"I don't like this story."
What's a Disney movie about talking bears in ancient Alaska without tragedy?- The "No Way Out" scene where Kenai has to tell Koda that he killed his mother. You can hear the torment and self-loathing in Joaquin Phoenix's voice as Kenai tries to explain.Kenai: You know that story you told me last night?
Koda: Yeah?
Kenai: Well, I uh... I have a story to tell you.
Koda: Really? What's it about?
Kenai: Well it's, kind of about a man. And, kind of about a bear. But, mostly it's about a monster.- Though the rest of the conversation is kept out, this exchange was left in at the end.Kenai: Koda, I did something very wrong.
Koda: I don't like this story.
Kenai: Your mother's not coming. - Koda responds with a Little "No" before he darts off in disbelief, climbing a tree and watching Kenai dissolve into a Heroic BSoD.Kenai: I'm sorry, Koda....I'm so sorry.
- The original version
of this scene skips the song, allowing us to hear Kenai's story from start to finish. The way his voice steadily cracks, all while Koda is slowly putting the pieces together...it's utterly gut-wrenching.- And, if it were possible, the dialogue is actually worse than the final version of the scene.Kenai: Koda... I did something very wrong.
Koda: What'd you do, Kenai?
Kenai: I... I killed a bear.
Koda: (gasps) I— (slowly backing away) I don't like this story.
Kenai: Koda, your mother's not coming.
Koda: (close to crying) No...
Kenai: I didn't know, Koda—
Koda: ...No!
Kenai: I swear I didn't know! - The way Koda is so cheerful and affectionate with Kenai, and Kenai averts his gaze, rebuffs Koda's hug, and sets him aside, in a you're-giving-me-way-too-much-credit sort of way.
- And, if it were possible, the dialogue is actually worse than the final version of the scene.
- Though the rest of the conversation is kept out, this exchange was left in at the end.
- As the three brothers are reuniting on the mountain, Koda is communing with the spirit of his deceased mother, a final farewell before she joins the Spirit Plains forever. One can only imagine what they're saying, but you can bet it's a tearjerker.
- The moment just a few scenes later between Rutt and Tuke over what it means to be a brother, right in front of Koda, who realizes despite the mistakes his brother made, he saved him several times, showing that he did love him and that he could change, just like the moose brothers.
- What about the scene where Kenai is forced to fight Denahi to try and protect Koda?
- Sitka's funeral. All Kenai and Denahi could find of their brother was the torn piece of his parka and his eagle totem and it's burned right in front of them. The only things they have left of their big brother are burnt to ashes in front of their eyes, and now they're both all alone in the world.
- Coupled with Kenai and Denahi's argument when Kenai insists to go after the bear to avenge Sitka's death, but Denahi refuses, stating that it would anger the Spirits. Kenai, dismissing Denahi's warnings, goes off to kill the bear anyway.
Kenai: You ready?
Denahi: For what?
Kenai: We're going after the bear.
(he tosses Denahi a spear. Denahi hesitantly looks at the spear in his hand)
Denahi: I know what you're feeling, but...but killing that bear is wrong! (tosses his spear to the ground)
Kenai: "Wrong?!" Our brother is dead, and it's because of that monster!
Denahi: I don't blame the bear, Kenai.
Kenai: ...I see.
Denahi: Killing that bear won't make you a man. (reaches to grab Kenai's spear. Kenai shoves him away)
Kenai: Oh, now you're trying to be wise!
Denahi: I'm trying to follow my totem! WHY CAN'T YOU DO THE SAME?!
Kenai: You really think that love has anything to do with being a man? A man wouldn't just sit here and do nothing!
Denahi: Kenai! Don't upset the spirits.
Kenai: (scoffs) Spirits. Thanks for your wisdom. (Kenai turns to leave, when Tanana blocks his path, wearing a pleading expression. Kenai takes his bear totem off his neck, snaps it off and throws it into some extinguished embers and storms off. Tanana quickly fishes the Totem out)
Denahi: I've gotta stop him! (takes the bear totem from Tanana's hands and darts away. Tanana looks up at the sky.)
Tanana: You left too soon, Sitka. Your brothers need your guidance. - The disappointed and almost remorseful look on Sitka's face when he appears to Kenai moments before the latter is transformed into a bear. Especially since Kenai just killed the bear he thought was responsible for Sitka's death.
- Especially worse is when Denahi arrives on the scene just moments after Kenai's transformation and sees Kenai's torn clothing and believes his own little brother is dead.
- For that matter, the look on Sitka's face right before he breaks the glacier and plunges both himself and the bear into the lake below. The bear survives. He doesn't. The worst part about it is that it looked as if Sitka knew what would happen to him; how that move would cost him his life and the expression seemed to tell his brothers, "If I don't make it, please don't take revenge. I'm doing this because I want to."
- The brief scene before the final climax showing Denahi alone, lost and cold on the mountain, moping over his failure to avenge his brother.Denahi: I'm sorry, Kenai... I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I need help.
- There is also the scene where Kenai arrives at the mountain, climbing alone in the snow, trying to get Sitka to give him some sort of sign.Kenai: "Please... Please, Sitka... I don't know what else to do..."
- As beautiful and amazing as the transformation scene is, it's also pretty sad in a way. The spirits and Sitka clearly saw what Kenai had done, and if the translated lyrics are any indication, they're feeling pity for him. He killed an innocent bear, not because he was malicious but because he was lost and blinded by grief and rage. So they turn him into a bear in hopes that it would show him where he went wrong. It's not so much a punishment as it is an attempt to guide him back to the right path, after he took a life in revenge, by letting him see the world from a different perspective.
