The Little Polar Bear

While Ice Age and Finding Nemo have seriously raised the bar for animated films set in the Arctic and underwater, this mostly 2-D German production based on the books by Hans de Beer boasts modest charms. At the heart of the film is the Fox and the Hound-like friendship that blossoms between Lars, a polar bear who cannot swim, and Robbie, the seal who rescues him from drowning. The elder bears hunt the seals, but Lars plays peacemaker, brokering a deal in which the bears will spare the seals if the seals bring them--watch out little Nemo!--fish (a suspect life lesson that echoes the ant and predatory grasshopper's arrangement in A Bug's Life). Further adventures find Lars being swept away to the tropics on a breakaway ice floe, and rescuing the bear and seal communities from the mechanical sub that has been swallowing up all the fish. Unfortunately, the voice work is unmemorable, and the dialogue reeks of Americanization, making this--ultimately--not one of the bear necessities. Optional. (D. Liebenson)