Adapted from the novel The Grizzly King (1916) by American author James Oliver Curwood, the screenplay was written by Gérard Brach.

Annaud and Brach began planning the story and production in 1981, although filming did not begin until six years later, due to the director's commitment to another project.

Elsewhere in the mountains, a male Kodiak bear roams searching for food or a mate but is unknowingly pursued by two trophy hunters Tom and Bill.

Determined to find the Kodiak, the two hunters are joined by a third man and his pack of vicious Beaucerons, in addition to Tom's Airedale Terrier.

Despite suffering grievous wounds from the dogs, he kills some of his assailants before escaping over a pass with the remaining pack members chasing him, leaving the cub behind.

The hunters arrive, spot the lone cub, and capture him, taking him back to their camp where he is tethered to a tree and tormented by the men and their remaining dogs.

When Bill catches sight of the Kodiak, he raises his rifle to shoot, only to be intercepted by Tom, who silently insists they let the animal go free.

Curwood's biographer, Judith A. Eldridge, believes that the incident in which the hunter is spared by a bear is based on truth, a fact that was later related to Jean-Jacques Annaud.

[7] Brach and Annaud decided to set the film in the late 19th century to create a perception of true wilderness, especially for the human characters.

[9] The French filmmaker had first considered the idea of making a film that included mammal communication through behavior, rather than language, while working on Quest for Fire.

[10] He discussed this idea with his longtime collaborator, screenwriter Gerard Brach, who within a few days sent Annaud a copy of The Grizzly King, to which the filmmaker quickly agreed.

[11] Although Brach began writing the screenplay in late 1981, Annaud took on another project, that of directing a film adaptation of Umberto Eco's book The Name of the Rose.

Husband and wife team Tony and Heidi Lüdi served as the film's production designer and art director, respectively, alongside set decorator Bernhard Henrich.

'"[14] Cinematographer Philippe Rousselot noted that "the only thing Jean-Jacques was unable to control" while filming in the Bavarian Alps "was the weather: he did not manage to have the clouds take part in pre-production meetings.

James Oliver Curwood, himself a past hunter and trapper, considered The Grizzly King to be a "confession of one who for years hunted and killed before he learned that the wild offered a more thrilling sport than slaughter".

An official tie-in to the movie The Odyssey of 'The Bear': The Making of the Film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, a translation from the French edition, followed in November.

[29] Janet Maslin of The New York Times, however, believing that the film was less about its wild characters and more about personification, wrote: "The Bear...is a remarkable achievement only on its own terms, which happen to be extremely limited and peculiar...its true emphasis is not on wildlife.

In his review for the St. Petersburg Times, Hal Lipper called the dream sequences "existential flights of fancy are accompanied by psychedelic images that seem better suited for '60s 'happenings.

'"[32] In addition, one scene in which the male grizzly mates with a female bear while the cub looks on was criticized as being unfriendly for children viewers.