My boys watched this and they completely got hung up on the brother dying, could not get the concept of the brother turning into a bear (and the fact that people could not hear him when he talked) and got completely FREAKED OUT by the spirits. They both (4 and 5.5 years old) cried - seriously cried - and they have NEVER cried over any movie - they have watched Star Wars, many disney movies, etc. They are not overly sensitive, but my younger son could not understand how the brother who died came back from "heaven" and then went back again...and my older son worried that we will die. Maybe it was just bad timing, but they asked me to NEVER EVER show them this movie again. Hmmmm.

This seemed to have more screen time devoted to peril than the Brother Bear 1. The love interest portion of the story is central and not essential for intended audience. This version seems to have lost a little bit of the general intelligence and respect of the first movie. Might be better than many of the movies out there, so if you're looking for the lesser of two evils, this may still suffice.