Courtesy of Primrose Productions

A magical film. Reiniger's animation of the bear as he becomes part of the household, warming himself by the fire and winding wool, is really charming. The delicacy of the animation allows us to feel the texture of his fur, the warmth of his body.

It is a relatively sophisticated piece of film-making, with good pacing and editing and an evocative and brooding landscape adding atmosphere and depth to the usual finely worked foreground characters.

Ruth Lingford

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation Lotte Reiniger: The Fairy Tale Films.

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