A beautiful short but...

Hey, I like the he's the cub grown up idea. Just saw this on monday, and I find myself pretty fixated on the story. (and entranced by the simple yet beautiful music)

What I feel happened in the story was that the entire animatronic story was accurate, up until his family greeted him. I feel that the happy reunion is what he wanted to had happened. When he got home and saw the house in the same disarray as a sign of a struggle leads me to believe the mother/son were abducted as well. (If they had just left for other reasons, eg couldn't survive there without Papa bears financial support, they wouldn't have left artifacts like the cub's stuffed bear, pictures on the wall)

The wife's theory is that the whole thing is the bear's fictional story, the redmage types came in, abducted his wife and child and he couldn't help them, so he fabricated the story of him being abducted and breaking free to cope.

Oh well, here's to putting way too much thought into a story about a bear.

~Charlie

I haven't read any interview with the director, this is my humble opinion.
I think that the story that the bear told us is accurate until the happy reunion, like other poster said.
I am chilean, born and raised in Chile under Pinochet. Those were terrible times. It seems like he was away for a long time (he was, with his neighbours, a "Detenido Desaparecido"). His wife and kid could have went through the same terrible fate, or they could have been forced to exhile, we don't know. Familys were destroyoyed back then. It is very sad.
I would like to know the director's original intention too.

Please excuse my terrible redaction, english is not my native language

My interpretation: What happened in the box is what happened in real life... up until his family reunion. That was just what he had wanted to happen.

Considering the apartment is in disarray, with meaningful items left behind, I'm guessing his wife and son were kidnapped as well, probably not long after he was.