The Bear

The Bear is the climax antagonist of Disney's 1981 animated film The Fox and the Hound. He is a giant black-furred bear with red eyes. He does not tolerate intruders or trespassers, and he will kill them if they do so. He is accidentally woken up by Amos Slade and Copper.

Physical Description
The Bear is a gigantic and burly bear with black fur, red eyes and silver hair. He is likely a melanistic grizzly bear, Kodiak bear or an American black bear. He is a very unique looking grizzly bear due to the fact that no real grizzly bear has red eyes.

Personality
The Bear does not tolerate intruders and trespassers and if they cross into his territory, he will kill them if they do so.

Role in the film
The Bear first appears while Copper and Amos are trespassing in the woods to find Tod and Vixey, but while trying to get them, they accidentally antagonize the wrathful beast, who awakens and attacks Copper's owner. Amos shoots the bear in the shoulder, but though it does cause the animal to cry out in pain, it also angers him more. The Bear swipes at Amos, causing him to tumble down a hillside, and the Bear continues to pursue him. Whilst trying his best to escape from the Bear, Amos is caught in one of his own traps and his gun is caught on a tree, slightly out of his reach. Furious that the intruders aren't leaving his territory, the grizzly continues to attack them. Copper bravely tries to protect his master and attacks the Bear, but despite being smaller and more agile, he is no match for the giant bear, and Copper is soon easily overpowered and beaten up in a very vicious and brutal fight. Tod hears Copper's yelping echo and turns and is horrified to see his childhood friend getting nearly killed. Against his better judgement, Tod quickly intervenes to save his friend. As the bear prepares for a final blow on the wounded Copper, Tod leaps onto the bear's back and bites him on the ear, making the bear turn his attention to the fox. Biting and scratching wildly, Tod is able to lure the bear away from Copper and Amos. Eventually, he manages to lure the bear up onto a fallen trunk protruding over a huge waterfall. While Tod hangs for dear life on the trunk, the Bear tries to deliver the final blow, but the log cannot support his weight. It breaks, sending the two animals falling down into the huge waterfall hundreds of feet below. Tod survives while the Bear most likely drowns or is simply driven away by the current.

Trivia

 * The Bear's snarls, roars and growls are the same snarls, roars and growls of Brutus and Nero from The Rescuers and Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.
 * When Copper bites the Bear on the muzzle, blood is shown on the right side of its muzzle. This is one of the film's controversial points. When Amos Slade fires his shot at the Bear, hitting its right shoulder, blood is shown as well.
 * The Bear was animated by Glen Keane. John Lasseter, Mark Henn and Henry Selick did work on the character since he was being trained under Keane and Eric Larson. Selick would later become the director of films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.
 * The Bear's design may have been the original inspiration for that of Mor'du, the villain of Disney/Pixar's film Brave.
 * Due to the color of his fur, the bear is often believed to be an American black bear. But judging by his size and aggressive behavior towards trespassers and the visible shoulder hump, he is a grizzly with, for some reason, black fur (probably a melanistic grizzly bear).
 * Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck, provided the roars and snarls of the bear, while Candy Candido did the growls.
 * Given that Tod, a much weaker animal, survived the waterfall, and that bears are excellent swimmers, it is very likely that The Bear survived too.