While not one of my favourite cartoon characters, Barney Bear was a very funny and likable character where his sluggishness was a huge part of his charm. He was also interesting for being modelled on both his creator Rudolf Ising (who also was his first voice actor until 1941) and the mannerisms of Wallace Beery.
To me, the early Barney Bear cartoons are among Ising's better cartoons. The same goes to 'The Bear and the Beavers', which may not be one of Barney's best or funniest efforts but it is very hard to dislike. It may be slight and there are funnier Barney cartoons, for Barney it's a comparatively serious effort in the latter half in particular. Generally 'The Bear and the Beavers' is like the other Ising-directed Barney cartoons in general, pretty much everything is well executed but it doesn't blow the mind.
Barney's personality again is very well established and he proves again why he was deserving of his own series and it was sad he didn't last longer. The animation is colourful and beautifully drawn with fluid movements and meticulous attention to detail. The amount of detail given to Barney's character design was incredibly and it was a shame that it became simplified later on and lost its special uniqueness.
Music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures. It's charming, has some silly chuckles and is paced beautifully.
While all is done well, the scene-stealing beavers are particularly good and one does feel sympathy for them.
All in all, doesn't blow the mind but very nice to watch. 8/10 Bethany Cox