Brave
Setting
Brave takes place in a Scottish Kingdom in medieval times. Stories in the movie tell of a kingdom ruled by four brothers until one brother tried to control too much power and turned against the other brothers, taking all the power for himself. In the movie, the land is ruled by four clans: the king's clan along with the clans Macintosh, Macguffin, and Dingwall.
Summary
Merida, the daughter of the king, loves to ride her horse and do archery. Her mother, Elinor, and father, Furgus, (but mainly her mother) have planned for her to be betrothed to one of the three firstborn sons of the three clans. Merida does not want this, and when the time comes, she shoots for her own hand, being the firstborn of King Furgus. In anger, Merida cuts down a tapestry her mother had worked on for a long time. Elinor then throws Merida's bow into the fire. Merida runs of into the woods and finds a witch, who she pays to change her mother. Merida gives a fruit tart given to her by the witch to her mother, who promptly turns into a bear. The story is about how Merida tries to turn her mother back into a human.
Characters
Merida
Merida is the main character of the story, the princess of the kingdom. She likes archery and horseback riding. She also is completly against getting married. Pixar makes a point of making Merida seem prideful in the beginning, especially when it come to her mother. Merida blames her mother for everything revolving around the unwanted betrothal to one of the sons of the clan leaders. Merida really wants to be free.
Elinor
Elinor is the Queen of the kingdom and has set up the whole betrothal, which is not surprising, given that she basically runs the country for her husband, Furgus. Everybody seems to listen to her, except for Merida. This really bugs her. She, at the beginning of the movie, shows the attitude of an overbearing mother. This overbearing-ness along with Merida's pride are what drives the plot forward in the story. The two attitudes continually clash.
Furgus
Furgus is the king of the whole kingdom, though his wife basically runs the kingdom for him. He is a strong king, but is missing a leg due to an encounter with a bear. He is an interestingly stupid character with little change throughout the story. He has trouble keeping the clans from fighting with one another and with him.
The Triplet Brothers
The Brothers are not at all main characters and probably have no voice parts in the entire movie, but they do play a main role in getting people stuff. They help get Elinor out of the castle after she turns into a bear. The brothers also get the key from Maudie after Merida gets locked in the bedroom. They're mainly just in the movie, though, to add some comedy to the movie.
Lords Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall
The Lords are important because they add a sense of urgency to the betrothal and marriage of Merida. The Lords are the loose connections that the King has with the clans. The three sons of these three lords are the possible suitors, and Merida's fight for her own freedom puts the Kingdom on the verge of civil war. These lords provide an urgency to the plot.
Conclusion
The movie is very good, with a good plot, but has trouble mixing humor and seriousness. I believe that this movie is beginning of a new chapter for PIXAR. All of the other movies of PIXAR are comedic, while this movie has a much more serious plot. Though it is not the best PIXAR movie, it was very good. I give it 8 out of 11 penguins.
