Kenai (Brother Bear)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kenai is a fictional character from the Disney films Brother Bear and Brother Bear 2.
Contents |
[edit] Brother Bear
Kenai was a young Inuit on the verge of becoming a man. But after his brother Sitka died saving him from a bear, Kenai decided to kill the bear at all costs. He succeeded, but for acting out of hate, rather than out of love as he had been commanded, the spirits turned Kenai himself into a bear. The only way for him to become human again was to travel to a mountain peak called, "the place where the (northern) lights touch the earth." Along the way Kenai met an orphaned bear cub named Koda. At first Kenai found Koda annoying, but eventually he became attached to him. Then Kenai learned that the bear he had mercilessly hunted and killed had been Koda's mother. When given the chance to be human again, Kenai chose instead to stay as a bear and help Koda, who needed him more than any of his own people. Ironically, for this act of love Kenai was declared to have become a man.
[edit] Brother Bear 2
In Brother Bear 2, Kenai awakens from his first hibernation to find that spring has arrived. Even with snow on the ground and the trees still bare, love is decidedly in the air. Kenai and Koda scoff at the notion of romance, but Tug (the large, dark brown bear from the first film) cautions them (Kenai in particular) that "You can't run from love. It has a way of tracking you down." Kenai laughs, but later has a dream about Nita, a girl he used to know when he was young and a human.
Meanwhile, in her own village, Nita is preparing for her wedding to a man named Atka. But when the big moment arrives, it is revealed that Nita cannot marry Atka. The reason for this is that when they were children, Kenai gave Nita an amulet as a gift. What neither Kenai nor Nita realized was that the amulet bound them as one. The only way for Nita to marry Atka is to go with Kenai to Hokani Falls, where he first gave her the amulet, and burn it.
Nita finds Kenai and manages to convince him to help her. But during the course of their three-day journey, their old friendship sprouts anew and flourishes. Despite the fact that both are developing feelings for one another, they burn the amulet and Nita returns to her village, only to find that where the amulet kept her from marrying Atka before, now her heart will not let her marry him either.
In the end, Nita chooses to be turned into a bear, and she and Kenai are married.
The sequel presents a more mature, grown-up version of Kenai but his spirited side is still very much there.
[edit] Personality
Kenai is a complex character besieged by even more complex problems. The first thing that is apparent about him is how easily he gets into trouble: Brother Bear starts off with Kenai nearly getting himself and his brothers trampled by a herd of wild caribou. Apparently Kenai had (for reasons never explained) tried to milk one.
As the ceremony at which he is to receive his directions for achieving manhood, he displays a cocky attitude, boasting that his totem will probably be the sabre-toothed tiger of greatness. But his ego receives a heavy blow when his totem turns out to be the bear of love. Clearly he considers this a wimpy totem.
The part of him that truly sets the course of the movie is his temper. First he foolishly goes charging off after a bear over a stolen basket of fish. His anger over his brother's death, in turn, leads him to pursue the bear, killing a beast that, as it turned out, had only been trying to defend herself and her son.
But while his temper set the course for the movie, it is his softer side that ultimately follows that course, leading him to understand that love is indeed very powerful. Eventually, we learn that his totem is a perfect fit, as he is very capable of great love-even to the point of complete self sacrifice.
In Brother Bear 2, Kenai's personality seems to have followed its logical course from the first movie. He has developed into an affectionate-but-firm authority figure over Koda, and he only tends to raise his voice when he is worried, not angry.
[edit] Trivia
- Kenai is also the name of an Alaskan peninsula.
- Kenai is voiced by Joaquin Phoenix in the original Brother Bear and by Patrick Dempsey in the sequel.
