The one where a princess steals my heart...

I'm not going to lie. I've been very excited for the release of Brave. I got sucked right into all of the hype with very little hesitation. The story sounded great, the animation looked spectacular, the music that i'd heard so far was beautiful, and for the first time ever....we were introduced to a princess with a real pair of stones.


Jasmine came pretty close, Belle had a good head on her shoulders and seemed to be going down the right path, but Merida? She takes it to the next level. So I showed up to the theater first thing Saturday with my friend and sat anxiously. By the time the credits rolled around, I was pleased to say that once again Disney and Pixar did not disappoint.


I'm a little bit biased. Archery is a big thing in my family so I think that's awesome to start with. I also know how difficult it is to handle a bow and arrow, so her ability to do so won me over almost instantly. I also adored the fact that she wanted to do things for herself. I went in hoping they stayed true to that story line. A princess that doesn't need a prince? It's a good message to put out there. If  had a little girl, I think i'd rather she learn a lesson like that over one that tells you to give up everything you have and know, including your own voice,  for a hot guy with pretty blue eyes who you've never said two words to. No offense, Ariel, this particular ginger seems to have her head a little more together than you did. 




In the end, I walked away and got exactly what I expected from this film. A lot of Pixar fans so far seemed to be less than thrilled with it, and I can understand that. I knew going in that this wasn't going to be your average Pixar film. It's their first shot at a fairy tale. Brave hangs in the area somewhere between Pixar and the classic disney animated features we all know and love. I think that's probably why I'm so in love with it. It's a mix of old and new. They've managed to mesh the movies I've come to love as an adult with the ones that I loved growing up and in my personal opinion, it mixed perfectly.


The animation was absolutely stunning and I found myself caught up in admiring the details throughout the movie. It really is difficult in some of those scenes to tell that they're actually animated. The soundtrack, as I mentioned before, is beautiful. The story, however, was the icing on the cake. It was action filled, full of meaning, and very touching. There is of course, plenty of comic relief. Most of this was provided by a very dainty bear and Merida's three younger brothers.


I've read that the pizza planet truck does, in fact, make an appearance though I was way too caught up in the movie to catch it. I've also been informed that here's a cute little scene after the credits along with at small tribute to Steve Jobs in there as well. As with any Pixar flick, there's a million things hidden here and there, i'm definitely going to have to check this one out again. I recommend you do too.