Brave (2012 film)

***Brave*** is a 2012 American computer-animatit adventur fantasie film producit bi Pixar Animation Studios an distributit bi Walt Disney Pictures. It wis written bi Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, an Irene Mecchi, directit bi Andrews an Chapman an co-directit bi Purcell. The film's vyce cast featurs Kelly Macdonald, Julie Walters, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, an Robbie Coltrane. For tae mak the maist complex visuals possible, Pixar completely rewrate thair animation seestem for the first time in 25 years. It is the first film tae uise the Dolby Atmos soond format.

In the film, set in the Scots Hielands, a skeelit aircher cried Merida thraws an age-auld prattick, garrin reavel-raivel in her kinrick bi expressin the desire tae nae be betrothed. Efter speirin a witch for help, Merida accidentally curses her faimilie an is forced tae undae the spell hersel afore it is ower late. *Brave* premiered on 10 Juin 2012, at the Seattle International Film Festival, an wis released in North Americae on 22 Juin 2012, tae baith positive reviews an box office success. The film wan the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film an wis nominatit for the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.

Precedin the feature is a short film enteetled *[[La Luna (2011 film)|La Luna]]*, directit bi Enrico Casarosa.

## Plot

In Scotland, King Fergus o Clan Dunbroch praisents his young dochter Merida wi a bow for her birthday. While practisin, Merida encoonters a will-o'-the-wisp. Suin efterwards, Mor'du, a giant deevilock beir, attacks the faimlie. Merida escapes alang wi her mither Queen Elinor whiles Fergus fechts aff the bear at the cost o his left shank. Yeirs later, Merida haes become a free-speeritit teenager an a aulder sister tae identical triplets: Hamish, Harris an Hubert. Elinor informs her that she is tae be betrothed tae ane o louns frae her faither's allied clans. Myndin Merida o a legend anent a prince wha ruint his ain kinrick, Elinor wairns her that failure tae mairy coud hair, Dunbroch, bit Merida is dissatisfee'd wi the reengement.

The clans o Macintosh, MacGuffin an Dingwall arrive wi thair first-born louns tae compete in Hieland Gemmes for Merida's haund. Merida kythes she is eligible tae compete for her ain haund as the first-born o Clan Dunbroch an defeats ilk o her suitors in an airchery contest. Efter a brief fawin oot wi Elinor, Merida runs intae the forest an comes across the will-o'-the-wisps. Thay lead her tae the hut o an elderly witch posin as a wid carver. Efter some bargainin, the witch grees tae gie Merida a spell tae chynge her mither; in the form o a cake.

Merida returns tae the castle an gies Elinor the cake, nae kennin Elinor haed realised her ain mistake o birnin Merida's bow in the fawin oot, garrin her mither tae transform intae a lairge black beir. Wi the help o her brithers, Merida an Elinor return tae the witch's nou desertit cottage whaur thay diskiver that the spell will be permanent unless undone bi the seicont sunrise. The witch leaves Merida a riddle, mentionin that she must "mend the bond torn bi pride." Merida an Elinor begin tae reconcile thair relationship while Merida observes that the spell is slowly becomin permanent, as Elinor eften loses control an acts mair lik a wild beir. Efter encounterin the wisps again, the twa follae them tae auncient ruins an encounter Mor'du, wha thay discovert wis ance the prince in Elinor's legend wha received a seemilar spell frae the witch. Merida promises her mither that she will nae acome a wild ainimal lik Mor'du an theorizes that she can reverse the spell bi repairin her faimily tapestry (Merida haed torn a hole atween hersel an her mither on the tapestry).

At the castle, the clans are on the verge o war, but the princess quells thair fechtin. Wi the encooragement o her mither, unseen bi the ither guests, wha uises charades tae guide Merida throu a speech, the princess declares that the bairns shoud be allouit tae get mairrit in thair ain time, tae whaiver thay wale. Merida then sneaks intae the tapestry room wi Elinor, wha is lowsin control o her human self. Fergus gangs-in the bed chaumer an is atteckit bi Elinor till she regains human consciousness an races oot o the castle in desperation. Fergus gies chase. Wi the help o her brithers, wha hae transformed intae bear cubs bi eatin the cake an aw, Merida rides efter her faither while sewin up the tapestry. The clan memmers an Fergus captur Elinor, but Merida intervenes jist afore Mor'du attacks. Juist as Mor'du is aboot tae swallow Merida hail, Elinor saves her an a menhir crashes doun on Mor'du, flattenin the monster, releasin the prince's speerit.

Whan Merida places the tapestry ower Elinor, nocht happens. Efter Merida teirfu reconciles wi Elinor, whilk is the true meanin o the witch's riddle, the queen is transformed back, alang wi the triplets, an the faimily is reunitit. A few days later, the clans depairt for thair respective launds an Merida an Elinor ride thair horse thegither, thair bond finally restored.

In a post-credits scene, the witch's crow asks a castle guard tae sign for a delivery o widen carvins that Merida bocht simultaneously wi the spell.

## Vyce cast
* Kelly Macdonald as Merida. She dreams o follaein her ain path.
* Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor, Dunbroch's diplomatic queen an Merida's mither, wha jist wants whit's best for the kinrick an her dochter.
* Billy Connolly as King Fergus, Dunbroch's King an Merida's boisterous faither.
* Julie Walters as The Witch, a wice wuman wha grees tae help Merida.
* Robbie Coltrane as Laird Dingwall
* Kevin McKidd as Laird MacGuffin an Young MacGuffin
* Craig Ferguson as Laird Macintosh
* Sally Kinghorn an Eilidh Fraser as Maudie, the castle maid.
* Peigi Barker as Young Merida
* Steven Cree as Young Macintosh
* Steve Purcell as The Crow
* Callum O'Neill as Wee Dingwall
* Patrick Doyle as Martin, the guard
* John Ratzenberger as Gordon, the guard

Non-speakin characters include Mor'du (the evil beir), Angus (Merida's horse), an Harris, Hubert, an Hamish (Merida's triplet brothers).

## Production
Annoonced in Apryle 2008 as *The Bear and the Bow* (), *Brave* is Pixar's first fairy tale. Brenda Chapman considers it a fairy tale in the tradeetion o Hans Christian Andersen an the Brothers Grimm. Chapman conceived the project an wis annoonced as the film's director, makin her Pixar's first female director, but in October 2010, she wis replaced bi Mark Andrews follaein creative disagreements. Chapman later statit that her “vision came through in the film” an that she remains “very proud of the movie, and that I ultimately stood up for myself.”

Merida is the first female lead protagonist in a Pixar film. She wis oreeginally tae be vyced bi Reese Witherspoon, wha declined due tae schedulin issues. Insteid, the character wis vyced bi Scots actress Kelly Macdonald, recently acclaimed for her role as Margaret Schroeder in HBO's *[[Boordwalk Empire]]*.

The end credits include a special tribute tae Pixar co-foonder an CEO Steve Jobs, wha dee'd in 2011.

### Muisic
The film score tae *Brave* wis componed bi Patrick Doyle. Tae bring some o Scotland's native flavour tae the muisic, Doyle uised native Scots instruments sic as bagpipes, a solo fiddle, Celtic harps, flutes an the bodhrán, wi an electronically treatit dulcimer an cimbalom tae gie it a mair contemporary feel. "I brocht on mony classic Scots dance rhythms sic as reels, jigs and strathspeys, thit didnae juist serve the action but keep it authentic," said Doyle.
Doyle haed wrate a drinkin sang for King Fergus an aa, an wis travellin back an forth tae Scotland for research. The composer haes been recordin "unaccompanied Gaelic psalm singin" an aa.

In addition tae Doyle's muisic, the film features three oreeginal sangs. "Touch the Sky" (muisic bi Alex Mandel, lyrics bi Mark Andrews & Mandel) an "Into the Open Air" (muisic an lyrics bi Alex Mandel) are baith performed bi Julie Fowlis, wha provides Merida's aff-screen singin vyce. Mumford & Sons contributit the sang "Learn Me Right" wi Birdy tae the film soondtrack.

#### Soondtrack
Walt Disney Records released the soondtrack on baith CD album an deegital dounload on Juin 19, 2012.

## Release
The film wis initially set for release on 15 Juin, 2012, but it wis later chynged tae 22 Juin, 2012. On 3 Apryle 2012, Pixar screened the film's first thirty meenits, an it received a positive reaction bi its screeners. The film premiered on the last day o the Seattle Internaitional Film Festival on Juin 10, 2012. It haed its Australie premiere on Juin 11, 2012, at the Sydney Film Festival, an haed its domestic premiere on Juin 18, 2012, at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre as pairt o the Los Angeles Film Festival, its European premiere wis at the Taormina Film Festival on Sicily on 23 Juin 2012, an its British premiere at the Edinburgh Internaitional Film Festival on 30 Juin 2012.

In the Unitit States an Canadae, *Brave* is the first featur-lenth film tae uise the Dolby Atmos soond format. Awmaist hauf o the 14 theatres set up tae shaw the film in Atmos are in Californie (Burbank, Century Ceety, Fremont, Hollywid, San Francisco, an Sherman Oaks), wi the ithers locatit in seiven states (Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Kansas Ceety, Missouri; Paramus, New Jersey; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago; West Plano, Texas; Vancouver, Washington) an in Toronto, Ontario. It wis released in ither theatres wi Dolby Surround 7.1. In tot, it wis released in 4,164 theatres, a record-haich for Pixar, which wis previously held bi *[[Cars 2]]* (4,115 theatres). 2,790 o the theatres includit 3D shaws.

### Hame media
*Brave* wis released on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, an deegital dounload on November 13, 2012. It is accompanied wi *[[La Luna (2011 film)|La Luna]]* an a new short film *[[The Legend o Mor'du]]*. Explorin the history o antagonist Mor’du, the direct-tae-video short will gie fans the chance tae delve deeper intae the legend ahint Mor'du, as told bi the eccentric witch that transformed him.

## Reception
### Creetical response
*Brave* received positive reviews frae critics. The film hauds a 78% approval ratin on the review aggregator wabsteid Rotten Tomatoes, based on 213 reviews wi an average ratin o 6.9/10. The steid's creetical consensus reads: "*Brave* offers young audiences and fairy tale fans a rousing, funny fantasy adventure with a distaff twist and surprising depth." Anither review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized ratin oot o 100 tap reviews frae mainstream creetics, calculatit a score o 69 based on 37 reviews, or "Generally favorable." The film wis an aa well-received amang the American audience, earnin an "A" CinemaScore.

Roger Ebert o the *[[Chicago Sun-Times]]* gied the film 3 oot o 4 starns. He wrote, "The good news is that the kids will probably love it, an the bad news is that parents will be disappointed if they're hoping for another Pixar groundbreaker. Unlike such brightly original films as *[[Toy Story]]*, *[[Finding Nemo]]*, *[[WALL-E]]*, an *[[Up (2009 film)|Up]]*, this one finds Pixar poaching on traditional territory of Disney." He says thit the fillum did hae an upliftin message anent impruivin communication atween mithers an dauchters, "awtho transformin yer mither intae a bear is a bit o an extreme first step." Peter Debruge o *[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]* gied a positive review o the film, remarkin that the film "offers a toucher, mair self-reliant heroine fur an era whair princes arenae awfy charmin, set in a sumptuously detailt Scots environs whaur her spirit blazes bricht as her fiery reid hair." Debruge an aa said that "Pitti in a female director [Brenda Chapman] tae its creative boys' club, the studio [Pixar] haes fashioned a resonant treebute tae mither-dauchter relationships thit packs a level o poignancy on par wi luved male-bondin classics sic as *Finding Nemo*." Conversely, Todd McCarthy o *[[The Hollywood Reporter]]* gied it a negative review, statin that the film "dimishes intae a smaw hing as it chugs alang, wi climactic drama thit is baith ower conveniently wrapped up an hinges on magical elements thit are kind o confusin tae boot."

### Box office
As o Januar 2013, *Brave* haes earnt $237,282,182 in North Americae, an $317,324,350 in ither kintras, for a warldwide tot o $538,983,207. It is the eleventh haichest-grossin film o 2012, the aicht haichest-grossin Pixar film, an the third haichest-grossin animatit film that year ahint *[[Ice Age: Continental Drift]]* ($875.2 million) an *[[Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted]]* ($742.1 million).

In North Americae, pre-release trackin suggestit the film wad appen atween $55&nbsp;million tae $65&nbsp;million in North Americae, which is slichtly alaich average for a Pixar film. Trackers suggestit that the film micht nae appeal tae the male demographic, whauras the female protagonist wis expectit tae draw females o aw ages, an 3D wis expectit tae boost earnins.

It appent on Juin 22, 2012, wi $24.6&nbsp;million. It finished its appenin weekend wi $66.3&nbsp;million (the same amoont as *Cars 2*, Pixar's previous film) at the upper end o the nummers analysts predictit. This wis the fowert mucklest appenin weekend in Juin, an the fift mucklest for a Pixar film. Despite pre-release trackin indications, the audience wis estimatit tae be 43% male an 57% female. In North Americae, it is the aichth haichest-grossin Pixar film, the haichest-grossin 2012 animatit film, an the aichth haichest-grossin film o 2012.

Ootside North Americae, the film earnt $14 million frae 10 mercats on its appenin weekend, finishin in third place ahint *Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted* an *[[Snow White and the Huntsman]]*. Oweraw, its mucklest appenins happent in Fraunce an the Maghreb region ($6.5 million), Mexico ($5.53 million), an Roushie an the CIS ($5.37 million). In tot earnins, its haichest-grossin kintras war the U.K., Ireland an Malta ($34.9 million), Fraunce an the Maghreb region ($26.8 million), an Mexico ($21.6 million).

### Accolades

## Video gemme
A video gemme based on the film wis published bi Disney Interactive Studios on Juin 19, 2012, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, an Nintendo DS. A mobile video gemme *[[Temple Run: Brave]]* (a *Brave* variation o *[[Temple Run]]*) wis released on Juin 14, 2012, for iOS an Android.

## References

## Freemit airtins

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