Brave, as “The Bear
and The Bow” came to be known, is set in the 10th century Scottish
highlands, and is a coming of age story of a young Princess being groomed to
become the Queen and leader of her kingdom.
Merida (I love this name) has grown into a strong young woman happier
with breaking rather than embracing tradition.
As she continues to rebel against the expectations of her Mother - the
Queen, of course, trouble ensues and is ultimately resolved. That is all of this story you going to get
here, because that is pretty much what you’ve gotten from the trailers.
If you are expecting
the anything like what you’ve seen from Pixar before, more what might be
considered the traditional Disney Princess story… Leave those expectations at the door, or you
may be disappointed. But… the history of great storytelling we’ve come
to expect from Pixar is there is abundance, and the artistry and attention to
animation detail for which Pixar is well known, is ever present. Things like the individual random movement of
blades of grass as a gentle wind breezing over them. Unlike the more traditional Disney Princess
story, Brave has characters and integral story element that will appeal to most
young boy as well. For us older kids,
there are the more risqué elements that will fly gentle over the heads of the
younger audience, and even some lessons to be learned while being thoroughly entertained
by the action on screen and the story developing in front of us, if we pay
close enough attention. Finally, since
much of my ancestry hails from that part of the world, I found myself getting
lost in the accents. Something I enjoyed
much more than I expected I would…
Pixar and Disney
have another winner on their hand, at least in my opinion, and look forward to
seeing Brave time and time again. This
will become a welcome addition to my collection of Disney Movies. But, I still strongly recommend seeing it on
the big screen, there is a magnificence in the larger movie theater screen that
just cannot be captured on the home TV.
I hope you enjoy the
movie as much as we did; it is a very touching story, told only like Pixar can
tell it. I even caught my oldest “tough
as nails” daughter with a tear in her eye at the end. That’s saying something. ;-)
If you have a
different opinion, I’d certainly like to hear it.
Your comments or questions
are always welcome. If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com
