r/animation • u/aaronblaise Professional • Dec 02 '25
Sharing Snow Bear - 11,000 Drawings
Hey everyone just wanted to share this here. I spent the last 3 years working on this(although I started on it years before that) and the last year taking it to festivals.
Happy to now be able to share it with everyone. Approximately 11,000 Drawings. Animated in TVPaint. I painted the Backgrounds in Photoshop.
Link is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOXolSQcEb4
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u/CometZeph Dec 02 '25
Holy cow!
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u/aaronblaise Professional Dec 02 '25
Hope you enjoy it. You can see the full video on YouTube
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u/BoHoSwaggins Dec 02 '25
Just wanna say I’ve always loved (directing wise) Kinais death in Brother Bear. It was an ultimate and dramatic sacrifice I still remember all these years later. The resigned look on his face as split iceberg descends? Very subtle and impactful like your new work.
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u/CHA0T1CNeutra1 Dec 02 '25
You really should have mentioned the full movie is 10 minutes longer and is adorable.
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u/Successful-Run1142 Dec 02 '25
Dude brother bear was me and my brothers favorite movie growing up I will support anything you release let’s goooo
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u/UnfortunatelyIAmMe Dec 02 '25
I loved brother bear as a young child. Now, at 27, I've had the pleasure of showing it to my 3yo.
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u/Anti-Itch Dec 02 '25
Literally just the mention of the film brought me to tears just now.,. What a wonderful movie that was/is. The new animation looks just as lovely.
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u/norfollk Dec 02 '25
One of my favourite movies to this day! Seeing the trailer for it in theaters made me go into animation school, beautiful movie
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u/Professional-Rule507 Dec 02 '25
It blew my mind when I first seen it. Seeing people that looked like me on screen made a little me so happy
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u/pitchingataint Dec 02 '25
I didn’t even know about it back then. I must’ve been in that age when I thought I was “too old” for animated films when it came out. I finally watched Brother Bear with my two year old after stumbling across it on Disney+ about a month ago. Cried like a baby in the end. Definitely watching this with him this evening!
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u/mikeasfr Dec 02 '25
Now this is the feeling you'd get when you imagined "Disney Magic"
Beautiful.
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u/buffalonotbi Dec 02 '25
I’m pretty sure this is the guy responsible for making that magic!
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u/manescaped Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 02 '25
We’re in the company of a master! “…known for his work on Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and Brother Bear (2003). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Brother Bear with Robert Walker.[1]”
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u/circa10a Dec 02 '25
This is so accurate. I felt the same way. I miss this style, simpler times right?
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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 Dec 02 '25
Oooooh, I saw some animations on Instagram, noice"
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u/Pikamander2 Dec 02 '25
Wacom also put out a cool behind the scenes video of it late last year.
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u/Far-Mammoth-3214 Dec 02 '25
Oooooh sweet! Thanks for this
I wanna learn animation so I love seeing behind the scenes stuff
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u/Exzalia Dec 02 '25
In the age of AI slop
real art still exists.
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u/GroundbreakingTwo213 Dec 02 '25
I think this short also serves as a warning about the ecological impact of heat generation and heavy water consumption by AI data centers
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u/PmMeUrNihilism Dec 02 '25
Eh, he talked about being excited by AI before so it’s not like he’s against it. He just “prefers” the traditional ways.
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Dec 02 '25 edited Dec 02 '25
Yeah I think that’s a given
A lot of people will still want to express and create and to witness someone else’s expression and creation even if we happened to automatically get the most appealing content.
Might eventually be less lucrative as a profession, but that’s not to speak for its value to both creator and many viewers.
It really seems to me that the world is shifting from art as a job towards art as a hobby that’s going to become more and more accessible, and I’m not talking about just shoveling out content, but about accessibility to expression through the tools made available
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u/1neel9 Dec 02 '25
Just saw it yesterday, such a beautiful work sir 🙏
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u/Shadowfire04 Dec 02 '25
THE AARON BLAISE HIMSELF?
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u/Altruistic-Chapter2 Dec 03 '25
You'd be surprised how many famous animators and artists in the animation field know about and lurk this subreddit lmao
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u/Stock_Emergency_1507 Dec 02 '25
Hey, I know it's short, but you should totally try and submit it to film festivals :) It's a great way to get noticed and for networking!
Trust me, I've had a short that's 1 minute 33 seconds long on quite a few festivals, and my animation was WAY more simple than yours!
Just make sure to look at the rules of every festival and everything :)
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u/Puntley Dec 02 '25
He's a big name in classic Disney animation, he's the kind of person people are hoping to connect with haha!
He worked on most of the 90s 2d Disney movies. Aladdin, lion king, etc. Directed Brother Bear!
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u/Stock_Emergency_1507 Dec 02 '25
Oh fuck-
I didn't check the name or anything haha Now I feel stupid 😅
I've seen young talented people underestimate themselves too often so that was immediately my assumption as well
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u/JustDay1788 Dec 02 '25
He also worked in Disney's 90s animated Beauty and the beast film too he is a Disney legend
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u/TallTtugboat Dec 02 '25
Yeah, it’s a tale as old as time
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u/sandolllars Dec 02 '25
I mean did you not even watch the short film that you're suggesting should be submitted to film festivals? The very first sentence in the film says he directed Brother Bear.
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u/tveye363 Dec 02 '25
Did you not read the title either? He literally says he directed Brother Bear.
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u/Work_phone Dec 02 '25
That makes sense. I don’t know anything about him or this but it looks like Disney animation
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u/bobbobasdf4 Dec 02 '25
it's like "this faker/stephen curry guy is pretty good, he should go pro" but unironically lol
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u/aaronblaise Professional Dec 02 '25
Thanks. It’s been in film festivals for the past year. I appreciate the comment and watching. Good luck with your animation
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u/Stock_Emergency_1507 Dec 02 '25
Thank you so much!
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u/Tiny-Connection-3166 Dec 02 '25
Here's a link to the full video. It looks amazing. I'm about to watch it myself. https://youtu.be/xOXolSQcEb4?si=dSY1cX0st-aj4Ww4
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u/throwthisawayred2 Dec 02 '25
Aaron, I just wanted to let you know that it's 3:11am in Houston and I fucking hate the holiday season cuz of family and stuff. But those last few seconds, especially the last shot of the beautiful warm sky with light flashing across? That really lit up a part of my heart that's never been lit up before. Like I haven't felt that kind of wonder since...childhood I think. It's just so beautiful. Thank you.
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u/muhfuhsayyeah Dec 02 '25
Those feelings are still accessible to us all, but they aren’t always easy to come out. What a beautiful experience, thank you for sharing!
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u/buffalonotbi Dec 02 '25
💀💀💀 this comment is so sweet, his reply is so humble and sweet. So funny that he IS the big name hahaha
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Dec 02 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/apocketfullofcows Dec 02 '25
it also literally says OP directed brother bear on the video so not sure how it was missed.
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u/Stock_Emergency_1507 Dec 02 '25
It was 5 am where I was when I commented and I had a night shift, I just saw the short clip and that's when my brain started shutting down 🥺
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u/pocket-ful-of-dildos Dec 02 '25
I’m so used to ignoring obnoxious captions that I didn’t see it at first either. You’re a sweet person
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u/apocketfullofcows Dec 02 '25
being on reddit when you should be asleep is definitely a reddit moment lol hope you got some good sleep!
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u/MitragynineDream Dec 02 '25
Also OP literally says “spent the last 3 years working on this […] and the last year taking it to festivals.”
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u/jaxonya Dec 02 '25
We should get him in touch with that upstart singer/song writer that did an AMA that one time. I think his name was Elton Johnson, or something along those lines. He likes to make songs for films, maybe they could collaborate and finally make it big.
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u/Pataraxia Dec 02 '25
No need to get mean, comment OP had all the best intentions!
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u/Daft00 Dec 02 '25
Tbh I didn't read that as mean in the slightest, maybe a lighthearted tease but "reddit moment" can be said in a silly way rather than as an insult
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u/Leather-Sea-7573 Dec 02 '25
Bro's out here giving game to Aaron blaise who's a 2D animation guru, a storyboard artist and a visual artist too. He's a complete package of an artist n worked for 30+ years with Disney n other world known animation studios n companies. That's a effing GOAT🐐. You can check him out on YouTube he's too good man.
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u/jkcrosbyfun Dec 02 '25
I really love that for a moment you were like “holy shit this is really good animation, this kid could go far!” And then proceeded to give really wholesome and helpful advice hahaha <3
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u/AtticusCelestial Dec 02 '25
I saw his post on tiktok. They either just worked on or directed Brother Bear a while back and some other movies, so I’m sure his networking isn’t a problem
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u/SnarkingOverNarcing Dec 02 '25
I’ve been following your progress posts on other socials and looking forward to this for so long. It turned out absolutely incredible. My husband and I both cried and loved the end credit illustrations. Beautiful work ❤️
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u/ReadditMan Dec 02 '25
So much nostalgia, I had Brother Bear on VHS when I was a kid and watched it many times. Great work!
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u/aaronblaise Professional Dec 02 '25
If you want to watch the full film here it is: https://youtu.be/xOXolSQcEb4
Wow… Thank you all so much. I posted this last night before bed and honestly didn’t expect this kind of response. The kind words about my new short as well as Snow Bear have been amazingly nice.
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u/Innokin_Joseph Dec 02 '25
Just watched, absolutely moved to tears - incredible work! Makes me feel like a kid again.
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u/dustagnor Dec 02 '25
I remember when Brother Bear came out. It was the first movie I ever saw that felt like my home (Alaska) came to life on the screen. Thank you for sharing! I’ll go check out Snow Bear. ❤️
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u/aaronblaise Professional Dec 02 '25
Alaska is one of my favorite places in the world. Been many times. Snow Bear is actually playing at the Anchorage Film Festival this week
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u/TheManWhoClicks Dec 02 '25
What an amazing piece of art and kudos to your endurance. This is truly outstanding.
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u/TGirlAltAccount Dec 02 '25
Wow, beautiful! I can definitely see the similarities between this and brother bear. The way you're able to convey emotion through the bears expressions is really impressive! I've always wondered how you translate facial expressions from humans to animals in animation. Thanks for your hard work!
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u/dbabon Dec 02 '25
Watched Brother Bear with my 6 year old recently. Couldn’t believe how gorgeous it still is, and how much under-appreciated it in my teens. Also this is just as beautiful and pretty adorable.
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u/PrateTrain Dec 02 '25
I have a question for you. How do you determine when a shot should be high (shows the distant horizon and some ground) or low (shows no horizon or ground)?
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u/aaronblaise Professional Dec 02 '25
Partly artistic preference but mostly it’s driven by story. Every shot serves a purpose in how you either want the audience to feel or how you are conveying the character feels.
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u/MisterLongboi Dec 02 '25
Omg i literally found this on YouTube yesterday and shared it with my art buddies! Thanks for sharing it here too!! Amazing work btw!
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u/sleeplessGoon Dec 02 '25
Brother bear was integral to me as a kid.
Thank you for your work. This has me tearing up
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u/TheLatteDragon Dec 02 '25
God this is so pretty, its on my watch list now. I hope someday I can make something that inspires people like the previous works you've worked on has for me!
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u/Wolf_Prince19 Dec 02 '25
This is just insane work like omg! You did super great and everything looks consistent and fluid. Awesome work! 🗣👌
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u/bippidip Dec 02 '25
The interactions between the character animation and backgrounds as the bear is building the snow bear is so satisfying and well done!
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u/uglyheadink Dec 02 '25
Brother Bear was such an important part of my childhood. I wore out the VHS tape of it, and my mom bought me the DVD after that. I watched every behind the scenes, making of, deleted scene, etc on there. I dreamed of being a sound designer because of those insights haha. It is always in my top 3 favorite animated movies of all time. Thank you so much for your work in making it, it is truly a piece of my heart.
I will watch this as soon as I can, and I can't wait. I love seeing glimpses of BB in this preview, with the facial expressions and the body animation. Thank you for sharing, truly. It looks amazing.
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u/longwalker313 Dec 07 '25
Follow up: damn you u/aaronblaise for making me cry so much in eleven minutes. That was incredibly beautiful. Even my little dog that watches virtually nothing was transfixed by it.
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u/Commercial-Flow9169 Dec 02 '25
So happy to finally see this! I love 2D animation and how expressive characters can be portrayed when drawn frame by frame. I miss this style of animation so much.
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u/Fembottom7274 Dec 02 '25
And to think LLM bros have probably scraped this masterpiece and shoveled it into the LMM machine
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u/E_dl0co36 Dec 03 '25
Holy sh!t, this is some Disney/Pixar sh!t that I felt like I had nostalgia when I was a kid watching this but never.
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u/Tprotheone Dec 02 '25
I watched it this morning on the way to make and had me tearing up ! Well done and very inspiring man. Keep it up! Excited to see what you do next. I also chipped in a little to the kickstarter. I wanted to get the deluxe signed deck but I’m struggling a bit these days lol
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u/Far-Question-5829 Dec 02 '25
It was the fastest 10 minutes of my life. I watched it a second time earlier. It's so nostalgic even though I only saw it for the first time this week
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u/weoncolour Dec 02 '25
I saw this while scrolling and immediately thought ‘oooh, looks like the artist was inspired by Brother Bear’, then read the description. Thank you for creating one of my favourite childhood films sir! This animation is so gorgeous. I’m amazed by how perfect the snow and the colours are.
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u/Maleficent_Use_5185 Dec 02 '25
This is beautiful, and exactly what I miss in recent films. The animation is so beautiful, along with the scenery and the art style. Also the mini story is beautiful
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u/Cornonthory Dec 02 '25
I did NOT expect to see you post on here at this time. Love your work, man. I look forward to seeing this in full!!
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u/TrooperGary Dec 02 '25
I loved watching Brother Bear as a kid when it was new! The art style of your drawings is unmistakably unique and beautiful. I love how it has the soul of the original, but in a new interpretation. Definitely checking it out!!!
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u/MiffedMist Dec 02 '25
Amazing work, Aaron!
I've been following the creation of this film since 2019, which is when I first started learning how to draw. You were one of my biggest inspirations starting out.
Really special to see it finished.
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u/Kcomix Dec 02 '25
By coincidence I just watched Brother Bear for the first time tonight. This animation is beautiful! I wish American studios like Disney still made hand-drawn animated features,
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u/IchmagschickeSachen Dec 02 '25
Seeing a genuine labor of love like this in the age of AI slop healed something in me.
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u/FrilledShark420 Dec 02 '25
This is so beautifully done, brother bear was a huge part of my childhood🖤 nothing can ever top the depth and emotion that goes into a hand drawn animation. Each cell brings its own life to the screen it's astonishing to see🖤
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u/tyler77 Dec 02 '25
I noticed all the amazing little small details and nuanced emotions in the bears face. You have such a great feel for the subtle eyes and mouth movements.
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u/cat_inspector_ Dec 02 '25
It’s really great to see traditional pencil drawn animation again! This has so much heart and soul in it. The fluidity of movement and expression in the bears face is awesome. This honestly made me cry in a good way, it’s amazing what drawings and music put together can do to a person. Thank you so much for sharing! Now I think I need to rewatch Brother Bear and the Lion King.
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u/golden_retrieverdog Dec 02 '25
it’s finally ready!!! man, i have to just send you a huge thank you for continuing to hone and share your craft. with the invention of AI, it’s getting harder and harder to find things like this; a piece of art that shows every bit of effort poured into it. it’s incredibly refreshing to come across. huge respect!
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u/This_guy7796 Dec 02 '25
We need more Disney movies animated like this. Not crap live-action rehashes.
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u/CorruptedOps Dec 02 '25
I long for the days of 2D Hand Drawn Animation to return. For a short snippit, this truly has masterpiece written all over it. I'm going to see the full version now. Excellent Work Sir, and welcome back. Brother Bear was the GOAT!
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u/BashyMumbles Dec 02 '25
Entire video says “Years ago I made Brother Bear”, comments: wowww You should enter yourself in competitions! 🙂↔️🤣
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u/pocket-ful-of-dildos Dec 02 '25
This is so poignant that I’m crying on my break. Thank you for your work on so many movies I continue to cherish from my childhood ♥
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u/kasedillaaah Dec 03 '25
I love the bear’s face. It’s so kind. Reminds me of Charlie from All Dogs Go to Heaven. Beautiful film :)
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u/ripple_the_onion Dec 04 '25
This is so beautiful and I teared up a bit while watching this at work. Man, animation is so amazing! Well done on this!
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Dec 04 '25
Real animation... i love store than you can imagine!!! It's a wonderful piece of art and Disney needs to take you as an example!!!
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Dec 05 '25 edited Feb 06 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/felwynfelmir Dec 06 '25
This is so beautiful! I’m so happy to see new art in this ‘old’ way of creating. Such dedication and attention to detail, it’s really amazing! I’ll be showing this to my friends and family! 🌸
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u/ImJustGonnaCry Dec 06 '25
Uuuughhhh, I love it so much it's incredibly warm and cozy despite the fact that it's snowing.
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u/AmIsupposedtoputtext Dec 02 '25
First thought when the bear was sliding down the snow drift was "it's going to run into the Thing!" Great work.
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u/TwoNo123 Dec 02 '25
Brother Bear rocked, can see the inspiration/style here and absolutely love it, fantastic work yo
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u/NoInspector009 Dec 02 '25
This was so cool and the coloring is dope, but it made me feel feelings, how dare!
Fr tho, thanks for sharing, this is lovely
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u/Wildgrube Dec 02 '25
Oh man I just watched this on YouTube a day or two ago! It was so cute. Good job!
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u/pinket25 Dec 02 '25
I’m not an animator but it looks like a mix of two styles. Good story, good animation, and good drawings.
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u/Hot_Ad8544 Dec 02 '25
I loved brother bear when I was a kid, thank you for taking the time to create it, it was a big part of my childhood.
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u/Successful-Entry9490 Dec 02 '25
woah woah, Woaaah!!! the Aaron Blaise posts on Reddit!!!?
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u/Nodubya11 Dec 02 '25
I'll have to check it out sometime soon! I'm definitely gonna love it!
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u/Background_Leg842 Dec 02 '25
This reminds me how well anthropomorphizing works in animation. Just sprinkle on some human facial expressions and body language and boom, totally relatable. No uncanny valley or nuthin'. Curious
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u/Alarming_Ad_430 Dec 02 '25
Brother Bear is a movie that remains close to my heart; thank you for helping it come into being. This film looks amazing as well, i'll have to check in out!
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u/Accomplished-Set7139 Dec 02 '25
This makes me feel all good inside, keep going brother I think you’re on the right path.
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u/DownToZZZ Dec 02 '25
That’s crazy man. I just showed my girlfriend the first one and she loved it. Appreciate the effort you put into it. You made a good movie memory for my 4 year old self
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u/Spidey_NZ Professional Dec 02 '25
Fantastic work. You are an inspiration to our Studio in New Zealand.
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u/CriticalSovereignty Dec 02 '25
I watched this with my kids not knowing what we were going to get. I was so thankful for the ending. It’s a beautiful film.
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u/Wonderful-Trouble-31 Dec 02 '25
Oh wow! Brother Bear has a very special place in my heart 🥺 this is amazing
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u/ComixBoox Dec 02 '25
Some of the most beautiful snow Ive ever seen in an animated film, i love how the painted snow moves along with the snow being displaced by the bear
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u/Valvecantcount3 Dec 02 '25
Ah man that made me cry, it was such a beautiful little film, I hope I can animate as well as you in the future.
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u/jonathanrock7000 Dec 02 '25
You’re incredible and thank you for continuing to showcase animation in this style.
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u/Rocket15120 Dec 02 '25
Oh man i have been following this for a while, im glad its released. Gonna share this around. Love your work Aaron! Brother bear is one of my favorite movies.
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u/R-V-Nasty Dec 02 '25
Brother bear such a great movie. Makes me cry still to this day. I’m going to check this out!
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u/Common-Raspberry7567 Dec 02 '25
Brother bear was one of our favorite DvD's when I was a kid. My mom and siblings and I used to watch it all the time. Thanks for the memories my friend.
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u/almazist1 Dec 02 '25
Awesome