It’s been a good couple of months for strong-minded women wielding medieval weaponry: “The Hunger Games,” “Snow White and the Huntsman” and now Pixar’s “Brave.” Set in the Scottish highlands of, oh, a thousand years ago, this dark and lovely yarn borrows from old world folk tales, and more than a bit, too, from Hayao Miyazaki’s heroine-driven animated adventures.
Although it takes its time getting there, “Brave” turns into a powerful story of transformation (literal and figurative), as the young princess Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) sets out to rescue her mother (Emma Thompson) from a witch’s spell that has turned her into a bear. If Merida doesn’t break the spell within two sunrises’ time, Mom is going to be very big and very furry for the rest of her life.
And the queen’s husband, Fergus (Billy Connolly), absolutely loathes bears – he lost his leg to one and has made it his mission to vanquish them from his land.
Although “Brave” is satisfying and spirited and laced with humor (haggis jokes, kilt jokes), it doesn’t quite mark a return to form for Pixar following the digital house’s disappointing 12th feature, “Cars 2.” The company’s founder, “Toy Story” director John Lasseter, has been running his operation and parent company Disney’s animation division, and “Brave” feels more like an aesthetic mix of the two camps. It’s less exhiliratingly wacky, less fun, more tradition-bound, predictable.
Still, a lot of heart has gone into this affair, which is rife with Celtic-inspired music and montages of the redheaded Merida traipsing across moors, climbing cliffs, riding horses, shooting her bow and arrows. When her mother (still in human form) announces that it’s time to consider suitors for her betrothal, Merida wants none of it – and who can blame her? The scions of the Dingwall, MacGuffin and MacIntosh clans are a buffoonish lot, and why should a princess be forced to marry, anyway?