"Bears" opened in theaters April 18, 2014, to celebrate Earth Day.
"Bears" is the fifth theatrical release for Disneynature. The first four releases under the Disneynature label (Earth (2007), Oceans (2008), African Cats (2010), and Chimpanzee (2011)) are among the top five highest grossing feature-length nature films of all time. Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife documentary film making, producing 13 True Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, including Seal Island (1948), Beaver Valley (1950), The Living Desert (1953), and Jungle Cat (1960). The films earned eight Academy Awards®.
Other animals in this documentary are a common raven, sea gulls, a lone wolf, and salmon. In addition, it includes minor appearances of squirrels, bald eagles, golden eagles, American martens, red foxes, and deer.