Scotland { the } Brave

As much as I love media for young people, somehow, I mostly manage to miss the animated films of today. I still haven't seen Up. All the Happy Feets...nope. (How many of those are there?) It took me ages to finally see Finding Nemo. But I really do have a lot of respect for Pixar and especially what seems to be the trend away from "villain" based plots. (This revelation came courtesy of an insightful conversation with my friend-- Dad & filmmaker, Trevor Banks.) 


With Pixar's newest release, Brave, the lack of an obvious "villain" is just one of many reasons to celebrate it. It's probably obvious, but Brave takes place in Scotland. So, right there, it is already The Best. (Perhaps Pixar wants some of that Scottish Brogue fairy dust that made DreamWorks so much $$.) It's also Pixar's first film to feature a female protagonist. Way to finally get on that train, you guys. 


Our heroine, Merida, also has wild curly red hair. Bonus. Points. Her dad's name is Fergus. Super plus plus bonus points. The premise looks cool. The humor seems right up my alley. And while people have joked about "yeah, this is exactly what Scotland is like," ... I mean, it is supposed to be ancient Scotland. It does capitalize on some actual Scottish folklore (or fairy tales. Pixar is marketing this as their first 'fairy tale.') and! they've thrown over Reese Witherspoon (or maybe she dropped out, but let's just run with it, shall we?) for Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald. And she's not even the only Scot they've got working on this flick! So what I'm saying is, for a corporate cartoon, there's something that feels authentic here. 


They even used Gaelic singer, Julie Fowlis's (she's from North Uist, no less!) tune Tha Mo Ghaol Air Àird A' Chuan in the trailer. So, kudos, Pixar for making the effort. I'll be checking out Brave when it comes out in June (or August in the UK). Will you guys?