Brave
With their first, triumphant attempt at replicating the beloved Disney “Princess” formula, the wizards over at Pixar showed me that yes, there is life after “Cars 2.” At the same time, they also told the most emotional story of parent-child relationships since “The Lion King,” as a Scottish lass named Merida (and voiced with spunk and soulful feeling by Kelly McDonald) goes against tradition, and the upbringing of her tightly-wound mother (the peerless Emma Thompson), by deciding that she’d rather not just be betrothed to a prince, and live her mother’s life. It sounds like a sensible, modern plan, except things go awry when Merida (a great archer who would give either Katniss or Hawkeye a run for their money) makes a wish to a creepy witch to change her fate, resulting in her mother being turned into a bear.
Say what? You heard me. Bears or no bears, even though we’re in straight-up fairy tale mode, the brain trust at Pixar continues to ground the story in character and emotional weight, just as they have in previous masterpieces such as “Wall-E,” “Up,” the “Toy Story” trilogy, “Finding Nemo,” and “The Incredibles.” Like those films, Pixar continues to finesse and push the boundaries of their animation art to the limits, which is something their competitors (with little exception) have seemed to give up on. Still, Pixar’s master stroke, as always, comes from story, and despite a list of directing and writing credits that includes as many as three people a piece (original co-writer/director Brenda Chapman was let go mid-production, and replaced at the top by Mark Andrews, although Chapman retains co-credits on both the story and directing fronts), the company has made sure to remember that, resulting in one of their richest, and most powerful, stories (I was bawling my eyes out, as was my mother, with whom I watched it), and a worthy effort alongside Disney classics like “Tangled,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” This is art and entertainment colliding at its very best. Of course, despite the occasional speed-bump, that’s the Pixar way. Hopefully, it’ll stay that way as the years tick on.
