THE BEARS AND I

US, 1974, 89 minutes, Colour.
Patrick Wayne, Chief Dan George, Andrew Duggan, Michael Ansara.
Directed by Bernard Mc Eveety.

The Bears and I is a popular Disney film of the 1970s. Patrick Wayne, John Wayne’s son, appears as a man who lives in the wilderness, finds three bears and has to decide how to deal with them, especially in view of their mother being hunted. The film also focuses on American Indians, their heritage, their home in the forests and their religious beliefs as well as the clashes with whites and authorities in the forest.

The film focuses on animals – and is interested in conservation and the environment when this theme was emerging as of importance and interest on a wide scale.

Bernard Mc Eveety was the brother of Vincent Mc Eveety who also directed a number of films and television programs for Disney. A number of Mc Eveety’s nephews also worked in the film industry, Vince Mc Eveety as an actor and producer, Stephen Mc Eveety as a producer, including producer for The Passion of the Christ.

1. Was this an enjoyable film? For whom? For what age group was it made? How was this evident?

2. How well did the film rely on scenery, colour, the animals? especially the bears? How do young, audiences respond to these facets?

3. Was it a good animal film? The presentation of the bears, their growing up, their training, their friendliness, encounter with other animals, their freedom?

4. Was the film a good adventure story? The animals and their mother being hunted, the baddies, the clashes with the forestry people, the fire fighting?

5. How interesting was the film in its theme about the Indians? The modern Indians and their heritage? Their home in the forests? Their religious beliefs about bears? The clashes with white men and forest authorities? The solution to make them ranchers?

6. How was the film a contribution to the conservation theme? The role of forests and their protection, the role of the Indians, tourists in the forests, hunters?

7. How interesting a hero was Bob? His narrative about his past and the war, his visiting the Indians, his loyalty to his friend, his making his home in the forest, his bringing up the bears, his encounters with the Indians and the villain. with the white men and the forestry people, his helping to change the Indians’ way of life, his contribution to the solution? A typical American hero?

8. How interesting a character was the Indian chief? As a modern Indian in the 70s traditions, dignity, beliefs? Audience response to the changing of the forest? The attitude of the workers? The following of orders over feelings?

9. How happy and suitable was the ending? On feelings, sentiments. and attitudes towards values and the American way of life?