When Disney’s then Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner wanted to do a new animal film, none was in the works except a few ideas involving grizzly bears. Thrilled at the idea of working on a bear film, directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker took the bear by the horns and ran with it, giving shape to what became the Academy Award®-nominated Brother Bear, Disney’s 43rd animated feature, which clawed its way into theaters on this day in 2003. The film follows the adventures of a young man named Kenai who is transformed into a bear after killing the one he blames for his oldest brother’s death. From his new perspective, Kenai discovers the world through the eyes of another as he is befriended by a bear cub named Koda, encounters a pair of misguided moose and finds himself pursued by his own human sibling. Singer-songwriter and Disney Legend Phil Collins was working on the soundtrack for Tarzan, but had not yet won the Academy Award® for Best Song in that film when he was asked to also work on Brother Bear. In addition to songwriting duties, Phil found himself cutting his teeth working on his first film score and learning from collaborator Mark Mancina. Upon the film’s completion Phil said, “In some respects it’s the most rewarding work I’ve ever done.”