A few months ago, I did a post on a ‘History of Disney Owls‘, and it is one of my favorite posts. For a girl who normally does opinion pieces, it was fun to do something creative and different. So I have been trying to think of what would be a good follow-up and finally landed on bears. Disney has had a rich tradition of bears, even having a movie called Brother Bear. Some bears have been humorous like Baloo in The Jungle Book, and others have been fierce and scary like in Fox and the Hound.
For this list, I am only picking one bear in a film with multiple bears, and I am not including live action bears as the list would be never ending. I stuck to mainly Disney films with one exception.
#1 – Bongo
In a follow up to Dumbo, the Bongo short in Fun and Fancy Free tells the story of a circus bear named Bongo who is let out into the wild and has to survive on his own. These bears also have a very unusual way of showing affection by slapping each other.
#2 – Humphrey the Bear
A character similar to what Hanna-Barbera would create with Yogi Bear. Humphrey lived in a national park with a park ranger he was constantly causing problems for. His shorts appeared from 1950-1956 and are very funny.
#3 – Winnie the Pooh
Probably Disney’s most iconic bear, Winnie is a deep thinker and is extremely loyal to Christopher Robin and his friends. In his first feature film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Winnie has adventures on a blustery day, meets some bees living on a honey tree, and helps Tigger with his bouncing
#4 – Baloo
The bear that sings the “Bare Necessities” in The Jungle Book! Baloo is all about relaxing and enjoying life; yet, he can be brave when the situation calls for it.
#5 – Little John
Pretty much a carbon copy of Baloo, Little John helps Robin Hood rob the rich and give to the poor in Robin Hood. He’s very funny, especially when he tries to con Prince John out of all his gold.
#6 – The Bear
In the climax for the Fox and the Hound, a ferocious bear attacks our heroes. It is one of the scariest of all the Disney bears
#7 – Gummi Bears
I know there are probably a lot of Disney television shows with bears, but I am only going to pick this one because it was from my youth. Part of the Disney Afternoon, the Gummi bears bounced their way through the Gummi-Glen, making gummi-berry juice each week for 5 seasons.
#8 – Kenai
Almost all the characters in Brother Bear are (you guessed it) bears. However, the lead character is a bear named Kenai, and he learns to care for others as he journeys with Koda throughout the film.
#9 – Lotso
Never was a huggable bear so villainous! Lotso is bitter and uses that bitterness to control all those around him with an iron fist at the daycare center in Toy Story 3.
#10 – Mor’du
There are several bears in Pixar’s Brave, but I will go with probably the fiercest bear ever animated: Mor’du. This is a human prince who couldn’t let go of his hatred so he was turned into a bear and remained as such, unlike Queen Elinor.
#11 – Winnie the Pooh (2011 film)
This version of Winnie the Pooh is similar to the earlier version. Sweet, philosophical, and out to find where Christopher Robin has gone.
#12 – Koslov
Mr Big has several polar bears as his bodyguards in Zootopia, but the most expressive is Koslov. He even has his own place called Koslov’s Palace.
So there you have it! Your Disney bears! What do you think? If you have any ideas for future subjects, please put them in the comments section.Thanks!
Edited by: Kelly Conley
