Snow Bear (2024)

Now I know that polar bears usually prefer to be solitary, but this gorgeously crafted animation is at times just plain sad. A bear is wandering it’s icy homeland looking for some company. With winter looming, most sensible critters like the geese have skedaddled and the orca are a bit wary of letting it swim with their calf. Luckily, it stumbles upon a pile of snow that just happens to resemble another bear, and that spawns an idea. A flexible and constantly changing idea at that, and they are able to share the winter together without it’s friend making any demands on the limited food supply! As the spring arrives, though, something out of Raymond Briggs becomes inevitable, and then - just as the flowers start to emerge in the pasture… It might be the scoring, or just the way in which this feature gently tugs at the heart strings but there is something really poignant about the loneliness here. It contains a message at the end advising of the vulnerability of these creatures as their terrain is reduced by global warming but I also felt there to be another note here to remind us that people, too, can be isolated and bereft of company and that whilst we can feel strongly for this bear, we ought to remember our fellow bipeds too. Touching, fun, melancholic and good as it gets, I’d say.