Pixar Previews Brave
Brave, indeed. Pixar's upcoming feature (opening June 22) proves that the animation powerhouse is at the top of its game once more, introducing its first period piece as well as its first female protagonist. And judging by the first half-hour that I viewed up north in Emeryville last week, the medieval Scottish adventure is darker and more tactile than previous Pixar features. While on the surface Brave is a fairy tale in the vein of Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm, it is at heart a mother/daughter story. Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), the wild and fiery teenage princess, defies the wishes of her well-intentioned mother, Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson), to select a suitor among the sons of the three lords of the kingdom by holding an archery competition.
As you've probably seen in the trailer, Merida shows off her considerable archery skills to thwart tradition. Merida then selfishly gets in over her head and threatens the safety of the kingdom with her willful ways. There's magic and mysticism; mysterious wisps and a monstrous bear tied to some curse. And slapstick relief among the lords and Merida's father, King Fergus (voiced by Billy Connolly).
But most of all, the look of the Scottish Highlights is stunning and mirrors Merida: rugged yet beguiling (there's no substitute for research, according to production designer Steve Pilcher). We're dazzled by the first glimpse of the magnificent rock formations; the castles; the green grass, moss, and lichen mingling with the earthy brush; the orange light complementing the red curly locks of Merida as she joyfully rides her powerful Clydesdale, Angus.
As director Mark Andrews noted, however, Brave thwarts the tradition of the princess story by defying easy categorization: "It's not a princess story -- she just happens to be a princess and that raises the stakes of whatever decision she's going to be making and how it's going to affect the kingdom," he explained.
"Everybody's trying to put us into a box and I think our box is you can't put us in a box. You don't know what you're going to get out of Pixar. Sure, we do our Cars 2 and there's going to be a Monsters 2 and everyone wants an Incredibles 2.But after our Scottish epic/fantasy/adventure comes out, people are going to say it's hard to predict you guys… because we keep pushing the bar."
That's always been the Pixar way. But Brave has been exceedingly challenging, which is the price you pay for ambition and innovation. Seven years in the making, Brave was the brainchild of Brenda Chapman, who was supposed to be Pixar's first female director, but gave way to Andrews (who co-wrote John Carter with Andrew Stanton) two years ago when she reached a story impasse.
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Those backgrounds remind me of some of the latter day Roger Dean paintings, I think he was influenced by Scottish scenery, and japanese style paintings too.
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