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The Bear is the final antagonist of Disney's 1981 animated film The Fox and the Hound. He is an unnamed giant black-furred bear with red eyes. He does not tolerate intruders and trespassers, and will kill them if they do so, since he is accidentally woken up by Amos Slade and Copper.
Background[]
Physical Description[]
The Bear is a gigantic and slender grizzly bear with burly, black fur, red eyes and silver hair. He is likely a melanistic grizzly bear, Kodiak bear or an American black grizzly bear.
Personality[]
This huge, grizzly bear does not tolerate intruders and trespassers and if they crossed into his territory, he will kill them if they do so. He might have been the inspiration for that of Mor'du, the villain of Disney/Pixar's Brave.
Appearances[]
The Fox and the Hound[]
The Bear first appears while Copper and Amos are trespassing in the woods to find Tod and Vixey, but while trying to get them, accidentally land in the bear's territory and antagonize the wrathful beast, that awakens and attacks Copper's owner. He swipes at Amos, causing him to tumble down a hillside, and forcing him to lose his gun landing on a tree, and still continues to pursue him. Whilst trying his best to escape from the Bear, Amos is caught in one of his own traps and his gun has fallen slightly out of his reach. Furious that the intruders aren't leaving his territory, the grizzly Bear continues to attack them. Copper bravely tries to protect his master and attacks the Bear, but despite being smaller and more agile, is no match for the giant bear as he swats the dog, and Copper is soon overwhelmed in a very vicious fight. Against his better judgement, Tod quickly intervenes to save his friend. He fights the much larger bear and ends up luring him up onto a fallen trunk above a reserve's waterfall. While Tod hangs for dear life on the trunk, the Bear tries to deliver the final blow, but the log cannot support his weight. It breaks, sending the two animals falling down into the huge waterfall many meters below. Tod survives, and it is unknown if the bear was able to do the same.
Trivia[]
- The Bear's snarl is the same snarl of Brutus and Nero the Crocodiles from The Rescuers and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.
- When Copper bites him on the muzzle, blood is shown on the north side of the bear's muzzle. This is one of the film's controversial points.
- When Amos fires his shot at the Bear, hitting his right arm, blood is shown as well.
- The Bear was animated by Glen Keane. Henry Selick did work on the character since he was being trained under Keane and Eric Larson. Selick would later become the director of films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.
- The Bear's design may have been the original inspiration for that of Mor'du, the villain of Disney/Pixar's Brave.
- The Bear is very similar to Lumpjaw. Both are big bears, they have the same goal of killing the film's main protagonists (for Bear, Tod; for Lumpjaw, Bongo), and both of their defeats results in falling. The main difference is that Lumpjaw is a big brown grizzly bear, while Bear is a huge black furred bear. The other difference is when Bear falls, he falls down a waterfall, and when Lumpjaw falls, he's swept away in a river.
- Due to the color of his fur, the bear is often believed to be an American Black Bear. But judging by his behavior towards trespassers and the visible shoulder hump, he is a grizzly with, for some reason, black fur (probably a melanistic grizzly bear).
- Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, provided the roars and snarls of the bear.
- He along with the Rat are classified as secondary antagonists. Though some fans consider them as main antagonists of their respective Disney films.
- He is the same colour as Berlioz from The Aristocats.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Bear (The Fox and The Hound).jpg (75 KB)")
External links[]
- For information on the real animal, click here: [1]