The Cartoon Network comedy series We Bare Bears serves up a "movie" version, mainly expressed in short-feature running time and a number of crowd scenes reuniting diverse cast members. The premise is that the show's three main characters, cohabiting, talking bear "brothers" (despite being from different species) Grizz, Panda, and Ice Bear (a polar bear), after a disastrous attempt to boost their popularity by becoming viral-video stars, finally get orders to depart the human community in which they live—a harsh directive enforced by a bear-hating federal baddie named Trout.
The bruins try to dodge Trout's commandoes and dragnets in order to find a new life in Canada, but ultimately must escape from a cruel enclosure and forced separation. None of it is very seriously intended (though the heavy-handed Trout just about embodies the jackbooted Big Government boogeymen of many a populist conspiracy theory), and if kid viewers have high "meme" IQs, many of the jokes riff on individuals and animals who won fame via the internet—there's a Grumpy Cat stand-in, but, thankfully, no bad-taste gags about her recent death. It all ends happily and quickly.
Disc extras include conceptual cartoon sketches and artwork and a "pitch" session in which the young animators (live on camera) act out proposed sequences for their cohorts, with basic storyboard-style drawings. Insights on the creative process that went into the production can be gleaned from a commentary track in which the talents discuss the project shot-by-shot, point out the quick cameo by the Scooby-Doo gang, and bemoan how Bigfoot got cut out of the finished storyline. A truly bear-able selection for J shelves full of other Cartoon Network faves.