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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page We Bare Bears: The Movie. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |
We Bare Bears: The Movie is a 2020 American television animated adventure film based on the Cartoon Network television series of the same name. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it was released on North American digital theater platforms by Warner Bros. Television Distribution on June 30, 2020. Directed by series creator Daniel Chong from a story by Mikey Heller and Kris Mukai, We Bare Bears: The Movie stars the voices of series regulars Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, and Demetri Martin as the three titular bears Grizzly, Panda, and Ice Bear; joined by Marc Evan Jackson as Agent Trout and Keith Ferguson as Officer Murphy. This film serves as the series finale of We Bare Bears.
Plot[]
In their desire to be accepted into the community, the three bear brothers Grizzly, Panda, and Ice Bear unwittingly wreak havoc throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, igniting a mob of complaints from its residents. Seeking to remove them from society, wildlife control agent Trout relentlessly pursues to separate the brothers, who in turn escape from the Bay Area and seek refuge to Canada. Along the way, the Bears endure hardships while staying true to their promise of being "bros for life". The film, an allegory for what it feels like to be a minority in America, explores themes of acceptance, family separation, and racial discrimination, which were darker than the lighthearted but similar themes upon which Chong, a member of the Asian American minority, had explored within the television series.
Cast[]
- Eric Edelstein as Grizzly "Grizz", a grizzly bear and the eldest of the Bear brothers. Highly sociable yet socially inept, he among the Bears had the most desire to be accepted and loved by society and cares deeply for the well-being of his younger siblings.
- Sam Lavagnino as Baby Grizz.
- Bobby Moynihan as Panda, a panda bear and the middle brother. A hopeless romantic, he often changes his online personality to be perceived as a "cool guy".
- Max Mitchell as Baby Panda.
- Demetri Martin as Ice Bear, a polar bear and the youngest of the Bear brothers. Monotonous and stoic, he always speaks in third person and one-liners and has a variety of skills which prove to be useful in situations.
- Max Mitchell as Baby Ice Bear.
- Marc Evan Jackson as Agent Trout, a Wildlife Control agent, intent on capturing the Bears and separating them from human society and themselves, who is later defeated and arrested by Officer Murphy.
- Keith Ferguson as Officer Murphy, a kind and dedicated SFPD police officer who has had a few encounters with the bears during the series due to them initially being declared suspects of a crime but later turn out to be innocent. In the film, he is adamant about not punishing the Bears for their antics. Ferguson also voices additional characters in the film.
- Jason Lee as Charlie, a Bigfoot friend of the Bears, who is also a yoga instructor and helped free the bears from Trout after some help from Brenda and his animal friends.
- Patton Oswalt as Nom Nom, an internet sensation koala.
- Charlyne Yi as Chloe Park, a collegiate child prodigy and a friend of the Bears.
- Mel Rodriguez as Darrell Saragosa, a friend of the Bears who works at a computer mouse shop.
- Cameron Esposito as Ranger Dana Tabes, a friend of the Bears who works as a park ranger near their home.
- Ellie Kemper as Lucy, a friend of the Bears who sells and delivers fresh produce.
- Travina Springer as Dramatic Cow, an internet-famous cow.
- Sarah Sobole as Angry Kitty, an internet-famous cat.
- Josh Cooley as Painting Elephant, an internet-famous elephant.
- Amber Liu as Jojo Raccoon, an internet-famous raccoon.
- Jimmy O. Yang as Joey Raccoon, an internet-famous raccoon and Jojo's brother.
- Fabrizio Guido as Pizza Rat, an internet-famous rat desperate for followers.
- James Trevena-Brown as Jacked Kangaroo, an internet-famous kangaroo.
- Brian Stevenson as Southern Owl, an internet-famous owl.
- Peter Jessop as the Canadian Border Guard
- Erin Fitzgerald as the Canadian poutine truck seller
- Additional Voices: Daniel Chong, Travina Springer, Josh Cooley, Ben Diskin, Keith Ferguson, Erin Fitzgerald, Ace Gibson, Grey Griffin, Manny Hernandez, Maggie Lowe, Edi Patterson, Kevin Michael Richardson, Stephanie Sheh, Rick Zieff.
Production[]
According to We Bare Bears series creator Daniel Chong, he was approached by the Cartoon Network staff with an idea for a feature film based on the series in 2018. Despite having no previous experience in film, Chong accepted the proposal, drawing from his feature animation practice and reasoning that the characters he created have an emotional depth in them and capabilities he knew that could be sustained for a long period of time. Due to the then-continuing production of the series, Chong and his team had to prepare the film while finishing the episodes at the same time, which took over several months. The film's story was written by Mikey Heller and Kris Mukai, the main writers of the series. While writing it, they were inspired by the 2018 California wildfires and the Trump administration family separation policy that were occurring at the time, which lead to a family being separated from each other as a central theme to a forest fire being written in the story's climax. Chong remarked that sensitive topic such as those wouldn't appear to be ideal in the main children's television series. He also wanted the main themes within the series to be displayed in the film, such as diversity and the reason for anthropomorphic characters.
Chong remarked that the original treatment of the film was centered around the three Bears. But to balance the heavy themes, the film's core was shifted to be centralized around Grizz. The original meeting sequence was first written with the three bears reminiscing it but was rewritten to be focused on Grizz, who, as Chong felt, as the eldest of the brothers, was faced with the heaviest burdens and was most concerned with everyone's well-being. Chong also remarked that he was initially opposed to the addition of the other captive bears, as it could risk the main characters as uninteresting. The film was finalized as the Bears' final adventure and a conclusion to the original We Bare Bears series, though Chong had expressed intentions for it to continue to spin-offs, among other different ways. This was before he announced that he'll be departing Cartoon Network to work on another project. The animation on the film was produced by Rough Draft Studios, which had previously animated the television series.
Release[]
Cartoon Network announced the film on May 30, 2019, after the conclusion of the series' fourth season finale and final episode, alongside an untitled spin-off series focusing on the Bears as cubs. In January 2020, a short preview of the film was shown during the 2020 SF Sketchfest. On May 21, 2020, the film's trailer was presented by the series' lead voice actors Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, and Demetri Martin through a Zoom conference. Originally scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on June 8, 2020, We Bare Bears: The Movie was released in select North American digital viewing platforms on June 30, 2020 (Amazon Prime Video had accidentally released the movie on the original date before pulling it until the intended date shortly after), and premiered on Cartoon Network on September 7, 2020. The DVD was released on September 8, 2020. Bonus features includes an audio commentary, animatics, deleted scenes and more. When the film released on Cartoon Network, it was watched by 458,000 viewers.
In Southeast Asia, the film was released on Cartoon Network on September 12, 2020 and it was simulcast on Boomerang, Oh!K, Warner TV, HBO, and HBO Family.