We Bare Bears The Movie Reminds Us Of The Series’ True Message

When I sat down to watch the We Bare Bears movie I was expecting it to be a light and fun beacon of hope in these dark times. The show has always been that, with the wacky antics of the bears a constant source of comfort. I got that sure, but what I was surprised and delighted by was how much the central message of the series was brought to the forefront to tremendous and incredibly relevant effect.

To put it simply, I didn’t expect the We Bare Bears movie to take on prejudice and intolerance and do it in such a big way. The show has always been diverse and its central message has been about the need to fit in and belong but this took it to another level. It isn’t just some fun jokes about the bears being inept at trying to fit in; its whole conflict is about the struggle the bears face from society itself.

The plot follows the bears trying once again to become popular and it horrifically backfires on them. This leads to the government being called in and the bears fleeing for their lives to Canada. On that journey we see their fears at what will happen to them if they’re caught and more of the inner struggles they’ve grappled with for the whole show. These characters will do anything to fit in and it’s often been used as a point of comedy but here we get a deeper exploration of what that struggle has done to them and their family.

For as serious as that sounds there’s still a lot of great humor to be had (and the movie is very very funny) but it’s those somber moments that make this film be so much more than what you might expect. That sort of melancholy has always been the show’s secret strength and one I wished it was allowed to implement more often. Thankfully the film goes at it with full force and allows the bears to finally address what they’ve only partially dealt with throughout its run.