circumstances. Depending on who you are you may find Duck to be a bit annoying, but to be fair I do see a little of myself in Duck, so I found her to be somewhat charming, though they maybe do have her on screen more than one would probably like. The rest of the cast aren't really in this for much, but you still get the kind of characters they are, even if you're not familiar with the original show, you get Owl's personality, Cat's personality, you do get to know most of these characters. It's kind of a shame that Emily didn't even get a cameo appearance in this movie because she is a major character in the show, but then again I don't really know where you would put her in this story. Then we have the Mountain Lion, known as Trouble. Again, he does not appear that much, but when he does it's actually kind of intimidating. I wouldn't say he's one of the scariest kids movie antagonists, but the way he speaks and his presence would probably unease some kids.
I really do want to state that this movie is meant for little kids, like preschool age, but even then this movie is actually very respectful of its audience. There is a lot of quiet moments, moments of the group just having fun, even a lot of more emotionally taxing moments. They do have some songs, but they aren't pop songs made to sell a soundtrack, they are songs that actually fit the mood and tone of Little Bear, and I think they're beautiful. Some people might not be into the pacing, it is a bit of a slow movie, but I just kind of respect that a bit more because, well this is a movie for little kids, and I like that it's not cutting away every shot to make the pacing more exciting, it is very respectful of the audience. We don't really see this in kids films anymore, they all seem to need high energy and lots of pop songs, and maybe one or two more emotional moments. I mean, there are still some recent kids movies I did enjoy, The Bad Guys and Angry Birds 2 are very high energy but I thought were still really fun, but you do kind of notice to formula. I feel like it really needs to be said, you don't need energy to be engaging, you need to be engaging to be engaging, and I found this movie to be engaging.
Is this movie perfect? No. Will you get a lot out of it as an older kid, or even an adult? Well I don't want to say no, but probably not. Again, this movie is for little kids, and if you have little kids, I would highly recommend this movie. You can find it on YouTube on the Little Bear - Official channel. Would I recommend this movie to anyone outside of that demographic though? Well, that is a tough call. I have said I recommended the Blue's Clues Movie despite the fact that it was also meant for little kids, and looking back I probably should have just kept it at a Slight Recommendation. That being said, I think this movie is too good to keep it at a Slight Recommendation. Rating movies that are really good, but also obviously not for a general audience (outside of the MPAA rating) can be tricky because giving it a Slight Recommendation puts it in the same general area of movies I don't really like, but giving it anything higher will probably give the wrong impression, as some movies are obviously made for specific audiences or have content that some audiences might not get into. It's tricky because I don't want someone to pass a movie off because my rating says "Ehh, I only slightly recommend it", which is why I'm really regretting giving that rating to Felidae, but at the same time, yeah this is a movie for little kids and if you're not a little kid or don't have little kids you're probably not going to get a lot out of it. However, this movie is very respectful to its audience, really well made and I think it's perfect for little kids. So, you know what, if you do have little kids, put this movie on. If not, well, maybe give it a look anyway. You might actually find it alright.
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