DisneyNature gives viewers a look at the life of a polar bear as she grows from a cub to an adult and has a cub of her own in the new documentary “Polar Bear.” The documentary is presented from the perspective of the cub and is narrated by Catherine Keener. The filmmakers present it in a way where the polar bear is remembering the lessons her mother taught her as a cub as she prepares to teach those same lessons to her cub.

This is a certainly a very odd presentation style, but I’ve always found the DisneyNature presentation style to be unusual. While I understand the filmmakers are trying to reach the youngest audience by presenting it as a story rather than a traditional documentary, most of the other DisneyNature documentaries don’t jump to a first-person perspective of the animals that are being presented. Maybe that works better for children watching this documentary, but I found it distracting.

While the audio presentation style wasn’t to my liking, there’s no denying how beautiful the landscape is. These documentaries are always shot amazingly well. The viewer gets to see some of the most beautiful places on Earth that they normally wouldn’t. I’ve learned I love seeing the places these different places, but I love the ones close to or on the water. I loved the oceans in “Dolphin Reef” and “Oceans.” And I love the icy terrains in “Penguins” and “Polar Bear.” I’m not a fan of the cold in real life, but I love seeing cold and watery places on my television screen.

The DisneyNature documentaries are always hit or miss for me. I prefer the behind-the-scenes documentaries more so than the ones that focus on specific animals or places. But, occasionally, one of the ones that looks at the animals or places speaks to me. This wasn’t one of those. It was a beautiful documentary that was presented in a weird way. I hope the younger audience learns a lot, but I would rather stick with the National Geographic style as opposed to the DisneyNature style. It’s still a good documentary, and I hope other viewers like it more.

Ranking: 2.5 stars.

What did you think of “Polar Bear?”

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Jeremy Brown

Jeremy has been a big Disney fan since he was a kid growing up during the Disney Renaissance. One day he hopes to go to every Disney Park in the world.

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