Brave is a 2012 American animated fantasy adventure film made by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, and written by Andrews, Chapman, Steve Purcell, and Irene Mecchi. It features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, and Craig Ferguson.

The story takes place in the Scottish Highlands and follows Princess Merida of DunBroch (voiced by Macdonald), who challenges an old tradition by refusing to be promised in marriage. This causes problems in her kingdom. When her mother, Queen Elinor (voiced by Thompson), is turned into a bear, Merida must find a way to save the kingdom by learning about herself. Merida is the first Disney Princess character created by Pixar. The film is also dedicated to Steve Jobs, who was the chairman of Pixar and co-founder and CEO of Apple. He passed away before the film was released.

Brave is Pixar’s first film with a female main character and the first to use a new animation system called Presto. The film was originally named The Bear and the Bow and was announced in April 2008 along with Up (2009) and Cars 2 (2011). Brenda Chapman, who worked on Cars (2006), got ideas for the story from her experiences with her own daughter. She became Pixar’s first female director of a full-length film when she co-directed the movie with Andrews and Purcell. To create detailed visuals, Pixar completely updated their animation system for the first time in 25 years. Brave was the first film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. The filmmakers designed three unique tartan patterns for three of the four clans in the movie. Patrick Doyle composed the film’s music.

Brave had its first showing at the Seattle International Film Festival on June 10, 2012, and was released in theaters in North America on June 22. The film received mostly positive reviews and was a financial success, making $539 million, which is more than its $185 million budget. It won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Before the film, a short movie called La Luna, directed by Enrico Casarosa, was shown in theaters.

Plot

In Medieval Scotland, Princess Merida of Clan DunBroch celebrates her birthday. Her father, King Fergus, gives her a bow and arrow, which upsets her mother, Queen Elinor. In the forest, Merida sees a will-o'-the-wisp and follows it to her family. A large, dangerous bear named Mor'du attacks them. Fergus and his men fight Mor'du, but Fergus loses one of his legs during the battle.

Ten years later, Merida learns she is to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies. If she refuses, it could harm her clan. Queen Elinor reminds Merida of a story about a prince whose pride destroyed his kingdom. Clan leaders and their sons arrive to compete in the Highland Games for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida breaks the rules by saying she, as the clan's firstborn, will compete for her own hand. She wins easily, but Queen Elinor scolds her for her disobedience. After Merida damages the family tapestry with a sword, Elinor burns Merida's bow. Merida runs away on her horse, Angus. Elinor later retrieves the bow from the fire in regret.

In the forest, Merida meets the wisps again, who lead her to a witch's hut. The witch, who carves wood, agrees to help Merida by giving her an enchanted cake. Merida returns to the castle, and Queen Elinor eats the cake. She transforms into a bear but keeps her human thoughts. Merida helps Elinor escape with her brothers, who have also become bear cubs after eating the cake. They find a message from the witch: the spell can be undone if Merida and Elinor "mend the bond, torn by pride" by the second sunrise.

The next day, Merida and Elinor work to strengthen their relationship. Elinor begins to lose her humanity, and they follow the wisps to the ruins of an ancient kingdom. There, they meet Mor'du, who was the prince from the legend. Merida realizes she must fix the tapestry she destroyed. She and Elinor return to the castle, where the clans are about to fight. Merida allows the firstborns to choose their own spouses, breaking tradition and restoring the clans' alliance.

Fergus finds Elinor's dress and believes she was killed by Mor'du. After Elinor temporarily loses her humanity and attacks Fergus, she flees in guilt. Fergus mistakenly chases Elinor, thinking she is Mor'du. Merida is locked in the castle for safety, but her brothers, now bear cubs, help her escape. Merida fixes the tapestry as Fergus and the clans capture Elinor. They arrive at the menhir circle just as Mor'du attacks. Elinor saves Merida, and Mor'du is crushed by a falling menhir. The prince's spirit thanks Merida and becomes a wisp before disappearing.

As the sun rises for the second time, Merida covers Elinor with the repaired tapestry. Elinor remains a bear, but Merida realizes she has fixed the bond. The spell is reversed, and Elinor and her sons return to human form. Merida and Elinor work together on a new tapestry, say goodbye to the clans, and ride away together on their horses.

Voice cast

• Kelly Macdonald plays Merida, and Peigi Barker plays Young Merida.
• Emma Thompson plays Queen Elinor.
• Billy Connolly plays King Fergus.
• Julie Walters plays the Witch.
• Robbie Coltrane plays Lord Dingwall.
• Kevin McKidd plays Lord MacGuffin and Young MacGuffin.
• Craig Ferguson plays Lord Macintosh.
• Steve Purcell plays the Crow.
• Patrick Doyle plays Martin.
• John Ratzenberger plays Gordon.
• Sally Kinghorn and Eilidh Fraser play Maudie.
• Steven Cree plays Young Macintosh.
• Callum O'Neill plays Wee Dingwall.

Production

In April 2008, the movie was named The Bear and the Bow. It is Pixar's first fairy tale. Writer and director Brenda Chapman considers it a fairy tale in the style of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. She also drew inspiration from her relationship with her daughter. Chapman created the project and was announced as the film's director, making her Pixar's first female director. However, in October 2010, she was replaced by Mark Andrews after disagreements between her and John Lasseter. Chapman described the news as "devastating," but later said she felt proud of the film and that her ideas were still visible in it. In 2018, she mentioned that while she was still sad about leaving the project, she believed it helped her career grow. Brave is also Pixar's first film with a female lead and its first film with two credited directors.

After Mark Andrews became the director, he changed the story to focus more on Merida and her difficult relationship with her mother. He removed some magical elements he felt hurt the environment but wanted to keep the story true to Chapman's vision. He said, "The basic story was fine. The problems were in the details, like the balance of the plot."

The end credits include a tribute to Steve Jobs, a co-founder and CEO of Pixar, who died in 2011.

Brave was the first Pixar film with a female lead. Later films with female leads include Inside Out, Finding Dory, Incredibles 2, Turning Red, and Elemental. In 2010, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, and Julie Walters joined the cast, with Witherspoon set to voice Merida. However, Witherspoon left the project because she could not master a Scottish accent in time for the film. In 2011, Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald was chosen to voice Merida. In 2017, Witherspoon mentioned she had to leave the film due to difficulty with the accent.

The music for Brave was composed by Patrick Doyle and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Shearman. Doyle used traditional Scottish instruments like bagpipes, fiddles, harps, flutes, and the bodhrán to add Scottish flavor to the music. He also used Scottish dance rhythms like reels and jigs to keep the music authentic. Doyle studied Gaelic singing in the Hebrides to help with his research.

Doyle also wrote songs for the film. A lullaby called "A Mhaighdean Uasal Bhan (Noble Maiden Fair)" appears three times in the film and includes Gaelic vocals by Emma Thompson and Peigi Barker. This was the first Disney film to use Gaelic in its music. Another song, "Song of Mor'du," was sung in Scots, a Germanic language different from Scottish Gaelic.

Other songs in the film include "Learn Me Right" by Mumford & Sons and Birdy, "Touch the Sky," and "Into the Open Air," both performed by Julie Fowlis. These songs were produced by Jim Sutherland, who also worked with Peigi Barker, the voice of young Merida.

Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on CD and digital download on June 19, 2012.

Pixar created three tartan patterns for the clans DunBroch, Dingwall, and MacGuffin. The tartan for Clan DunBroch includes ocean blue for the North Sea, scarlet for bloodshed, green for the Highlands, navy blue for unity, and gray for the Scottish people. Pixar chose these colors to match historical dyeing techniques from the time period of the film.

The tartan was registered in the Scottish Register of Tartans when the film was released. The registration was celebrated at the film's premiere in Edinburgh, where Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond gave a certificate to director Mark Andrews. However, some people, like Member of Parliament Alex Johnstone, criticized the registration, saying it was disrespectful to Scotland's heritage. Johnstone argued that the 2008 law for the Scottish Register of Tartans was meant to protect heritage, not allow fictional entries.

Disney was not the first to register a tartan. In 1942, the company also registered a tartan for Clan McDuck.

Release

The film was first planned for release during the holiday season in 2011. However, the release date was changed to June 15, 2012, and then again to June 22, 2012. On April 3, 2012, Pixar showed the first 30 minutes of the film to an audience, and the response was positive. The film premiered on the final day of the Seattle International Film Festival on June 10, 2012. It had its Australian premiere on June 11, 2012, at the Sydney Film Festival, its domestic premiere on June 18, 2012, at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre as part of the Los Angeles Film Festival, its European premiere at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily on June 23, 2012, and its British premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 30, 2012. At the British premiere, Kelly Macdonald, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson, Brian Cox, Kevin McKidd, Ewen Bremner, Kate Dickie, Julie Fowlis, Patrick Doyle, Daniela Nardini, and Alex Salmond were present.

In the United States and Canada, Brave was the first full-length film to use the Dolby Atmos sound format. Nearly half of the 14 theaters equipped to show the film in Dolby Atmos were located in California (Burbank, Century City, Fremont, Hollywood, San Francisco, and Sherman Oaks). The remaining theaters were in seven other states (Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Paramus, New Jersey; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago; West Plano, Texas; Vancouver, Washington) and Toronto, Ontario. The film was also shown in other theaters using Dolby Surround 7.1. In total, it was released in 4,164 theaters, a record for Pixar. The previous record was held by Cars 2 (4,115 theaters). Of these theaters, 2,790 offered 3D showings.

Brave was released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital download on November 13, 2012. The release included the short film La Luna and a new short film titled The Legend of Mor'du, which explains the history of Mor'du from the perspective of The Witch. The DVD version features audio commentary by director Mark Andrews, co-director and screenwriter Steve Purcell, story supervisor Brian Larsen, and editor Nicholas C. Smith. The film was later released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on September 10, 2019.

Disney threatened to take legal action against a British company, Brightspark Productions, for marketing a low-budget 2005 Canadian film titled A Fairy Tale Christmas as "Braver." Disney claimed the DVD cover of Braver was too similar to that of Brave. The film Braver was sold in supermarkets in the United Kingdom.

Reception

Brave earned $237.3 million in North America and $301.7 million in other countries, totaling $539 million worldwide. It was the 13th highest-grossing film of 2012, the eighth highest-grossing Pixar film, and the third highest-grossing animated film that year, behind Ice Age: Continental Drift ($875.3 million) and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted ($746.9 million).

In North America, early predictions suggested the film would open between $55 million and $65 million, which was slightly below average for a Pixar film. Some analysts thought the film, described as a "princess story," might not attract as many male viewers.

Brave opened on June 22, 2012, with $24.6 million and earned $66.3 million during its opening weekend, matching the opening total of Cars 2, Pixar’s previous film. This was the seventh largest opening weekend in June and the sixth largest for a Pixar film. Despite early predictions, the audience was estimated to be 43% male and 57% female. In North America, it was the ninth highest-grossing Pixar film, the highest-grossing animated film of 2012, and the eighth highest-grossing film of that year.

Outside North America, Brave earned $14 million in its opening weekend across 10 markets, finishing third behind Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Snow White and the Huntsman. Its largest openings were in France and the Maghreb region ($6.5 million), Mexico ($5.53 million), and Russia and the CIS ($5.37 million). In total earnings, the film’s highest-grossing countries were the U.K., Ireland, and Malta ($34.9 million), France and the Maghreb region ($26.8 million), and Mexico ($21.6 million).

Upon release, Brave received mostly positive reviews from critics, though not all praised it as highly as previous Pixar films. On Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 254 critics gave positive reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website’s consensus stated: “Brave offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a female twist and surprising depth.” Metacritic gave the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating “generally favorable” reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” during its opening weekend.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He wrote, “The good news is that the kids will probably love it, and the bad news is that parents may be disappointed if they’re hoping for another Pixar groundbreaker. Unlike such original films as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, and Up, this one finds Pixar exploring territory more commonly used by Disney.” He noted the film had an uplifting message about communication between mothers and daughters, though he joked that “transforming your mother into a bear is a rather extreme first step.” Peter Debruge of Variety praised the film, calling it “a tougher, more self-reliant heroine for an era in which princes aren’t so charming,” set in a detailed Scottish environment where “her spirit blazes bright as her fiery red hair.” Debruge also said that adding a female director, Brenda Chapman, to Pixar’s team helped create a meaningful tribute to mother-daughter relationships.

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave a negative review, stating the film “diminishes into a rather small thing as it progresses, with a climax that is too conveniently resolved and relies on confusing magical elements.” Leonard Maltin of IndieWire said, “I’ll give it points for originality, but the story twist is so strange it knocked me for a loop. The movie tries to make up for this with a heart-tugging ending, but the buildup to that moment has been weakened, so it doesn’t have the impact it should.”

Some reviewers saw Merida, the film’s main character, as a fresh change from traditional Disney princesses. However, some viewers and feminists criticized Disney for altering Merida’s design when she was scheduled to be “crowned” a Disney princess. Artists changed her to look thinner, with less frizzy hair and rounder eyes, making her resemble other Disney princesses. This led to a petition by the girl-empowerment website A Mighty Girl, signed by 262,196 people, including Brenda Chapman, the film’s director. Chapman said Disney had “betrayed the essence of what we were trying to do with Merida — give young girls and women a better, stronger role model,” calling the change a “blatantly sexist marketing move based on money.” The petition was successful, and Disney removed the redesigned image from their website, replacing it with Merida’s original appearance. Disney later confirmed that Merida would remain in her original form.

Video game

A video game inspired by a movie was released by Disney Interactive Studios on June 19, 2012, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, and Nintendo DS. A mobile game called Temple Run: Brave, which is a different version of Temple Run, was released on June 14, 2012, for iOS and Android devices, and on June 7, 2013, for Windows Phone.

Possible sequel

In 2013, the Scottish newspaper The Scotsman asked film director Mark Andrews if there would be a follow-up movie. Andrews said:

Other media

• Scotland portal
• Cartoon portal
• Disney portal

• Merida is a character who appears multiple times in the fifth season of Once Upon a Time (2015–16). She is played by Amy Manson, and other characters from Brave also appear in smaller roles.
• Merida appears in a 2015 episode of Sofia the First called "The Secret Library." In this episode, she is spoken by Ruth Connell.
• Merida appears in the LEGO Pixar series, LEGO Pixar: BrickToons, in the second episode titled "Patience is a Bear." Ruth Connell plays the same role again in this episode.

• Merida makes a guest appearance in the 2018 Walt Disney Animation Studios film Ralph Breaks the Internet. She is part of the Disney Princess group and is spoken by her original voice actress, Kelly Macdonald.

• Merida is a character that players can control in Disney Infinity 2.0 and Disney Infinity 3.0. A toy figure of Merida was also released with the game. A Toy Box Game based on the movie is available, and players can place items from the movie in the Toy Box. Using a power disc, players can summon Merida’s horse, Angus.
• Merida is a character that players can control in the mobile game Disney Heroes: Battle Mode.
• Merida, Queen Elinor, King Fergus, Lords Dingwall, Lord MacGuffin, and Lord Macintosh are characters that players can control in the video game Disney Magic Kingdoms. The game includes attractions based on locations from the film, and the characters are part of new storylines that continue the events from the movie.
• Merida is a character that players can control in the mobile game Disney Sorcerer’s Arena.
• Merida is a secret character that players can control in Lego The Incredibles.
• Merida appears as a character in Disney Dreamlight Valley. She is the first character players meet in the Storybook Vale expansion pack.

• Bravely, written by Maggie Stiefvater, is a 2022 novel that shows Merida as an older character several years after the events of the film.
• Fate Be Changed, written by Farrah Rachon, is a 2024 book in the A Twisted Tale series. It features a story where the Witch’s spell sends Merida back in time to her parents’ youth instead of turning Elinor into a bear.