Prince not required

Rating: 9/10 (4 January 2015)

The canon of Disney princesses has offered us over the years iconic characters such as Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora, which nevertheless suffer a mild "problem": they teach us that happiness depends on a prince who comes to rescue. Times have changed and apparently Disney has begun to understand this, introducing gradually female characters able to see beyond a "And they lived happily ever after."
An example of this is Merida, daughter of kings Fergus and Elinor, who must marry one of the heirs of the kingdoms that are part of the great kingdom of Dubroch in order to preserve the alliances; however there is one small detail: Merida refuses the idea of an arranged marriage, which leads her to confront her mother, who insists on keeping the tradition by educating and preparing Merida to assume her role as Queen in the future (and Merida, of course also opposes to this). The clash between the two is inevitable and in the midst of her despair Merida meets (by chance or fate perhaps?) a witch to which she asks for a spell to make change her mother. The problem is that the spell ends up being too literal and Elinor turns into a bear. With the witch gone, Merida along with her triplets brothers must reverse the spell before Elinor becomes a bear forever.
With characters like Mulan or Giselle from Enchanted, Disney had already begun to give a twist to the stories of princesses, but with Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and now Merida (in collaboration with Pixar) leads to a new stage in which the female central characters look for personal fulfillment instead of finding a man that will provide a happy future. At the same time keeps them away from the "submissive woman" role model seen in the media for decades; in Brave, Merida is a girl with a strong and determined character who enjoys her freedom, and she's willing to take the necessary risks to correct her mistakes.
Another key element for this movie work is the mother/daughter relationship, which is an unexplored factor in previous Disney movies (as most of their characters are orphaned or taken away from their family environment). The constant friction between Merida and Elinor is a reflection of the need for communication between parents and children and how the lack of understanding can force to take wrong decisions.
It has been questioned whether Merida's reluctance to marriage reflects a suggestive comment about her sexual identity, but that's not necessarily part of the central idea of the film, although it is an indication that the audiences begin to look for stories they can feel more identified with. On the technical level, there's nothing to complain about, which is understandable considering the very high visual level that Pixar keeps in all of their movies, and the recreation of the scenarios of medieval Scotland is extraordinary. And last but not least, it's required to highlight the vocal work of Kelly McDonald as Merida, who gives her a unique vitality and energy, Oscar winner Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor, serene, proud and with a strong temper and Billy Connolly as King Fergus. On the other hand, the masterful score courtesy of Patrick Doyle, who makes use of classic Scottish musical instruments and captures the essence of their sound away from the clichÃ© and with a highly emotional charge.
Brave is a clear sign that times change and while Prince Charming can remain as an ideal for many women, in fact he's not so indispensable anymore.