Merida, a red-haired Scottish princess, behaves in a manner quite unbecoming of her royal status: she rides horses, climbs rocks, and shoots a bow like a boy. Her parents decide to marry her off to one of the lords’ sons. The problem is that the princess has no desire to marry at all, and the suitors are all either foolish or narcissistic. Merida’s only way to avoid the wedding is to dissuade her mother, the Queen, by any means possible.
A Disney Princess with a Twist
Although “Brave” is credited as a joint product of Disney and Pixar, the “Disney” element is significantly more prominent in the film. A princess protagonist, a sociable horse, wise and anxious parents, an utterly fairytale-like plot, and very childish humor – all of this is done in the best traditions of the studio’s main cartoons about Jasmine, Belle, The Little Mermaid, and Cinderella. However, those films weren’t in 3D and weren’t as mesmerizingly beautiful as “Brave.”
Perhaps those older fairy tales had simpler morals because they were usually the same: good and love conquer evil, and inner beauty is more important than outer beauty and social status, so the lovers will be together. This simplicity is why “Aladdin,” for example, is so beloved. The moral in “Brave” is of a different nature. At some point (almost from the beginning, actually), the characters start to pronounce the word “fate” aloud, and then conclude that one must be the master of their own fate – and this idea is perhaps the least expected from a cartoon stylized as a Celtic legend with magic, kings, and transformations.
Challenging Destiny
The plot is meant to confirm the moral about a girl whose destiny is to marry, but she must break that destiny and remain unmarried, climb rocks, ride horses, and, if possible, not interact with men. This, if you think about it, is a terrible thing in itself, and then on the screen, suitors of a rather idiotic appearance appear in neat rows.
Besides them, the men on the screen include an eternally riotous crowd of potbellies and a character who is known to have been a handsome prince but became a bear due to his selfish habits. One cannot deny the authors’ realism, of course, but people watch fairy tales not for realism but for the sake of handsome princes, at least internally, marrying princesses.