When a likable young white man (Patrick Wayne) moves up to the Canadian outback, he finds the natives not so welcoming and wonders why. He makes easier friends of the three abandoned bear cubs after one of the nastier Indians kills the mother. The cubs stick to him like oatmeal on a newly painted wall, even though he has every intention of releasing them into the wild once they are old enough and trained to take care of themselves. He falls in love with them as if they were household pets. But baby bears aren't really puppies, and the Indian leader (Chief Dan George) warns him that their land will be plagued with tragedy until all the bears are released into the wild.It takes a couple of misadventures for Wayne and the bears (mostly quite harmless and entertaining) until he is able to make them ready to accept living as bears should. The sight of one of the poor cubs being pushed down the snowy mountain (by another one of the cubs) in a sled as Wayne chases after him on skis unfortunately without poles is a comedy delight. The conflict explodes when Wayne learns that the parks department (lead by veteran character actor Andrew Duggan) wants the Indians to move off the land so they can develop it for a tourist attraction. The Indians, lead by George, hold fast, and tragedy as he predicted does break out. This is pleasant family fair, as Disney succeeded in adventure stories more than comedies.

Upon watching "The Bears And I", one will see just how far the Disney company had gone downhill eight years after Walt Disney's death. To be fair, not all of the movie is bad. It's a rare '70s movie that shows a Vietnam vet to be well-adjusted and not suffering from any post-combat problems. The scenery is nice, the bears are adorable, and Patrick Wayne, though a little stiff, makes a likable character. Also, it's always nice to see Chief Dan George. And speaking of Native Americans, it's interesting that unlike other '70s movies dealing with Native Americans, this movie doesn't always portray them as 100% sympathetic. Though despite positive stuff like this, much of the movie is a chore to sit through. For one thing, there's too much unnecessary narration, when silence would have been enough. There are also too many similar scenes of the bears making mischief - the movie seems to be repeating itself at times. There's also forced slapstick, bad looping done in the editing room, and an unbearable long subplot of the local Native Americans being threatened with eviction - it would have been better if the movie would have stuck with the bears (though at the same time made sure they gave the bear scenes some variety.) If Walt Disney had been alive when this project was proposed, I'm sure he would have wisely killed the project, or at least sent the screenplay back for some serious rewriting - he usually had a good idea as to what kind of projects would attract an audience.

Robert Franklin Leslie's book The bears and I has continued to be a favourite of mine for over a quarter of a century, together with books like Nevil Shute's Trustee from the Toolroom, Hugh Lewin's Bandiet, Mark Vonnegut's The Eden Express and Maclean's HMS Ulysses, all stories about unusual people doing unusual deeds, two of them fictional and three autobiographical. The two fictional stories have a true ring to them, Maclean even writes that his book is based on his brother's experiences during WWII!But this Disney film version turns a true story into a Keystone Cops event, where the original deals with the magic of nature and the coming rape of the virgin BC wilderness,an exploitation that Leslie and his Indian friends try to stop.The Disney version is just a film about three cuddly bear cubs, where the Indians naturally are evil and the white men oh so nice, clean-shaven; naturally 100% Politically Correct (even before the expression was coined) and very, very Disney!Happily, Disney has later made great things, like Tron, A Bug's Life and Lilo & Stitch (Lilo & Stitch: the movie is, on the other hand, awful)!

This is one of those tattered movies you pick up from the Family 50 cent racks. Surprisingly good movie. Music by John Denver and good performance from Chief Dan George. Also serves as a gentle introduction to concerns about the environment and native issues for younger folks. Strength of the movie is the story-line.