The Little Bear Movie

Little Bear answers the call of the wild in this thoughtfully written and captivatingly animated adventure. Based on the characters in the popular children's picture books, written by Else Homelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, this tale finds Little Bear and Father Bear on a camping trip, where Little Bear meets a veritable babe in the woods--a wilderness dweller named Cub. Little Bear is quite taken with Cub, who comes home to spend the night--opting to sleep under Little Bear's bed because it reminds him more of his cave. When Cub reveals that he was separated from his parents, Little Bear organizes a search party with his friends Owl, Duck, and Cat. Except for a menacing mountain lion that threatens Little Bear and friends, this leisurely paced movie remains mostly true to the gentle spirit of Minarik's stories and the top-rated Nickelodeon preschool Little Bear series, and adults will find some solace in two Shawn Colvin songs, "Great Big World" and "Everybody Wants to Paint My Picture." Recommended, overall. (K. Lee Benson)