Looking for a shortcut to change Elinor’s mind, Merida winds up changing her species instead she should’ve thought twice before slipping her an enchanted muffin from a witch (Julie Walters) whose woodland cottage is filled wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-floor with ursine wood toys and carvings. It’s interesting how these gals become more assertive as the decades roll by, and they don’t come more headstrong than Merida.

This may be Pixar’s first female protagonist but Disney’s had no shortage of fairy tale heroines, from the demure Snow White tothe determined Rapunzel in Tangled. Dad and grandpa both have their own way of going about it, and each one thinks his is the best – but their offspring has ideas of his own…īrave is a generational tale too, the story of a young princess, a kick-ass Celt and wild child named Merida (voiced by Kellie Macdonald) who couldn’t be less interested in the life her royal mom Elinor (Emma Thompson) has mapped out for her. It’s Enrico Casarosa’s La Luna featuring dad and grandpa introducing junior to the family trade – sweeping the moon clean of falling stars. This is more like it – the traditional pre-feature Pixar short. Unfortunately the ad for the Brave video game and the promos for upcoming Disney TV programs that came next were a bit of a mood-breaker. Disney/Pixar’s Thursday night Brave screening began with a bagpiper making a circuit through the theater to get us in the mood for the about-to-begin movie.

Cast of brave animated series