Sitka originally wanted Kenai to be killed by Denahi for violating his totem.
That would explain about Kenai doesn't get a response from him when he calls for him. However, when Denahi is about to kill him by the same method he did earlier, Sitka realizes that he is going too far and transforms Kenai back to human.- Well, that's rude of him...
- It would be rather Out of Character for Sitka to want to have one of his little brothers kill to other one considering that he performed Heroic Sacrifice to save Kenai and Denahi. Furthermore, Kenai was changed because Tanana had earlier called upon Sitka's spirit to help guide his brothers.
- Yeah, this is definitely OOC for Sitka.
- No, Sitka knew that Kenai, having had experience as a hunter, would be able to evade and escape Denahi. For a brief moment, Denahi almost considered giving up, until Sitka's spirit guided him. It's more likely Sitka wanted Kenai to prove that he had learned his lesson and for Denahi to learn that his brother is actually alive.
If Denahi or Atka successfully killed Kenai, they would also be transformed by the spirits
In killing Koda's mother, Kenai went against his totem the bear of love, and was transformed as a bear by the angered spirits as a result. Denahi was consumed by vengeance and tried to hunt down the bear he thought killed Kenai (not knowing Kenai was the bear until the last second). Had Denahi succeeded, the spirits would have turned him into a wolf, going by the fact that his totem was the wolf of wisdom and that he went back on his own warnings to Kenai about avenging Sitka's death.It isn't known what kind of totem Atka has, but considering Kenai already has a strong bond with the spirits and that he was needed to take care of Koda, it can be assumed the spirits wouldn't be happy if Atka had killed him in the sequel.
Possible comeback potential
Disney has lately been bringing back some of their older IPs in one form or another. How would that work for Brother Bear? Perhaps a series of shorts taking place after the sequel where Kenai and Nita have their first cub and an older Koda is now in the role of a big brother (or rather, an uncle).- Or if Disney ever comes around to a live action remake of the first movie, the least they could do is replace Phil Collins' "No Way Out" with the more emotional and impactful scene of Kenai's confession that was deleted from the original.
- Maybe something along the lines of the spinoff series it was supposed to get that was ultimately shelved, involving the bears adopting a group of different animals into their family.
- Another possibility is the remake being a touch Darker and Edgier but not too much. Kenai's revenge against the mother bear could take some ideas from The Revenant showing how much danger Kenai is tracking down and fighting a bear. When Kenai finally barely wins, there is emphasis on Vengeance Feels Empty with Kenai now dealing with still being a grief after all that. Kenai's experience with the lights at the top of The Mountain could take some inspiration from "The Trips" from Doctor Strange and/or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- Remake would also add more prehistoric animals, unlike the original which had only mammoths (with Smilodon being mentioned). Even if the film will end up like the other Disney live-action remakes, it could still ended up being beloved by paleontological community for including some lesser-known Ice Age animals like american lions, american horses, giant beavers or giant camels.
Rutt and Tuke weren't lying when they said they're not moose either.
- They're multiverse-hoppers who ended up transformed into moose with a mission to guide and observe Kenai for an unspecified reason. Maybe they're employed with a multiverse authority. Koda and the bears at the salmon run are suspect as well. This is why they have speak in their anachronistic manner, because they are both from the equivalent time period.
Rutt was the moose that Kenai passed by when he was tracking Koda's mother.
The moose has the same golden fur like Rutt, so there's possibility that it might have been him.The reason why the only prehistoric animals we see in the movie and the sequel are the mammoths, is because the rest of them migrated south.
Just a silly fan theory to make the reference to another beloved animated film set during the Ice Age. And the reason for mammoths staying? Well, the series showed us that mammoths are stubborn, so that is the most likely explanation why they stayed.- In the video game based on the first movie, when you find the cave with Mammoth Totem, Tug says that mammoth doesn't like changes and doesn't do anything in a hurry. This could be another reason why the mammoths didn't migrated south with other prehistoric animals.
Sitka was the spirit that changed Nita into bear.
When the bear shape that transformed Nita into the bear appears, a eagle spirit circling around it can be spotted. This was probably Sitka who formed the previously mentioned bear shape by circling around it. Any spirit could have done that, but Sitka decided to do it personally, just to give his youngest brother the only thing he had never experienced in life - the romantic love and married life.The two rams seen near the ending of the second movie are the same ones from the famous "Shut up!" scene.
And unlike Kenai and Rutt and Tuke these two didn't get the mates, with the sheep that they were trying to woo choosing the other, third ram with whom she started a family. In fact, those two are this dall sheep family that Kenai and Koda passed over during "Welcome to this day". Atka has sabertooth tiger totem.
This could've made him a perfect Foil to Kenai, who in first movie wanted to get a sabertooth totem. Plus, from Atka appearance and behavior during his fight with Kenai, he seems like brave person, and in the first movie Kenai said that you can get sabertooth totem for being brave.