Bear Country (film)

Last updated

Bear Country
Bear Country FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by James Algar
Written byJames Algar
Produced by Ben Sharpsteen
Walt Disney
Narrated by Winston Hibler
Edited byLloyd L. Richardson
Music by Paul J. Smith
Production
company
Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • February 5, 1953 (1953-02-05)
Running time
33 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Bear Country is a 1953 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. It won an Oscar at the 26th Academy Awards in 1954 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). [1] [2] The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries, [3] and played with Peter Pan [4] during its original theatrical run.

Contents

Cast

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote that the film "follows in the excellent series of nature films that have been produced by the Disney studio, such as Seal Island and Water Birds ". [5]

Variety called it "one of the more delightful True-Life Adventure documentaries in the Walt Disney series ... calculated to enchant viewers of all ages". [6]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "As usual in this series, the material itself is pleasantly photographed and has considerable interest. This is vitiated, however, by the irritatingly facetious tone of the commentary and by the apparent determination to make the bears appear as 'human' as possible—the set-piece, in this case, is a scene of the bears laboriously scratching themselves, to a characteristic musical accompaniment". [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Living Desert</i> 1953 documentary film by James Algar

The Living Desert is a 1953 American nature documentary film that shows the everyday lives of the animals of the desert of the Southwestern United States. The film was written by James Algar, Winston Hibler, Jack Moffitt (uncredited) and Ted Sears. It was directed by Algar, with Hibler as the narrator and was filmed in Tucson, Arizona. The film won the 1953 Oscar for Best Documentary.

<i>White Wilderness</i> (film) 1958 film directed by James Algar

White Wilderness is a 1958 nature documentary film produced by Walt Disney Productions as part of its True-Life Adventure series. It is noted for its propagation of the misconception of lemming mass suicide.

<i>Peter Pan</i> (1953 film) 1953 animated Disney film

Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated adventure fantasy film produced in 1952 by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, the film was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. Featuring the voices of Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried, and Bill Thompson, the film's plot follows Wendy Darling and her two brothers, who meet the never-growing-up Peter Pan and travel with him to the island of Never Land to stay young, where they also have to face Peter's archenemy, Captain Hook.

<i>So Dear to My Heart</i> 1948 film by Walt Disney

So Dear to My Heart is a 1948 American live-action/animated comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Its world premiere was in Chicago, Illinois, on November 29, 1948. Like 1946's Song of the South, the film combines animation and live action. It is based on the 1943 Sterling North book Midnight and Jeremiah. The book was revised by North to parallel the film's storyline amendments and then re-issued under the same title as the film.

<i>Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue</i> 1954 film by Harold French

Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue is a 1953 adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions which is about Rob Roy MacGregor. It was the last Disney film released through RKO Radio Pictures.

<i>Bon Voyage!</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by James Neilson

Bon Voyage! is a 1962 American comedy film directed by James Neilson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It stars Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman, Deborah Walley, Tommy Kirk, and Kevin Corcoran as the Willard family on a European holiday.

<i>True-Life Adventures</i> Nature documentary film series by Disney

True-Life Adventures is a series of short and full-length nature documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions between the years 1948 and 1960. The first seven films released were thirty-minute shorts, with the subsequent seven films being full features. The series won eight Academy Awards for the studio, including five for Best Two Reel Live Action Short and three for Best Documentary Feature.

<i>Third Man on the Mountain</i> 1959 film

Third Man on the Mountain is a 1959 American family adventure film by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Ken Annakin and starring Michael Rennie, James MacArthur and Janet Munro. Set during the golden age of alpinism, its plot concerns a young Swiss man who conquers the mountain that killed his father. It is based on Banner in the Sky, a James Ramsey Ullman 1955 novel about the first ascent of the Citadel, and was televised under this name.

<i>The African Lion</i> 1955 American film

The African Lion is a 1955 American documentary film directed by James Algar. It was released by Walt Disney Productions as part of its True-Life Adventures series. The film, which was shot over a 30-month period in Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, focuses on the life of the lion within the complexity of the African ecosystem. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival it won the Silver Bear (Documentaries) award.

<i>Seal Island</i> (film) 1948 film

Seal Island is a 1948 American documentary film directed by James Algar. Produced by Walt Disney, it was the first installment of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries. It won an Oscar in 1949 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).

James Algar was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked at Walt Disney Productions for 43 years and received the Disney Legends award in 1998. He was born in Modesto, California and died in Carmel, California.

In Beaver Valley is a 1950 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries. It won an Oscar in 1951 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). At the 1st Berlin International Film Festival it won the Golden Bear (Documentaries) award.

Nature's Half Acre is a 1951 American short documentary film directed by James Algar. In 1952, it won an Oscar at the 24th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries, and was paired with Alice in Wonderland during its original theatrical run.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winston Hibler</span> American screenwriter

Winston Murray Hunt Hibler was an American screenwriter, film producer, director and narrator associated with Walt Disney Studios.

<i>Water Birds</i> 1952 American short documentary film

Water Birds is a 1952 American short documentary film directed by Ben Sharpsteen. In 1953, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) at the 25th Academy Awards. The film was produced by Walt Disney as part of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries. It was shot in Technicolor by more than a dozen cameramen and was created in cooperation with the National Audubon Society and the Denver Museum of Natural History.

The Alaskan Eskimo is a 1953 American short documentary film produced by Walt Disney. It was the initial film in Disney's People & Places series. In 1954, it won an Oscar for Documentary Short Subject at the 26th Academy Awards.

<i>Call Me Madam</i> (film) 1953 film

Call Me Madam is a 1953 American Technicolor musical film directed by Walter Lang, with songs by Irving Berlin, based on the 1950 stage musical of the same name.

<i>The Light in the Forest</i> (film) 1958 film by Herschel Daugherty

The Light in the Forest is a 1958 American Western historical fiction drama film based on a novel of the same name first published in 1953 by American author Conrad Richter. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and stars Fess Parker, Joanne Dru, James MacArthur and Wendell Corey. Though it is a work of fiction and primarily features fictional characters, the novel incorporates several real people and facts from American history.

<i>Jungle Cat</i> (film) 1960 American film

Jungle Cat is a 1960 American documentary film written and directed by James Algar. The documentary chronicles the life of a female jaguar in the South American jungle. The film was released on August 10, 1960, and was the last of Walt Disney Productions' True-Life Adventures series of documentary feature films.

The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures is an American compilation documentary film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by James Algar and released by Buena Vista Distribution on October 8, 1975. The film is composed of highlights from the Academy Award winning True-Life Adventures series of 13 feature length and short subject nature documentary films produced between 1948 and 1960.

References

  1. ↑ "New York Times: Bear Country". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2011. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2008.
  2. ↑ "The 26th Academy Awards (1954) Nominees and Winners". Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  3. ↑ Cynthia Chris (2006). Watching Wildlife. University of Minnesota Press. p. 29. ISBN   0-8166-4547-7.
  4. ↑ "CHICAGO OUTBID THE WORLD-AND SHOWS IT FIRST!". Chicago Tribune. February 5, 1953. p. 40. Retrieved August 7, 2019– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (February 12, 1953). "The Screen: Disney's 'Peter Pan' Bows". The New York Times . p. 23.
  6. ↑ "Film Reviews: Bear Country". Variety . January 28, 1953. 6.
  7. ↑ "Bear Country". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 21 (240): 13. January 1954.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.