Boonie Bears: Homeward Journey

Boonie Bears: Homeward Journey
Written by	Fuyuan Liu
Directed by	Fuyuan Liu
Starring	Rick Jay Glen Justin J. Wheeler Paul "Maxx" Rinehart Toni Thompson Siobhan Lumsden
Country of origin	China
Original languages	Mandarin and English
Production
Producers	Fantawild Animation Inc. Le Vision Pictures
Running time	68 minutes
Production company	Fantawild Animation Inc.
Original release
Release	8 February 2013 (2013-02-08)

Bonnie Bears: Homeward Journey is a 2013 Chinese animated TV film adventure family drama film based on the animated television series Boonie Bears. The first film Boonie Bears: To the Rescue was released after the TV film in 2014.

Plot

Animals in the forest, including Briar and Bramble, are preparing for the upcoming New Year, but the bear brothers can't keep awake due to their hibernation nature and ignores other animal's complainment. Meanwhile, Logger Vick's dream is interrupted by a call from his parents who asks for his returning home. With the desire to return home, Logger Vick calls for the railway station for a ticket but he can't afford the first-class ticket. Logger Vick reluctantly accepts order from Mr. Li, who is his economy supporter, which forces him to cut down a giant tree. He finds that the tree is too giant for his tools to cut down so he chooses to invent a more powerful cutting machine but Warren finds out about his plan. Warren races back to warn the other forest animals about Vick's plan. Warren, Hoo Hoo, and Herbert Diggs want to ask the two bears for help, but Tiki disagrees, saying they don't need the bears' help. When Logger Vick arrives to cut trees down, Herbert Diggs has already prepared a hole, hoping that Vick's contraption will fall into it. Unfortunately, the hole is not large enough. Once Tiki sees that Diggs has failed, he makes Hoo Hoo and Warren climb onto the contraption. They attempt to hypnotize Vick by spinning their eyes around, but are knocked out of the way by Vick. Tiki and Babu try to stop Vick, but are defeated. Out of options, the forest animals run to the bear brothers and try to wake them up, but are unsuccessful at first. They eventually wake the bears up, and the bears go to face Logger Vick. The bears start by firing rocks at Vick, but their efforts are in vain. Then, Hoo Hoo pecks Vick in the eyes, making him blind for a while. While he is blind, Warren climbs into the contraption and reworks the wires. When Vick finally recovers, the machine turns against him due to the reworking of the wires. The machine chases Vick to his house. Vick runs inside the house and slams the door shut. But the contraption still manages to get in despite the many locks Vick put on the door. Then, Mr. Li calls Vick to check up on his progress on cutting down trees. While Mr. Li is calling Vick, the contraption starts destroying Vick's house. Mr. Li thinks Vick is cutting down trees because of the loud noises made by the contraption. The contraption then leaves the house and blows up. Vick stares at sadness at the destroyed house, and Mr. Li eventually hangs up and doesn't give Vick money. Vick is even sadder, because not only does he not have money for the train ticket, he also doesn't even have a proper house. The forest animals feel bad for Vick, but all of them except for Bramble agree that Vick deserved it, and leave. Bramble still wants to help Vick get home for the holidays. Bramble sees the broken logging contraption, and wants to turn it into a car so he can get Vick home. Bramble is unable to build it by himself, but then the other forest animals come to help Bramble build a car. Soon, the car is finished. Bramble goes to Logger Vick's destroyed house and puts him in a bag. Bramble carries Vick to the car, and Hoo Hoo gets Vick's bag. Briar and Bramble get into the car, and Warren, Hoo Hoo, and Herbert Diggs say goodbye to the bears. The bears ride the car on the road for a while. Then, they pass by a cop, and an apple flies out of the car, thrown by Tiki, who has snuck aboard the car. The cop chases the car, and catches up. He asks the bears about the apple thrown, and the bears are confused. Babu tells Tiki that they have been found out, but then Tiki smells a scent coming from the police motorcycle. Babu sneaks off the car to get the fish that was ruined because of the apple thrown. The cop notices the monkeys, and gets angry. Just then, Tiki and Babu bust out of the wood wall separating their area from the bears'. Briar takes the opportunity and accelerates the car. The cop is angrier then ever, and keeps chasing the car. This time, he brought many other police cars with him. The bears bump into a car carrying logs, and the logs block the police cars. But the cop with the motorcycle jumps over the logs. The cop points a gun at the bears, but then his motorcycle crashes into a train gate. The bears zoom off, happy that they shook off the cops. Then, they reach traffic, and the bears get stuck. Suddenly, Logger Vick wakes up, wondering why he's in a car with the bears and monkeys. He thinks they're trying to bring him away from the forest so he can no longer cut down trees. He ties up the monkeys and leaves the car. When the bears find out that Vick has left, they chase after him. But Vick manages to get onto a van, bringing him away. Then, the bears realize that the road is to the railway station, and they catch a van to get there. Back on the car, the monkeys break free of the ropes, but the motorcycle cop catches up to them. He is surprised that no one is inside the car. Then, Tiki and Babu drive the motorcycle away. When the bears arrive at the railway station, they find Logger Vick, who is being pushed out by a security guard for not having a train ticket. Vick decides to scale a fence and he goes to the boarding area, but is chased out by a dog. The bears scare the dog away from behind the fence, and Vick thinks he scared the dog. Vick enters the boarding area. Vick tries to get inside the train but is taken away. So the bears take off their city clothes and make a scene, allowing Vick to sneak aboard the train. The bears are captured and taken inside a truck. The bears see the train leave, and are happy. But then, Logger Vick comes and hits the security guard on the head to stop him from transporting the bears to a testing facility. But, in turn, he misses the train and is very sad. Then, the bears come up to Vick with their own two person car. The bears manage to get Vick close to the train, but Vick accidentally flies away from the car. Then, Tiki and Babu get there with the police motorcycle and catch Vick. The train enters a tunnel, and the monkeys and Vick have to ride on top of the mountain. They crash into a tree, and Vick takes the side car and goes down the mountain. He misses the train, but the bears throw a rope at him, and Vick holds onto the rope. The train takes curve, and causes some commotion. The train driver goes to the back to see what's going on. The bears haul Vick onto the roof of the train just in time, as the driver enters the back. The bears and Vick ride the train all the way to Vick's hometown. The bears leave, but the trip will take them a very long time. Luckily, Tiki and Babu let the bears use the police motorcycle to get back home. Meanwhile, Logger Vick sees his parents' house and is very happy that he was able to make it home for the holidays.

Reception

The film was shown at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival.

The film received reviews from sources including The Dove Foundation and Common Sense Media.