Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear is a 14th Tezuka film, based on book of the same name by Ben Mikaelsen.

Plot
The story starts with Cole Matthews on a boat headed toward the Alaskan island where Cole is being banished to for a year. While on the boat, Cole begins to remember what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. He learns that his father abused him and that his mother is a drunk. Cole has a long history of trouble with the law, always lying and manipulating his way out of every punishment. Further, all of the police officers and judges kept telling him that they would let him off of the hook and that was his last chance. After stealing from a hardware store, Cole's classmate, Peter Driscal, tells authorities about the crime. To get revenge on him, Cole slams Peter's skull against the sidewalk, causing permanent brain damage. Cole is forced into a detention center, where his patrol officer, Garvey, tells him about Circle Justice, a Tlingit justice system. Instead of typical justice, which punishes, Circle Justice is meant to heal. Cole agrees to try Circle Justice, thinking that it is a literal "Get out of jail free" card."

Eventually, Cole is brought back to reality, and he is dropped off on the island with supplies and a shelter. Angry at his situation, Cole burns the supplies and the small hut before attempting to escape by swimming. He soon realizes that it is near to impossible with the tides, and is forced to stay, now without supplies or a shelter. One of the few things that survived the burning was a knife. When Cole sees a rare spirit bear by a stream one day, he decides to kill it. The bear mauls him within inches of life, resulting in several broken bones and severe wounds to his chest. He has very little flesh left on his chest and he bit a hole through his tongue. After the attack, Cole is unable to move is forced to eat insects and a small mouse for survival. This experience makes Cole see beauty in his life.

Cast

 * Philip McGhee as Cole Matthews
 * Matt McGhee as Mr. Matthews and Edwin
 * Tamela McGhee as Mrs. Matthews
 * Grandpa as Garvey
 * William McGhee as Peter Drasical

Soundtrack

 * 1) Main Titles (02:50)
 * 2) Alaska Theme (01:35)
 * 3) "Never Give Up!" (00:58)
 * 4) Cole changes (01:33)
 * 5) Into The Open Wilderness (03:21)
 * 6) "I Gotta Keep Doing It!" (02:13)
 * 7) Letting Snowflake Go / Re-United (03:35)