Film Name: 熊出没·变形记 / Boonie Bears : The Big Shrink
I’ve always held the view that the vast majority of characters in animation lack parents. Except for those specifically designed to depict family bonds, most animated characters simply appear out of nowhere, then proceed to showcase various conflicts, contradictions, and confrontations.
Why do they lack parents? Because their worldview fundamentally doesn’t require parental relationships to drive the narrative. Take the conflict between Pleasant Goat and Big Bad Wolf, for instance—it’s driven by the natural, binary opposition between wolves and goats. Similarly, the tension between Bear Brothers and Strong Head never truly required parental involvement.
Yet you’ll notice an interesting phenomenon: after a certain period of development, an animation franchise will often—consciously or unconsciously—introduce these previously absent parental figures into its storylines. From Kung Fu Panda in 2008 to Kung Fu Panda 3 in 2016 took eight years. The Pleasant Goat series began in 2005, and it took six years until the 2011 theatrical release Moon Castle: The Space Adventure for Pleasant Goat’s parents to appear. The Boonie Bears series premiered on CCTV in 2012, and it took six years until the 2018 film “Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink” featured and focused on the father of Strong Head.
All of these took 6-8 years. Is this a coincidence? I don’t think so. It’s a pattern. This pattern is that when a simple, oppositional worldview develops for over five years, its original content model approaches exhaustion and fatigue. At this point, it needs representative content additions like family bonds to spice up the plot. As for the question raised at the beginning about most animated characters lacking parental settings, you could even interpret it as precisely the space left for parents to be introduced into their world someday.
So I’m not at all surprised that the 2018 Boonie Bears theatrical release specifically depicted the relationship between Strong Head and his father. What I’m more concerned and curious about is how this brand will evolve going forward. Because reality keeps proving that introducing familial bonds into a plot originally devoid of them pushes the brand to its creative peak—while simultaneously signaling its potential decline. Indeed, when a binary-conflict narrative must rely on introducing familial bonds to sustain itself, it signals that its core formula has largely run dry. It has reached maturity while simultaneously harboring a potent crisis of decline—though this decline may not occur immediately or even the following year, potentially being delayed for some time. Yet the appearance of parents alongside animated characters who previously lacked parental figures serves as a metaphorical warning sign. Isn’t this precisely what happened with Pleasant Goat?
The film itself, however, holds little fault. It ranks among the top two entries in the “Boonie Bears” film series. Its originality far surpasses that of “Snowy Mountain Bears” and “Bears Return,” while its grounded storytelling significantly outshines “Fantasy Space.” The portrayal of family education and scenes where everyone at the dinner table stares at their phones, utterly oblivious to the children, are particularly thought-provoking. A flashlight and a notebook both evoke countless tears.
Particularly noteworthy is the portrayal of the salmon, a specialty of China’s northeastern rivers. Its metaphorical leap over the dragon gate while swimming upstream to spawn cleverly symbolizes the protagonist’s spirit of fearlessly confronting adversity. Additionally, the film’s premise of shrinking the protagonist is quite intriguing. While body reduction is common in animation, amplifying emotions through physical diminishment is a fresh approach. Though Strong Head’s stature shrinks, his bond with his father grows stronger—this contrast between small and large creates a richly nuanced dynamic.
Of course, the film also has its flaws. For instance, the character Beth feels somewhat out of place, not seamlessly integrated into the plot. The Egg Man segment diverges significantly from the established world of Boonie Bears, and while entertaining, it struggles to build full credibility. Not to mention the mantis, the four shrimp, and the surreal sewer scenes—it feels like the filmmakers tried to cram in too many elements without tying them cohesively together, resulting in a somewhat disjointed narrative.
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