Bears are creatures who suffer quite an identity crisis in our culture. Although a grizzly can rip a grown man to shreds faster than you can say “Oh God, I’m out of ammo!” we place stuffed bears in the cribs of our children and love to watch them on screen. Whether it’s a bear being comically fierce or a bear as a deadly threat, we revere them with a fierce fascination. Getting a bear to perform on command is tricky business–as they are wild animals made to be killing machines so they can survive in the wild. Still, a big brown Grizzly, named Bart, who died in 2000, graced many a movie with his mighty presence. He wasn’t the only bear on film but when a movie needed a 91/2 foot tall 1,500 lb.bear who could carry on like a fierce, growling, bellowing threat and then retreat on command, everyone was on the phone with Bart’s owners/trainers, Doug and Lynne Seus –and he became a superstar.
Here are five movie scenes, three thanks to Bart, where bears were the main character.
The Edge – 1997
Yeah there was lots of rivalry between Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins) and womanizing photographer Robert Green (Alec Baldwin) after a plane crash, but encounters with that big, hungry bear, played by Bart, was the real conflict as starving bears don’t appreciate snappy banter or the fact that you can pull out a black American Express Card. Bart did such a convincing job of acting that he was nominated for his work in the film and was on hand to help Mike Myers present at the 70th Academy Awards.
The Great Outdoors – 1988
I don’t know how Bart kept it together and didn’t either attack or die laughing in that scene with John Candy and Dan Akroyd. Bart wrestled, ran up the stairs and did a variety of cool stunts. All those wacky people running around screaming didn’t phase him at all–he played his part flawlessly. Plus he suffered the indignation of a bad butt haircut.
The Bear – 1988
This wildlife masterpiece shown from a bear’s perspective again relied on Bart as a featured character, along with a female bear named Douce and several other animal actors, brought to the screen a true tale written by writer and animal activist Oliver Curwood called The Grizzly King, During filming of The Bear, the director, Jean-Jacques Annaud was accidentally injured by Bart who clawed his backside during a photo shoot to publicise the film. As there was so much wildlife in the movie to manage, the film did rely on some use of animatronics for a few scenes.
Into The Grizzly Maze – 2014
Not to be confused with the awful “Jaws With Paws” 1976 film Grizzly, Into the Grizzly Maze stars Billy Bob Thornton, James Marsden, Scott Glenn and Piper Perabo. The bear star of the film is another ursine actor raised by the Seus’ known as “Bart 2” who was born shortly before the first Bart had to be euthanized due to a terminal illness. Bart 2 is as well trained as his namesake and is truly terrifying in this wilderness survival film.
Grizzly Man – 2005
This documentary directed by Werner Herzog focuses on the strange and tragic life of Timothy Treadwell, who maintained till the end that wild Alaskan brown bears were his “friends”. He gave them cutesy names like “Mr. Chocolate” and said he was protecting the bears from poaching. He didn’t do such a great job as they did not need his protection and one of his “friends” had to be shot and killed after he digested parts of both Treadwell and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard. His death by a bear attack in 2003 was not that shocking, as he kept pushing his way into their territory and stayed too long into the fall that last season. Tim did get some amazing footage of these bears in the wild, but his presence was unnecessary, as one hungry bear made perfectly clear in the end.
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