Pixar's Brave is Cool and Sweet and Funny, and You Should Go See It.

Like it says in the title. There are spoilers below the cut, so if you don't want to know anything about Brave before you see it, then you'd better click away now.

Ready? Okay.

I first heard about this movie from The Mary Sue last year. It's been really hyped in the girl-geek community because it's the first movie Pixar has ever made that featured a female protagonist. People got nervous when the original director, Brenda Chapman, was replaced halfway through, but overall the movie turned out well. It's a cute mother-daughter bonding story with gorgeous animation and lots of action. And, best of all, at the end of the movie (highlight for spoiler:) Merida is still happily single.


So here, in brief, are my favorite parts of Pixar's Brave.


The Cool:


1) First of all, I LOVED the setting. I don't know if I've ever seen a movie that was set in medieval Scotland before besides Braveheart, which I remember more for Mel Gibson's woad-y face than for any other reason.

Separated at birth?

 The setting development in Brave was much more satisfying. The two main sets-- the castle and the forest-- were important characters in their own rights, and were designed and explored in loving detail. The forest was richly textured and gorgeously animated. The castle, delightfully, felt like a real working castle rather than a museum piece. I especially liked the acknowledgement of the royal family's diplomatic peril: you were constantly reminded that this was a rare island of piece in a nation of clans who tended to be at war with each other more often than not.

2) I think we can all agree that the real protagonist of this movie was Merida's hair.

I just found out that the design and animation of this incredible mane took a team of six people three years to complete.

They used the same techniques on her horse, Angus.

Was it worth it? I certainly think so. The texture is wild, the color is glorious, and the way it hangs and moves changes according to Merida's moods. Plus it's so bouncy it's almost mesmerizing. Again:

I probably would have watched this movie just for the hair.

3) The curse.

To be honest, a lot of the fantasy elements in this movie weren't all that impressive. The will-o'-the-wisps were cute, but they reminded me a bit too much of those little forest spirits in Princess Mononoke. 






(That's twice in two weeks I've referred to that movie. Either it was so influential it's left traces on every fantasy movie since, or I just really need to see it again.)

The Mor'du plotline was actually pretty cool, but left me craving more. I got the feeling that there was a lot more to the legend, and to the history of Merida's family, that got cut out before the movie was finished. The new director admits to having trimmed a lot of material he felt was extraneous, and on the whole it probably helped-- but I was a bit confused about the history behind the story, and about how the "ancient" clans related to the new ones.

The curse on Merida's mother, however, really worked. There was something really traditional about it-- human-animal transformations are probably the oldest kind of fairy tale. Bear transformations are particularly popular-- they show up in Greek mythology, in the Korean creation myth (though it's reversed there), and in stories like "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." This movie dealt really well with the physical ramifications of turning a dainty Scottish woman in an enormous lumbering animal-- and some of the most compelling moments came when Elinor's mind started turning into a bear's. The spell's very simple components (a cake, (spoiler:) an apology) demonstrated nicely that a successful fantasy story doesn't require a complicated magical system.

The Sweet: 


1) This is a mother-daughter story. I didn't know that going in, but I'm kind of glad they chose to take the movie in this direction. (The other way it could have gone would have been a perilous quest story about Merida trying to hunt down and kill the "demon bear" Mor'du, which would have been a fascinating movie but a little dark for Pixar.)

The basic premise is pretty standard for fantasyland: highborn tomboy has no interest in girly stuff like music, embroidery, and table manners; parents announce impending engagement; girl runs away. My favorite version is probably still Patricia Wrede's Dealing With Dragons, but Disney's played with it before in Mulan. (As Amy Mebberson points out in her Pocket Princesses series, Merida and Mulan would probably be friends.)

Conventional or not, though, the relationship between Merida and her mother is very sweet, and watching this movie made me very sad that my own mother is out of town. (I love you, Mom! <3) I especially loved the two flashbacks into Merida's early childhood, which show how deeply Elinor loves her daughter. I also loved the "protective mother bear" moments at the end of the movie.  (This Slate review has some interesting comments on how Brave handles the subject of female power.)

Oddly, the women's big argument after the archery contest fell flat for me. I know it was supposed to be a moment of high tension, but something about the scene felt oddly phoned-in. The reconciliation at the end was lovely, though, and on the whole the relationship really worked.

2) I adored the depictions of Merida as a little girl. I thought the animation in those scenes was pitch-perfect for a three- or four-year-old, just like Boo in Monsters, Inc. was a pitch-perfect toddler.

Oddly, the animation of Merida's baby brothers wasn't really anything special-- but then, they were less a set of characters than a merciless force of nature (see below).

3) Fergus' and Elinor's relationship was adorable. It's nice to see depictions of long-married couples who are still very much in love.

The Funny


1) Merida's brothers.

I feel like the "evil-genius kid brother" trope has kind of been done to death, but I really loved these kids. I ended up laughing pretty much every time they were onscreen.

2) Since the visiting clans were pretty much all comic relief, it's no surprise that most of the movie's quick laughs came from them. My favorite was probably the fellow I'll just call "Highland Fabio." If you've seen the movie, you know who I'm talking about.

I couldn't find a picture of him, but here's a close approximation.

The other highlight was Young Macintosh's pec-flex, which kind of has to be seen to be appreciated.

3) The physical comedy as a whole was terrific, as it always is with Pixar-- the timing was always spot-on. The movie generally worked much better as a comedy than as a drama. I really wonder what it would have been like if they'd kept the same director all the way through.

The Meh


There were a few parts of the movie that didn't really work for me. One of them was the witch:

I think she must have been one of the parts that was pasted in at the last moment to cover up the gaps left by the new director. I get that she was supposed to be funny, but there was nothing original and nothing charming about her. I think they should have gone with a darker character and just thrown in a few ironic laughs, rather than making her another "lovable" cartoon.

I mentioned above that the big fight between Merida and Elinor didn't really deliver. Also, the "no weapons on the table" gag wasn't nearly as funny as someone must have thought it was.

On the whole, though, Brave is a terrific movie, and I definitely recommend it. Go and see it, and encourage Pixar to make more fun, exciting movies featuring female protagonists!