Bear Country

Bear Country, together with Beaver Valley and Seal Island, started the True Life Adventures craze at cinemas all over the world. The Disney Company ought to put them out on DVD as a box set with all the nature movies put together.

These adventures started people's interest for nature, and set a standard for that category. All those pictures DESERVE TO BE PUBLIC AGAIN. In Norway, during the fifties and early sixties the True Life Adventures series topped the box office in Norway. And when Norway got a state run television i 1960, the Disneyland shows caught the most viewers. So, they really deserve to get place on DVD.

All fans and collectors. All The True Life Adventures will be released under the title, Walt Disney's Legacy Collection, in four dbl volumes on dec.5 2006. Jørn Back, Norway

A Walt Disney TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURE Short Subject.

This excellent nature documentary examines a year in the life of the residents of BEAR COUNTRY. While we see that most of the creatures must work hard to find food and avoid being eaten, it is shown that the lordly bear has a wild bounty spread before him. The relationship between mother bears & their cubs is also examined. Highlight: bears & their itches.

`This is one of a series of TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURES presenting strange facts about the world we live in. In the making of these films, nature is the dramatist. There are no fictitious situations or characters.' Winston Hibler is the narrator.

Taking from us one very chilly North American winter through to another, we follow the antics of a mother bear and her two curious cubs as they emerge from their snug den out into the melting snow and explore their surroundings. Whilst the youngsters find fun in just about everything, especially climbing trees and playing with baby mountain lions, their mother must engage in more productive activities like feeding them, teaching them, and keeping them safe from predators - chief of whom is actually another male black bear who will merrily slaughter the cubs if he gets a chance. This is one of Winston Hibbler's more personable commentaries, I found, with some charm and light-heartedness guiding our exposé to the adventures of these giant animals atop the food chain amidst the trees and beauty of this untamed wilderness. I can't help but wonder if they don't have the right idea, these critters: sleep through the bitter cold of winter; wake up; eat, drink and be merry then go back to sleep for another five months!

This documentary short won an Oscar for Two-reel short and was well-deserving of the honor. Everything about this is excellent-cinematography, locations, even the narration, which can be a problem with Disney live-action efforts, is excellent! It's ashame that The Mouse doesn't have this available to the public. I used to run occasionally on Vault Disney, but hasn't shown in quite a while, which is a shame. Worth the effort to locate. Most recommended.

It's been approx. 25 years since I have seen this fine film, and my memory is somewhat faded. I do remember the excellent narration. The narrator obviously cared very much about the bears that starred in the film; and also about the people who would be watching it. I can still recall a few real cute scenes that must have required a lot of patience on the part of the photographers. And I vividly remember that poignant final scene where the mother bear left her cubs, "never to return" as the narrator said.