Joaquin Phoenix wants to free the bears that inspired a film he made 18 years ago. The Oscar winner has called upon the Bearadise Ranch, located in Florida, to retire the bears who inspired his underrated Disney film Brother Bear (2003) from show business and allow them to spend the rest of their lives at peace in an animal sanctuary.
Joaquin Phoenix has long been an animal activist, often using his platform, whether online or during award acceptance speeches to call attention to the issues he holds most dear to his heart.
The bears, Bruno and Bambi, were used to create the characters Kenai and Koda, the former the character that Phoenix voiced in the film. The bears are supposedly still rented out for weddings and ‘bearthday parties’, as well as other film and television productions.
His latest call has been done privately, however, with Phoenix sending a letter to the facility in order to plead for these animals to find a more peaceful life.
“These bears deserve better than a life on the road, where they are robbed of everything that’s natural and important to them, and if you put yourself in their place, I’m sure you’d see that, too,” Phoenix writes in the letter.
Here’s the full letter to ranch owner Monica Welde, obtained by the Hollywood Reporter.
Dear Monica,
I just learned that two of the bears used in your traveling show, Bambi and Bruno, served as models for Disney’s Brother Bear. I voiced the movie’s main character, Kenai, who, as a lesson in empathy, is magically transformed to be able to see the world through bears’ eyes, and now I’m asking you to see through their eyes, too. These bears deserve better than a life on the road, where they are robbed of everything that’s natural and important to them, and if you put yourself in their place, I’m sure you’d see that, too.
You know firsthand that bears are curious, complex animals who love to climb, dig, forage, and play. Their acute sense of smell and plate-sized paws evolved so that they could seek out mates and food across vast distances, but those carefully honed traits are wasted on the county fair circuit, where they’re relegated to transport cages when they’re not pulling hoops over their heads and carrying basketballs around in front of crowds of strangers.
Bambi and Bruno will never experience life in the wild. They’ll never get to sniff out salmon runs or traverse mountains—but that doesn’t mean their lives can’t improve. Will you please consider putting an end to the tricks and the travel and give all the bears at your facility the chance just to live like bears? If you want to do what’s truly the best thing for them, let me help you make arrangements to get them transferred to an accredited sanctuary.
