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, 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.

I love "the Snowman" and "Father Christmas", they are timeless Christmas classics. "The Bear" is a simple, haunting and sublime seasonal film, not quite as good as the other two but an essential nonetheless. The story is simple, and so are the characters particularly the warm and loving bear but very effective. The animation is beautiful, very similar to the animation from "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas" and to the illustrations from the book. The music has a haunting and dreamlike quality, with the end song sung beautifully by a young Charlotte Church.

Overall, I highly recommend "The Bear". 10/10 Bethany Cox

An Animated tale in the style of Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas", This tale is about a girl named tilly who visits the zoo and accidentally drops her teddy bear into the polar bear exhibit. Crying herself to sleep she wakes to find the polar bear in her room with he teddy bear. Tilly cares for the polar bear and hides it from her parents, which is no small feet. But he call of the wild bear constallation takes her on an adventure accross the night sky.

This is a must have Briggs' movie, all the charm and warmth of the first two animations are contained inside. Children and adults watch spellbound through another half hour of music and storytelling.

My best to the author and producers, please make more.

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.