Kenai is the protagonist of Disney's 2003 animated feature film Brother Bear and its 2006 sequel.
Background[]
Personality[]
Being the youngest of three brothers, Kenai was initially more childish and impulsive than Denahi and Sitka, displayed by the fact that he went instantly to hunt a bear even though he was unprepared for it, and when he was very angry at Denahi's mocking.
Originally, Kenai was very judgmental, seeing bears as unfeeling and unthinking thieves and monsters even though he knew very little about them. This hate caused him to blame a bear for losing the salmon he and his brothers caught, even though he himself forgot to tie up the basket with the fish. Kenai's hate for bears reached its peak when Sitka died while fighting the bear who stole the fist, blaming the bear for the tragedy, even through Sitka gave up his own life to save his brothers from what Kenai started. Kenai later killed the bear out of revenge and hate.
Kenai also seemed to see manhood in a stereotypical manner, focusing on being a tough warrior, as he believed that he would get a totem for bravery or something similar, and was very disappointed when his totem turned out to be love. During his and Denahi's argument after Sitka's funeral, he claimed that a man would not just let the bear live. Over time, however, he came to embrace his totem.
After being transformed into a bear and being forced to travel with Koda, Kenai showed the capacity to learn from his mistakes. His bond with Koda helped him learn that bears are not killers, and he even came to see the young cub as a little brother. Additionally, constant attacks by Denahi, who believed him to be the bear that killed both Sitka and Kenai, taught Kenai to see things through another's eyes, as he came to realize how bears feel when they are hunted. Kenai also proved to be capable of repentance, as he was devastated when he realized the bear he killed was Koda's mother, apologizing profusely to the cub even as Koda ran off in grief. Kenai felt so remorseful for what he did that even came to see himself as the real monster for acting out of hate.
If there was one trait that remained with Kenai through his journey, it was his love for his family, as he shared a close bond with his brothers, and it was Sitka's death that led him to kill Koda's mother. This love also caused him to not attack, and even try to save, Denahi when he attempted to kill Kenai. This trait was also shown in his bond with Koda, as he slowly came to see the cub as his younger brother. Once he finally found the mountain where the lights touch the earth, he showed reluctance in leaving Koda, and when he learned he killed Koda's mother, he was ashamed, running away from the salmon run, and was devastated when Koda practically disowned him once he learned the truth. Because of this, he chose to go to the mountain to return to his human form, as he felt there was no purpose in remaining a bear if Koda no longer loved him. Ultimately, when Koda forgave him for what happened and when it became clear Koda needed him, Kenai decided give up his humanity to properly take care of Koda. This action was what finally made Kenai accomplish his life-long dream to become a man.
Appearance[]
Human[]
As a human, Kenai is a short, thin young man with tanned skin, semi-long jet black hair, and brown eyes.
Bear[]
As a bear, Kenai is a medium-sized brown bear with light brown fur, still retaining his brown eyes.
Appearances[]
Brother Bear[]
Kenai in his human form
Kenai is a young proto-Athabascan man living somewhere on the coast of ice age Alaska. He is the youngest of three brothers, after Sitka and Denahi, and is on the verge of becoming a man. But after rushing to get his totem from Tanana, the tribe's shamaness, he is disappointed to learn his totem depicts a bear, an animal that symbolizes love. Ironically, it is the one animal he hates, believing that bears are dangerous monsters. After forgetting to tie up his fish basket, Kenai discovers that a bear has raided the basket and eaten most of the salmon. Kenai resolves to go after the bear and get what's left of the basket back. He finds the grizzly sow and confronts her, getting himself trapped on a cliff in the process. Sitka and Denahi rush to his aid, backing the bear onto the top of a glacier. The bear gets between Sitka and the other two brothers. To save them, Sitka triggers a glacial calving that collapses the ice beneath himself and the bear, plunging them into the moraine lake below. The grizzly survives, but Sitka is killed. During an argument at Sitka's funeral, Kenai tries to convince Denahi that they should go after the bear, but Denahi (who is aware that the bear is innocent) refuses and advises Kenai not to kill the bear. Kenai insists that the bear is responsible for Sitka's death, and decides to kill the animal at all costs to avenge his brother. Denahi tells Kenai he doesn't blame the bear for Sitka's death, implying that he blames Kenai instead. Kenai angrily throws his bear totem in the cremation pyre where Sitka's possessions (reduced to his shattered totem, broken spear, and tattered clothes) are burning. He then grabs his spear and storms out, ignoring Tanana's pleading face to reconsider. Denahi, knowing that Kenai is making a big mistake, decides to follow him and try to stop him.
Kenai finds the grizzly sow and confronts her again. After a tense battle in which the bear remains on the defense, taking every opportunity to try and escape, Kenai manages to spear her on a mountain top. Because he acted out of vengeance and hatred, the spirits, led by Sitka, who has now taken on the form of an eagle, turn Kenai into a bear as punishment for his actions. When Denahi arrives at the scene, he has no idea that his brother was transformed into a bear, believing that the bear Kenai has just been transformed into has killed Kenai, whose torn clothes are lying on the ground beside the new bear. While a heartbroken Denahi is still trying to process what's happened, a nearby bolt of lightning sends Kenai over the edge of the mountain into a river. The next morning, Kenai wakes up on the shore to being treated for a concussion by Tanana. He freaks out when Tanana informs him he's become a bear, and Tanana has to throw her shoe at Kenai's head to calm him down. She explains to him that Sitka is the one who turned Kenai into a bear, and that in order to become human again, Kenai must travel to a mountain peak called, "the place where the (Northern) lights touch the earth", in order to ask Sitka how to atone for his mistakes. A confused Kenai denies doing anything wrong, but Tanana disappears without an explanation. After several minutes of confusion and discovering he can now understand animals, Kenai tries to get directions to the place where the lights touch the earth from a pair of moose brothers named Rutt and Tuke. But the two don't know where that location is and are too distracted by Kenai's claim to be a human trapped in a bear's body to be of any help. Kenai wanders off and ends up getting caught in a snare. A grizzly cub pops out of a bush, startling Kenai. The cub is extremely talkative, but eventually gives Kenai some cheeky advice on getting out of the snare. Kenai snaps at the cub and refuses his help initially. But after several hours of trying and failing to free himself, Kenai reluctantly accepts the cub's help. The cub frees him in exchange for his promise to travel together to the salmon run. But before the cub can tell Kenai which way to start heading, he panics and runs off. Kenai is content to let him go until he sees what scared the cub away. Denahi leaps out of the bushes and brandishes a spear, confusing and terrifying Kenai, who runs. He hides beneath a glacier, where he again meets the cub, who introduces himself as Koda. Koda admits to being separated from his mother, and he just needs an adult bear who's willing to travel with him to the salmon run. When Koda mentions that the salmon run is adjacent to the mountain where the lights touch the earth, Kenai agrees to follow him there.
The next morning, Kenai and Koda travel toward the mountains, meeting up with Rutt and Tuke again, who inform them that "the hunter" (Denahi) is on their trail. Kenai teaches the group how to ride wooly mammoths to throw off their trail, which Koda and the moose all find very strange. But the moose brothers take to it easily enough, arguing over who gets to "drive." While on the mammoths, Koda sees the northern lights and reveals that he knows about the spirits. Kenai admits that his brother is a spirit and credits Sitka with saving his life. Koda asks how Kenai's brother died and Kenai hesitates before saying he was killed by a "monster." Koda thanks Sitka for saving Kenai and making sure they met.
After a day and night of travel, Kenai and Koda get off their mammoth, leaving the moose brothers behind. The two bears get into an argument over which direction to go, ending with Koda abandoning Kenai and storming off alone. He doesn't get far before finding an abandoned cave full of cave paintings. Kenai easily catches up to him and glares at a drawing of a man with a spear confronting a bear. Koda describes the man as a really scary monster, "especially with those sticks." Kenai ushers Koda away from the cave. After getting directions from a pair of rams, Kenai and Koda try to work their way through a geyser field, only to be confronted by Denahi again. They manage to cross a chasm on a log and knock the log down, but Denahi makes the leap across and grabs onto the log. It starts to slip, and Kenai struggles to hold onto it, fearing for Denahi's life. The log falls, taking Denahi with it into the river below. Denahi survives, and Kenai watches as he's carried away on the log. A confused Koda demands an explanation as to why Kenai didn't just run from the hunter, and why the hunter is so bent on killing them anyway. Kenai can only say that it's because they're bears and bears hate humans, telling Koda he'll understand when he's grown.
The two bears then arrive at a waterfall at the base of a mountain, where an entire troop of bears is participating in the salmon run. After getting to know the bears more, Kenai realizes that he was wrong about them being monsters, and bears are capable of being very gentle and friendly with one another. The biggest boar, Tug, welcomes Kenai, and the rest of the bears treat him as family, while Koda shows him around the salmon run. Eventually it is time for the bears to start their annual tradition of telling stories to each other, passing a salmon around to each speaker. When it comes time for Kenai's story, he tells them about going on a long and difficult journey with "the biggest pain in the neck [he's] ever met," before sweetly teasing Koda by saying that's what can be expected from a younger brother. Once it's Koda's turn to tell a story, he dramatically launches into a tale about his mother fighting three human hunters on top of a glacier, making Kenai realize in horror that the bear he killed was Koda's mother.
Shocked and horrified, Kenai runs away, but Koda soon finds him. Kenai reveals the truth to Koda, calling himself a monster who did something very wrong. Koda tries to stop him, saying he doesn't like this story. When Kenai breaks the news that Koda's mother won't be coming, Koda runs away, grief-stricken. Kenai sadly goes alone to the mountain where the lights touch the earth to find Sitka. Instead he finds Denahi waiting for him. Denahi attacks and Kenai tries to defend himself without hurting his brother, all the while pleading with the spirits to change him back into a human. As Denahi is about to deliver the final blow on Kenai, Koda, after listening to the mooses' advice during another encounter with them, saves Kenai from death by body slamming Denahi. He then grabs Denahi's spear to distract Kenai so that he can run. Denahi chases Koda to get his spear back, causing Kenai to charge him to defend Koda. Denahi retrieves and raises his spear as Kenai closes in on him. But before the spear can connect, Sitka appears in his eagle form and grabs Kenai, transforming him back into a human before also revealing himself to Denahi. Denahi is stunned, then horrified at the realization that he almost killed his own brother. Koda is also shocked and scared when he sees Kenai as a human, but Kenai gently assures him that it's him. Koda jumps into Kenai's arms. Kenai turns to Sitka and says that Koda needs him. Denahi jokes that Kenai did look better as a bear and promises to support his decision. So while Koda reunites with his mother's spirit for a final goodbye, Sitka changes Kenai back into a bear so that he can continue to look after Koda.
Upon returning home, Denahi tells his tribe about Kenai's journey, and Tanana prepares a new rite of passage ceremony for Kenai. Kenai finally gets to put his handprint on the wall next to his brothers and ancestors, signifying his passage into true manhood. Koda also attends the ceremony, and the two bears become permanently attached to the tribe.
Brother Bear 2[]
Kenai awakens from his first hibernation to find that spring has arrived. Kenai is separated from Denahi, Tanana, and his villagers to take care of Koda. Even with snow on the ground and the trees still bare, love is decidedly in the air. Kenai and Koda scoff at the notion of romance, but Tug (the large, dark brown bear from the first film) cautions them, especially Kenai, that "You can't run from love. It has a way of tracking you down." Kenai laughs, but later has a dream about Nita, a girl he used to know when he was young and a human. During the dream, Kenai saves Nita after she falls into water, Kenai gives her his amulet to remember him by before they paint a picture of themselves on a cave wall. After Nita has move home with her tribe.
Meanwhile, in her own village, Nita is preparing for her wedding to a man named Atka. But when the big moment arrives, the ceremony was interrupted by the great spirits. The earthquake destroyed everything in its path, it is revealed that Nita cannot marry Atka. The reason for this is because Kenai gave Nita his amulet. What neither Kenai nor Nita realized was that the amulet bonded them as one. The only way for Nita to marry Atka is to go with Kenai to Hokani Falls, where he first gave her the amulet, and burn it.
Nita finds Kenai and manages to convince him to help her. But during the course of their three-day journey, their old friendship sprouts anew and flourishes. When Nita asks Kenai if he misses being human, he says yes. This causes Koda to run away up a mountain, thinking Kenai will leave him. A worried Kenai and Nita look for Koda as a snowstorm hits. They initially have no luck and Kenai keeps going, not noticing that Nita is stopping. Nita finds Koda, but an avalanche starts and as Nita screams, Kenai turns around and sees the snow heading right for them. The two are pushed down the mountain and soon get buried by the raging snow. Kenai rushes to save them and tells Koda he will never leave him. Despite the fact that both are developing feelings for one another, Kenai and Nita burn the amulet and Nita returns to her village, only to find that while the amulet kept her from marrying Atka before, now her heart will not let her marry him either.
When Kenai wakes up the next morning, his moose friends inform him that Koda has gone to Nita's village to get her back. Kenai races to the village, knowing Koda will be killed. Back at the village, the villagers spot Koda and chase him up a tree. Then, Kenai races over to the rescue grab Koda and flees. Nita hears the commotion outside and runs out of her tent. She is horrified when Atka goes after Kenai and Koda. She then chases after them to try to stop Atka. Atka chased Kenai into the mountains. Kenai hides Koda and runs off to distract the hunters. Atka finds Kenai and corners him on a cliff. They fight and Kenai is about to kill Atka when Nita runs over and yells at him to stop, but it's too late. Kenai lets Atka go and while he is distracted, Atka throws some embers in his face and kicks him off the cliff.
Atka wins and Nita cries out in dismay (because Kenai lost), pushes Atka out of the way, and climbs down the rocks to help Kenai. Kenai is alive, though he failed to defeat Atka, and tells Nita he loves her and she tells him the same. The spirits come down and Nita is able to understand the bears again. Koda tells Kenai that he asked the spirits to change him back into a man so he could be happy. Kenai tells Nita that he cannot -- as he cannot leave Koda, but she says she can. So, Nita is turned into a bear that has the same coloring as Kenai, and they get married.
The Sprits then alter the cave painting of Kenai and Nita from children into bear cubs, due to both now being bears.
Other appearances[]
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, a screenshot depicting Kenai and Koda can be seen on a banner in the background of Oh My Disney.
In Once Upon a Studio, Kenai and Koda are seen joining all other Disney characters in taking a group photo to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Disney. When Goofy accidentally breaks the camera, Kenai, Koda and many of their cohorts sadly prepare go back inside the animation building until they hear Alan-A-Dale playing "When You Wish Upon a Star". This lifts everyone's collective spirit, where they sing the song together and successfully take the group photo.
Disney Parks[]
Kenai at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Kenai appears as a walkaround character in his bear form at Disney's Animal Kingdom, though formerly appeared at Epcot and having a major place in Disney California Adventure.
At California Adventure, Kenai appeared as part of the Magic of Brother Bear theme at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, appearing in a totem ceremony show, a wood-carved sculpture at the entrance to the area and the namesake of Kenai's Spirit Cave, where guests are able to find their animal totem by placing their hand on glowing pawprints. In the summer of 2011, the Brother Bear theming would be removed and replaced with an Up theme inspired by the Wilderness Explorers. Though Kenai and Koda no longer appear in the area, the Spirit Cave was mostly untouched with the exception of signs removing Kenai's name.
He and Koda can currently be found at Storyteller's Cafe at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel during breakfast time for meet-and-greets.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Kenai is the third Disney protagonist to be of Native American descent (Athabascan, in Kenai's case), with the first being Pocahontas, and the second being Kuzco.
- The scene where Kenai tells Rutt and Tuke "I'm not a beaver, I'm a bea–I mean, I'm not a bear, I'm a man!" could be a reference to a scene in The Sword in the Stone where Arthur (Wart) and Merlin are turned into squirrels by Merlin's magic, and Merlin tells the Old Lady Squirrel, "I'm not a boy, I'm a squir-I mean, I'm not a squirrel, I'm a boy!" after she falls in love with his squirrel form.
- Joaquin Phoenix did not reprise his role as Kenai for the sequel due to scheduling conflicts, instead Patrick Dempsey replaced him.
- Kenai's age is never stated in the films, though he is most likely aged 16, as 12-16 is considered the age of manhood in First Nation tribes (However, Inuits celebrate coming of age at age 11-12, and Yup'iks celebrate coming of age at a boy's first successful seal hunt).
- Since Kenai chose to remain a bear permanently at the end of the first film, the only time we ever get to see his human form again in the sequel was him as a little boy in a flashback near the start of the film, when he meets Nita for the very first time.
- There was originally going to be an alternate ending of the sequel where Kenai decides to return to his human form, but was replaced with Nita becoming a bear instead. That alternative ending has never been released for unknown reasons.
- Kenai's name means "open meadow" in Dena'ina. It's also pronounced like "keen eye", which, coincidentally enough, makes sense as he is looking after Koda.
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