brother bear...
 

is brother bear a good blind buy? or should i just rent it and watch it first?

It's a rental.

I was extremely dissapointed with it. I've liked all of the recent Disney animated movies, particularly the ones that did poorly such as Treasure Planet, Atlantis, and Emperor's New Groove. Brother Bear was extremely mediocre... nothing about it stood out to me at all. I'd say give it a rental.

I will take the flipside...

I really enjoyed it. I found it had the warmth and heart that's been missing from 2D animated films recently. Great voice work from the cast, and if you're a Bob and Doug McKenzie fan, the film is added fun. There are a couple of standout songs as well...

In place of taking your kids to the toxic SCOODY-DOO 2, I would blind buy this instead.