The Bear

Ever since the evergreen hit of Raymond Brigg's The Snowman Channel 4 have tried the formula again and again in attempt to replicate the strange melancholy and success of the original. Here it's another Briggs book, The Bear, which replaces the snowman with a colossal polar bear. The plot is almost identical, including a misjudged sequence with the child trying to hide the monstrosity crashing around the house. They even watch "The Snowman" on TV as the Bear looms improbably over them. Some of the "arctic bear spirit dancing over London" sequences are really beautiful but it feels a hollow sort of affair. A cash-in. A far better successor is the goofy and vulgar "Father Christmas" which I always watch as a double bill. It's the polar opposite, rather than a polar clone.

THE BEAR, an enchanting 30-minute animation about a young girl's relationship with a polar bear that escapes from the local zoo, is very much a spiritual follow-up to that timeless Raymond Briggs classic, THE SNOWMAN. The two productions look and feel very similar to each other and, while THE SNOWMAN has the edge, THE BEAR comes close to reaching the same level of quality.

As usual, there's far more going on than meets the eye, something that makes these Briggs stories suitable for adult viewers as well as the kids. On the face of it, it's simply a humorous tale about an unlikely relationship, but underneath it's all about friendship, being comfortable in your own skin, the tribulations of finding one's place in society, mysticism and nature versus technology and progress.

Needless to say it's also touching, thought-provoking and magical, with expert, hand-drawn animation and beautifully realised characters.

This film doesn't quite have the structure that the films of the Snowman/Father Christmas/Snowdog trilogy do. It's more of an interpretive dance than a story and that probably makes it quite artistic and beautiful for some. Children may enjoy it for it's simplicity and pretty style and without thinking too hard about it, but as an adult I find that it poses a lot of questions.

Firstly, it's unclear how the Bear got to her house? I'm sure the zoo would have noticed it's absence and I'd like to have seen him sniff out her location to give a tad more information to start.

Also, the music could have been a little bit less like The Snowman in the same way that the 'Superman', 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' themes are all a bit similar. It kind of took me out of the story as I tried to remember which bit I was recognising from the other festive favourite and which scene it came from.

As I say though, if you're just watching it to show your child a special little picture of fun and adventure and can get past the music issue (Maybe you haven't seen The Snowman at least 300 times), then it's a nice piece, but I tend to want a little bit more, even for a children's film, as they are an important way to teach them new things. I'm not sure this shares much of anything.

319.63/1000.

THE BEAR, huge and gentle - which makes its way from the London Zoo into the bedroom of a lonely little girl - takes her on a magical journey across the Wintertime landscape.

Haunting & evocative, this lovely little animated film - told entirely without narration or dialogue, is a most fitting successor to author Raymond Briggs' earlier triumph The Snowman, to which, at one point, it pays subtle homage. After enjoying the broad comedy of the Polar Visitor trying to hide in the proper English home, the viewer is swept into the Northern sojourn which fulfills the Bear's quest.

Howard Blake's score propels the fanciful images onward; the final song is sung by Charlotte Church.

The Bear and the other animated Raymond Briggs (based on his books), The Snowman, are examples of how drawings and music, without dialog, can give a sublime narrative experience. This film is romantic and fantastic, about imaginative power. Anyone with young kids knows it is rare to find a movie equally enjoyable for adults 6-year-olds and 2-year-olds, but these films are as close to universal as it gets. The music is wonderful -- it reminds me of George Enescu's Octet.The drawings are simple in style, but the animation is actually sophisticated and quite beautiful - although I've only seen it on VHS with its low quality. I"m sure that on film these films look even better.