According to Wikipedia: "The Grizzly King: A Romance of the Wild is a 1916 novel by American author James Oliver Curwood. It was the inspiration for the director Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1988 film L'Ours, known in North America as The Bear. .. James Oliver Curwood, (June 12, 1878 – August 13, 1927), was an American novelist and conservationist. A great number of his works were turned into movies, several of which starred Nell Shipman as a brave and adventurous woman in the wilds of the north. Many films from Curwood's writings were made during his lifetime, as well as after his passing through to the 1950s. In 1988 French director Jean-Jacques Annaud used his 1916 novel, The Grizzly King to make the film The Bear. Annaud's success generated a renewed interest in Curwood's stories that resulted in five more films being produced in 1994 and 1995."