What's your favorite Pixar film? Support this week's charity - www.lbbc.org/ See us at C2E2 August 5th-7th - www.c2e2.com/ DOUG IS LIVE ON TWITCH RIGHT NOW - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome
I don't think the intro is pointless. It's nice to see the sweet relationship between young Merida and her mother. Kinda makes the later scenes with them when she's older more impacting, seeing how their relationship have changed.
I always presumed that was the battle where the dad lost his leg. It showed why he had such a hatred of bears, and quickly showed the relationship between the three of them, with dad being impulsive and physical, mom being diplomatic and careful, and daughter being inquisitive and risk taker.
It sets us up with an idea and all the narrative does is fill in the information around that scene. They go hand in hand and it isn't pointless. The Narrative wouldn't have the same effect if you didn't have the opening animated sequence. And the Opening Animated Sequence would leave a bunch of questions that aren't entirely answered if we didn't have the following narrative portion.
Exactly. Queen Elinor and Merida probably had a moment sometime between that event and the main film where Elinor said something like "This behaviour wis fun and cute when ye were a bairn, but now ye have responsibilities!"
Queen Elinor was a pleasant surprise and actually my favourite character in this movie. They could have made her downright mean and manipulative or just dead like most mother figures in movies and instead they made her a flawed but well-intentioned mother. In the end, both her and Merida learn to listen and understand each other, which is how sane relationships between parents and their children should be in my opinion: it's not only one of them who has to learn from the other.
And, just like Turning Red, they have to PUNISH the mom into being understanding ("Oh, the pressures of my own upbringing!") before any actual bonding of views can take place. Unlike Turning Red, however, the whole crisis of the movie actually was the heroine's fault to begin with, and she develops the minimum amount of self-awareness to do less of a victory dance about it.
@@ericjanssen394 The problem is they opted for slapstick when Merida's actions could have gotten a lot of people killed. Being royalty means responsibilities for the welfare of others and she was willing to start a war over selfish reasons. It's treated like a comedic brawl and not a serious war.
@@carlrood4457 Take an in depth look at history. Plenty of Actual Nobles treated things in similar fashions or worse, Some of them leading to wars and some of them being smoothed over, and a few ending up in the exile or death of the one that did such things. More wars in history were actually started over selfish reasons than just about anything else.
@@ericjanssen394 yeah, thats one of the major flaws of an otherwise underrated movie. Wish more could have been emphasized on the politics and the fallout of Merida's behaviour. but that might have been too complicated in a children's movie.
Merida: "I want a spell to change my mum." The witch: "In what way? Change your mum's hairstyle, clothing preferences, or her thoughts about the wedding?" Merida really could've been specific with the "change my mum" part.
I'm surprised he didn't touch on how Miredas parents are in love. Like how they would show each other affection was really cute. How Fergus noticed his wife was mad and sat down and talked with her. Or he pinched her butt in the opening scene. Even his little "wahh" when she said she had reservations about their marriage.
I love Merida's parents chemistry. In old Disney the parents were usually dead (either one or both), while in modern Disney movies they're usually both alive but there's not that much to their relationship with each other, and usually one of them is in charge while the other is barely a character. Notable exceptions are Pongo and Perdita; the parents from Strange World; Kerchak and Kala; and of course The Incredibles. But they're still exceptions.
@@Alejandroigarabide I like Pacha and his wife from Emperor's New Groove, they were a great couple imo I feel like they could be another notable exception
The mother-daughter conflict was definitely my favourite part of the film. Especially how they showed how both Elinor and Merida had to learn to listen and understand, when in other films it's sometimes just only one person has to change while the other is already perfect. Can you please do another 'Old VS New'? With Disney's Peter Pan vs 2003 live action Peter Pan? I think you and Hyper would have great comments on both and debates.
My theory is each studio work on the their films, Pixar with WiR and Disney with Brave, and made a bet and flipped who it's from to see which would do better.
I watched a fascinating video talking about the behind the scenes of Brave, did you know the original director they had, directed Prince of Egypt?! But Disney didn’t like her version of the story so they dumbed the story down and the director left the project.
That really made me upset because who knows what Brave would've turned into if they kept the old director. HECK maybe it would be a lot better than the shoved in Bear plot that definitely did not come out of nowhere.
I actually really love this movie and I'm a little surprised it's perceived as mediocre. There aren't that many animated films that focus on a character's relationship with their mother -- the mother is more often dead, absent, or evil. This is the only one I could think of before Turning Red came out. I found Merida very relatable as a child, but as I get older I'm more able to understand Eleanor's perspective, and I appreciate that nuance. I love the Scottish setting, the animation is beautiful, the music is good, and the witch scene still cracks me up. I think this film was more a victim of poor marketing than anything else.
@@FunFilmFare. At least it makes people appreciate brother bear more, as it tackled toxic masculinity and racism under one plot. Have you noticed how surprised kenai was that Animals are so smart? Not to mention he doesn't view love as an essential part of manhood, going for revenge because of a death that could've easily been prevented if he wasn't stupid, ect!
@@FunFilmFare yeah allot of people didnt like the bear aspect of the film and the mother turning into a bear 🐻 and the movie just turns into brother bear
You know, whenever I think of Brave I can't help but fixate on this one detail. In the trailer Merida says this line: "I want a spell to change my fate" after we see the Will-O-Wisps and it's said in this dreamy cadence. But that line isn't in the movie, instead she says directly to the witch "I want a spell to change my mom!" and it's said in a pleading excited cadence. Seriously I honestly can't think of a more misleading trailer for a movie, what we ended up getting was NOTHING like the advertisement, and not in a good way.
The film peaks at the archery competition. There’s a lot of perfect symbolism and cinematography going on in it, right up to Elenor being framed by Merida’s bow before she releases the winning shot. And I think their argument in front of the tapestry was good, too. It’s just, once you introduce the witch and the bear element, it feels like a different story supplanted the first. It’s not bad, and I still really love the good, emotional parts. But it was just off. Also, I recall a lot of people judging this movie on their expectations, rather than on what it IS. The promotion made it seem like this was about Merida hunting Mordu in a magical forest. And a lot of people couldn’t let that go. That might also be why people forgot about the film, because they didn’t even try to connect with it on what it gave. They could only think about what it “wasn’t”.
I never saw the trailers, I was completely in the dark about what it was about and my experience was similar to yours, loved the archery competition, didn't care for anything else.
I knew literally nothing about the movie before watching, I thought it was slightly interesting in the beginning with the mother and daughter stuff, and then it just got worse by the second Also agree with the critic, I was a kid when I watched and none of the jokes landed, not a single one
I am always happy now that "Turning Red" was essentially able to give me the interesting mother-daughter give and take focus that this film ultimately put to the background and "Wolfwalkers" was able to get me the exciting.....well, it wasn't Scottish to be fair, but it was a much more interesting European adventure with people changing into animals.
The problem was people weren't coming up with that disappointed feeling out of nowhere the trailer was literally a gotcha switch and bait so even though it's a fine movie it left such a bad taste in my mouth I can never enjoy it That archery scene was chef kiss😘 tho It's not the only movie that does this but like all the other movies that the trailer presents as a completely different genre than it is leave this bad taste in my mouth no matter how good the movie ends up being
I remember my sister and I going to see the midnight premier of Brave. We were so excited to see a Disney movie based in Scotland (we just really like Scottish culture). And although it wasn't the big grand adventure fairytale everyone expected, I still really enjoyed it and always down to rewatch it. It's sort of like a comfort movie for me c:
I actually really like this movie but the one thing that will always get me is: in the scene where they’re all in the banquet hall and Merida is distracting her dad and everyone else with a speech so the queen (as a bear) can sneak through in the back….how come the people standing BEHIND Merida didn’t see the queen?? Especially cause her dad is supposed to be able to sense whenever a bear is just in the same general area as him, and he was practically standing right behind Merida the whole time LOL. I guess MAYBE he was too distracted by being proud of his kid to notice but even that’s a stretch lol
Read up on "inattentional blindness", essentially the phenomenon that people are apt to miss noticing all sorts of remarkable things either because they're focused on something else or they're not paying attention. A specific example mentioned in the wiki is subjects of experiments totally failing to notice the guy in the gorilla suit in a scene they're looking at to complete various tasks. So missing a bear really isn't that far-fetched, particularly with Merida creating an attention grabbing distraction.
@@bemusedbandersnatch2069 oh we learned about that in the psych class I took about a year ago! Yeah that’s true it could’ve just been because everyone was distracted, but there were some parts where Merida stopped talking and looked over at/gestured at her mom (maybe without realizing it) and you’d think they’d all look where she was looking since she was the center of attention. It’s really no big deal tho cause I get that it had to be that way for the scene to work, and it’s also my favorite scene in the movie so I’m willing to forgive it XD
@@blackmagician7645 the thing about the gorilla video is it only works if you don’t already know about the gorilla when you watch it. I was told about the gorilla before watching the video, so now I can’t un-see it. I’m kinda sad that now I’ll never get to experience what it’s like to totally miss the gorilla since that’s a one-time thing
The one thing I was hoping for was those forest sprites that keep guiding her to play a more important role. Until a bit later in the movie you only ever see three of them. I was hoping it was going to be revealed that they were the spirits of the three other brothers from that story. And they were guiding Merida to get her to finally end their brothers suffering.
"Fiery hair that has a life of its own" is the perfect way to sum up curly hair. My hair is exactly like Merida's (though it looked more like Aurora's when I was younger), and I can tell you: *my hair has a life of its own* and it was great seeing someone who actually kinda looked like me cuz she looked like a normal person and not someone traditionally flawless. I thought the movie was okay, but I loved the detail in the movie.
I always found it funny how merida is clearly ‘impressed’ by the giant warrior who’s mistaken for a suitor. She totally forgets she doesn’t want to be married off for a second
Dude, if you thought that behemoth came from that twerpy looking guy you'd be like WTF, how'd that happen??? too. Literally has nothing to do with being attracted. It's like watching two tiny little asian parents walk into the room with lebron james and being like "hello there this our son :)" You'd be like 0.0 Doesn't mean you wanna bang lebron james XD
Except it wasn't that she didn't want to get married but that she didn't want to get married to some random guy she'd never met and therefore had no interest in. She was attracted to the giant warrior so when she saw him she thought there might be some hope, but nope it was just another guy she couldn’t even care about physically let alone emotionally.
@@DogsandPennies bro the face she is making is a wtf face. shes not attracted, she legit just didnt understand how the giant dark beef dude came from the derpy pasty guy. Being impressed does not mean being attracted ya dingle. Or else dudes would be bangin eachother at every car meet
It was also refreshing that it was at least one of the first Disney Property Movie to not feature a princess marrying/getting to a prince as well as one where an act of true love involves two family members as appose a prince and princess
@@kurtisdeakin ok😐....what does that have to do with brave? My name doesn't have world building..hang on, you're not even the person I was talking to,why are you replying to me?
I quote this movie all the time "I don't want to get married! I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset!"
Pretty much my feelings too. It's a movie that died on expectations more than it's actual themes and execution. And when I say expectations, it goes beyond the false advertisement (which did play a big part tho) - up to this point, Pixar had developed a brand that was consistently good and heartwarming so seeing them exchange an adventure epic for a Freaky Friday plot REALLY felt jarring and a slap to the audience's face.
She’s my favorite princess but not my favorite princess story. I loved her attitude, her proud spirit, and her HAIR!!! I remember seeing the trailer in theaters and was speechless to finally see a princess with hair that matched mine. Curly hair was never really done in Disney, and still rarely seen in other movies. And to see curly hair in red was even more rare so it was a real treat to see it done here.
It’s one of the few movies that actually put another perspective on the rebellious princess trope, that there are actually political consequences for such actions, and allowed the mother to be a developed character too instead of a person whose role is being wrong. I think it’s worthy
That's something I appreciated about this movie as well. The princess and the mother are both nuanced characters. They were both right and wrong in their own ways, and they get to learn from each other. I also liked the dad too. Despite him being a source of conflict for parts of the movie, he's not portrayed as evil or anything, just protective of his family and probably PTSD from his bear attack. He's also shown to simply be a fairly supportive father. He didn't seem to care too much for upholding tradition, so long as his daughter is happy. It's not too often that we see a family dynamic like this in modern movies. I liked it.
> that there are actually political consequences for such actions, Oh, were there now? Those seemed to go right out the window after she gave her speech. The clans were willing to go to war and kill each other. But the Princess getting her way suddenly made everything A-okay like they weren't just about to kill one another. Good thing it's fiction because she' would have made for a terrible princess since there were no lasting consequences, so nothing to keep her from selfishly shirking any other duty she weren't interested in.
I can't think of many disney princesses that don't want to be princesses so i'm not sure why NC said there are. The only ones i can think of are ariel and jasmine and ariel just wanted to live on land,it's not like she didn't want to be a princess.
@@cinderellaskeleton6720 Eilonwy, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas (if we're counting the sequels then Cinderella, Kiara and the three girls from Mulan II), even Aurora. But I think he means "rebellious princess".
Ariel was pretty rebellious. She endangered her entire kingdom and left her father transformed and defenseless at the bottom of sea. She didn't even try to get the trident back from Ursula. All she was worried about chasing after a man she barely knew. In fact she knew who and what Ursula was when she made the deal with her. Why doesn't she face the consequences of her actions?
I love that the Merida isn’t your typical ‘Barbie’ styled princess, but she’s just another rebellious princess. I love how this movie is more down to earth with its cultural representation, but its obvious the story’s structure and direction weren’t thought through all the way.
She is condescending, rude, ignorant, stereotypical, and selfish, with her not even learning to do good for her people and instead just her and her mom run from responsibilities.
I watched Brave when it came out on DVD. I really liked how it was about the young girl and her Mum. I watched this with my Mum. She just had surgery to remove a stomach cancer tumour. She is going to pass away soon. Thank you for bringing up the fond memory of watching this with my Mum ❤️
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother....I hope you can have many good experiences with her while the time lasts. Maybe you can watch this together. *sends hugs*
I've found an odd little thing about this movie. People talk like they don't really remember this movie. But there are various scenes thta if you bring them up specifically that they do remember and usually with some level of liking it and they may bring up other scenes or little things that they liked. But this movie came out when it was popular to hate on everything to the point of nitpicking things to death with fairly hateful language for not being perfect and that has affected the reputation of the movie to be kind of forgettable as people couldn't seperate out the fad of nitpicking with not actually disliking it.
As a girl of Celtic decent with curly hair, I remember being excited when this came out because they made curly hair that looked amazing. I also have a complicated relationship with my mom, so this movie always makes me cry. That doesn’t mean it’s an amazing movie, just that it gets to me personally.
Despite what everyone else says about it, i actually love this movie. The animation and cinematography is beautiful, the Scottish culture is great, and i liked the bear plot (even though many don’t).
I can sympathize with Merida to an extent, but there is a difference between "I really don't want to get married" and "if I don't marry, my kingdom will be at war". I think it would have been much better if she had to go on some kind of fantasy journey with the other clan heirs as her companions. There wouldn't need to be any sort of romance arc, but it would come to a point where they are allied through friendship and mutual respect and not needing a marriage.
Her dad basically nails the problem with the character's lack of audience sympathy: "'Oh, I don't want to get married, I want to ride my horse and shoot my bow!...'" He ends up being the most identifiable character in the movie, no matter how much Chapman tries to make every male character--except for teen-girl-obligatory Understanding Daddums and Geeky Lil' Brothers--into Toxic Warlike Masculine Loonies...
@@Backstabmacro Yeah, the evil-bear-prince third act (and more contemporary humor with the witch) was one of the things Pixar staff writers added to the last-minute rewrites, causing Chapman to go into her "You MEN are messing with my empowering masterpiece!" meltdown, when they realized the mom-and-daughter plot was too thin and predictable to support 80 minutes. As for Improvements, I was hoping, during the Archery contest, we'd see just one shot of one clan boy Merida's age at the back instantly in love with her archery--"Wow, she can shoot! 😍 "--which would emphasize that there is a boy out there who likes Merida for who she is, she just doesn't want to be forced...But no, we're served the message that Self-Centeredness Is Independence.
Dialogue notwithstanding, I think a lot of daughters can relate to fights like that with their mothers. While moms might have the best of intentions, they can't decide for their daughters who they will be. And, I agree with what some people have said, that the movie could have easily made Elinor out to be the "bad guy", but it didn't. It gave her layers. She wants what's best for Merida, but she also wants to uphold tradition, etc. I think it's why I get so emotional watching their scenes (especially the flashback of the two of them singing together during the storm): They are both right and wrong. They are both flawed, and in need of seeing the other's point of view. Whether or not the movie was supposed to be more mysterious, or have more action, one of the things I will always love about it is the mother/daughter relationship, and how it's so *true*.
My family was actually really excited to see this movie before it came out because we saw a later trailer where they were showing the archery competition; we all thought the main character's name was " Meredith " instead of Merida.... and my name is Meredith. To this day, watching this movie is a little awkward for me because I keep hearing _my_ name, but any young girl would probably be excited about sharing a name with a Disney Princess, so I'll always love this movie for that amazing memory.
I like how Meredith’s mom always walks on her hind legs cause it keeps her humanity and shows how feminine and royal she is cause that would very obvious be harder for her than to walk on her four legs but she still walks on her two legs because she was always taught to walk proper and when she walks On all fours it shows her animalism
Fun Fact: when it was still known as The Bear and the Bow, it was originally going to be about a kingdom of anthropomorphic bears with Reese Witherspoon playing Merida, using her regular voice, with the story taking place in Winter but creative differences lead to the bears becoming human characters with some of them turning into bears, most of the winter scenery being scrapped and Reese leaving the project due to her unable to do a Scottish accent. Ten years later, I'm still upset Brave won Best Animated Feature over ParaNorman.
I actually watch this movie on mother's day because of the mother-daughter relationship development, My mom having four daughters probably went through a lot of that sort of thing herself And actually, the fight with Merida and her mother, I found myself relating to with some of the clashes I had with my mom. Including when she slashes the tapestry and Elenore throws the bow into the fire, that always kinda hits home with me
I'm a "movie apologist" in which if a movie entertains me then I'm much more forgiving of it than most other people are. After all, a movie's first purpose is to entertain, so if it does that, then I don't care if it has flaws or may be a bit like another movie. For that reason, I really liked Brave and some of the other movies NC has reviewed in the past because they were entertaining to me. (The live action Yogi Bear movie, for instance.) And don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing flaws or plot holes or things like that. Just some of those things are secondary to me if I found the movie enjoyable.
@Abby Gould A movie is kind of like a relationship -- if it's good overall, all the little flaws can be ignored or are kind of endearing whereas if it's bad, the little flaws are much more noticable.
Me too!! It's always nice to see ppl out in the wild that understand you can critique something while still enjoying it. So many people swing too far in either direction imo
This was my first Nostalgia Critic video in many years. Gotta say, production has gotten better and has become more focused. I recall there was an issue where there was a lot of pointless skits that were just... not funny. Good work.
@@discontinued42069 he said on twitch he is doing less and less skits since he is becoming older (he is 40 now) and wants to be less acting based and more analitic and relaxed. Since the NC started as a parody of rant people in the late 2000 where he did nothing but yelling and screamint like an obsesive fanboy. Even AVGN is doing the same by beeing less angry and chaotic and more constructive and calm, plus just like NC with good movies he is reviewing good games to see if they hold up.
I and my mother have a lot of nostalgia for this film. I have a soft spot for it, while I can acknowledge its flaws. Honestly, I'm happy to hear someone speak positively about it! P. S. The Bear And The Bow was actually the title o the Once Upon A Time episode with Merida! (I enjoyed how the show used her, even if she was underutilized.)
@UCmAV82zHyOXhpqAReLg0YxQ i know he did a review with his brother when it first came out, but he also has said his opinions on movies changes over time so I wonder if he’d have differing views of it now
What; that owl movie? Didn't he already review that? (To be clear, I know which movie you're talking about; I'm just joking about how people mix up the names of those two movies a lot)
@@matthewmuir8884 The movie based on the Guardians of Childhood book series. The one where Jack Frost is voiced by Chris Pine and D.I.L.F-Russian Santa Claus
"you must have stories." "I have stories." I like how this doesn't even have to apply to JUST the Slap because MY GOD. The butchering of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (AND IT DID NOT WIN pfft), what's her name going "lol I didn't even watch half these movies, oh don't look up is nominated guess they didn't LOOK UP reviews." OH OH OH and I love LOVED the live action Disney Princesses SHITTING on animated movies saying "it's something adults have to ENDURE" as if it was a TRAGEDY. That was easily one of the WORST Oscars I've seen in a good while. And that's saying something.
I have honestly never watched the Oscars, I couldn't care less, I've heard about the Slap of course because it was everywhere, but the rest of this is fascinating news…And who is that trophy at the end supposed to be, anyway? What movie won? I feel like the more context I could get about that end gag, the funnier it would be to me…which, ironically, makes me wish I DID watch the Oscars this year. :P
So while it might have its bear flaws, i actually kind of like this film just cause, yes we have seen the Disney princess trope a thousand times before this point but i don't know why every single time i just watch this film i seem to get sucked into it. Now are there some weakness sure I think though the part of this film that does stick out though is that some of the jokes in this film go down harder than a lead balloon falling off a mountain, and while yes maybe the bear part does go on for a bit too long in my opinion, i do think though some of the characters and the way the interact with the bears can be cute at times now yes does it go on for way too long yes, but I think the thing i mostly like about the bear stuff is it kind of connects the family more together. Most importantly though I just kind of enjoy that Disney took a different route than we normally see with these Disney princess films, and while yes some of the action scenes by Merida make you want to scratch your head because you have seen that see is capable of taking and in giving so much action it still not a problem i still enjoy the film nonetheless.
I'm glad you highlighted the films better aspects. As a half Scot who saw this in cinemas while up in Scotland visiting family, I'll always have a soft spot for this film. I love that Pixar were the ones to finally have a Princess that didn't fall in love with anyone, which Disney definitely were inspired by. So glad they got primarily Scottish actors for the film too, rather than the stange mix of British and American that How to Train your Dragon had. Yeah the tone and message is pretty all over the place, I'm forever blaming that on Brenda Chapman's removal from the film. But there's some good moments that resonate I like how Merida isn't completely in the right, as demonstrated with her trying to trick her Mum into changing her mind. Yeah the comedy's a bit childish, but the voice actors sell it well. The animation is also gorgeous throughout, Pixar often hit it with physical comedy: Linguini in Ratatouille, Kevin in Up, so bear Elinor in this slides into that. Also glad you mentioned the short about Mord'u, feel like more people should see that. (like how I always forget there's a post credit scene that's a nice payoff to an earlier part of the film)
If I had a nickel for every time a Disney film had the line "I don't speak bear" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's still weird that it happened twice.
Now this is how a Nostalgia Critic review should be! It has great jokes and reasonable points about the movie while being comical at the same time! Best of all, it reviews one of my childhood films
Brave is remembered by my siblings and I, and not in a positive way. My sister, who is obsessed with horses, has no interest in romance, and wants to take combat training, so the exact target demographic for Merida, thinks of Merida as a brat. My sister sees Merida as someone who wants to enjoy all the privelages of royalty without the responsibilities. Merida is actually one of the top princesses who should be getting married, because whilst the other Disney princesses got married out of romantic love, Merida actually has a duty to her people to get married. My sister actually liked the mom far better, especially because she felt more like an actual medieval woman, someone who could project authority whilst primarily relying on diplomacy instead of violence. My sister's also perpetually annoyed the movie had such boring fantasy instead of diving into the wealth of Scottish fairy folklore
I always found Merida incredibly selfish for those same reasons. Also, following a willow of the wisp will get you killed, not lead you to your destiny. Because of these things I really don't care for Brave.
Pretty sure that prologue with baby-Eleanor was meant to *visually* introduce Mordu and the wisps. We're TOLD about them, but this intro shows us. I agree it could have been done better, though.
What's neat is the fanbase is still amazing for this film. Despite its flaws, Merida is a very fun addition to the princess lineup, even being added to Once Upon a Time with a post film version of her that many see as a good adaptation. Hell even a BOOK just came out from Disney that's post film about Merida and her family, delving into more mythology and is genuinely getting a lot of praise. Even fan communities are keeping her alive through well written crossovers and fanfiction that expand upon her character. Yeah fan works can be hit or miss but it's amazing to see the passion people have for merida and her world
This is actually my favorite Pixar film. It just hit the right buttons for me. Loved the characters, the beautiful scenery, the music, the mother/daughter relationship. Maybe I wish there was more magic in this, but I just loved everything about it. I know I'm a minority in this. Plus, I finally got to dress as Merida for Halloween last year. Maybe it could have been better, maybe there were some missteps, but I love it for what it is, I can't hate it for what it could have been.
Yeah same for me personally it’s okay for most people they hate it because of the mother turning into a bear 🐻 and the bear plot but if the original director which was female never got fired it would have been better and probably apart of Pixar’s greatest films like Toy Story movies, Ratatouille, Up and etc
this movie has a warm place in my heart cause it gave me a childhood fear of bears, Its a shame they didn't stick with the darker, gibli fantasy atmosphere cause scotish bow girl vs were-bears is quite a cool concept if I say so myself
I am glad you looked at this one! It was quite popular back in 2012 and I do remember the general climate in Scotland being one of excitement that it looked like we were finally getting some good representation for our culture that wasn't Braveheart (can't speak for everyone here but no one I know is a fan) and I went to see it with my family and honestly I was amazed at how beautiful it looked, how exciting I found the opening, how I had no idea where the plot was going but had to keep watching because why a bear, what's the connection? And I adored Merida, just her personality, temperment and general interests were like me and so many other girls I knew growing up. I loved the vocal performances, Billy Connolly especially and I loved that it focused on a mother-daughter relationship. It's so fascinating looking back now because while yes, the film does have problems from a production stand point and the humour, while tbf was quite Scottish in spirit, isn't for everyone I always feel the need to defend it. Maybe because Scottish representation has gone everywhere from made-from-love stereotypes to downright insulting that I like that Brenda Chapman and the people at Pixar were interested enough to come here and learn about my culture (even if it's not set in my region.) I love that they included the music of Julie Fowlis, a Gaelic folk singer and I can't thank them enough for making young MacGuffin speak Doric, a dialect of Scots that is native to my region and that I heard every day growing up (I know to non-Scots and even other Scots it sounds bizarre but you pick up quickly that "ken" means know and "Fit like?" means How are you?) Anyway, my cinema errupted into laughter at that scene. I think some of the humour that's underrated are when they climb onto the roof of the castle and you have wee lines like "Ooh I can see mah hoose fae here!" Maybe on some level I'm jealous of other beautiful Disney and Pixar works like Coco and Moana where they get praised for their portrayals of another culture and find it unfair that Brave doesn't get the same ammount of recognition. No one has to like the film but I think Americans making an effort to learn about any culture different from their own, whether the people from the culture look/speak like them or not does deserve at least a nod of respect for trying. I will agree that the bear thing is quite strange because we haven't had bears here for a veeeeery long time and there will be some inaccuracies like corsets and kilts not being a thing in 10th century Scotland (nor are all corsets inherently oppressive to women but that's a whole other discussion.) I will disagree that it was copying Brother Bear. Yes it's weird thag there are two films in Disney canon where that happens to someone but animal transformation is common in Celtic Mythology, lots of mythologies actually. Every time I see the movie mentioned negatively something in me feels strange, not in a defensive way particularly, just in a "Hm, well I quite liked it. It's not a masterpiece but I liked it" kind of way. I always get nervous when I hear people talk about us but don't want to turn into a stereotypical nationalist who can't take a joke at their country's expense. I don't mind a good comedic rib. But it was odd that apparently when the film was released in the US some theatres considered adding subtitles...the film is in English. Quite clearly English. Believe me, there are way stronger Scottish dialects than the kinds the character's speak. Then when they interviewed movie goers about what they know about Scotland, they replied with "kilts" "the Irish" and "our Irish cousins." I would have hoped by now people know we're two different countries who happen to share some similarities, like a lot of Europe. Or we're always mocked for our accents, by people who think they sound less intelligent and agressive and backwards. I don't mind so much the people who try and replicate them honestly or do some gentle ribbing like in this review but I've heard and seen those mocking our manner of speaking atrociously and calling us "jocks," which isn't a majorly offensive slur but can be used as a pejorative. Then when we go abroad people ask how we speak English so well despite it being most people's first language here, the whole political climate during 2014 was divided and stressful and we in Britain have a conservative parliament that to put in US terms is like the British GOP and many of us feel condescended to and our concerns not taken seriously by them. (That's enough politics for a UA-cam comment.) Maybe it's I've gotten older and listened to my parent's/grandparent's generation talk I've learned to appreciate my culture and history a bit more because when I was a child it felt like I wanted little to do with it compared to now. We were always taught "speak properly!" by schools who while they taught us to be proud of our heritage sometimes felt as if they would rather see our tongue disappear and not just Scottisms, if you used an Americanism around some of my English teachers they'd gawk at you. 😂 I think I'd be interested if Brenda Chapman wanted to pick this project up again, maybe develop a sequel or a short series to explore more of Scotland's legends. Like Doug said, it felt more Grimm's fairytales than Scottish folklore and believe me, our folklore is diverse, fun and scary all at once. There's a skinless creature called the Nucklavee who wanders the Highlands, the Blue Men of Minch who drown sailors at sea, the wulvers, friendly werewolf-headed men who leave fish on the windowsills of poor families in the Shetland Isles, evil carlins (witches) and animal spirits like the cat-sìth and our national animal is the unicorn. I feel like that would be amazing to include in a Pixar production. Someday I hope to write my own stories set in Scotland and bring some more of the unknowm parts of our culture and folklore to the world. Cheers for reading if you're still fucking here 🤣
@@theawesomeman9821 It's a good film from an entertainment standpoint but as a story about William Wallace it fails because almost everything in it depicting him is incorrect. But if you enjoy it, that's okay too!
I’m glad that the film was enjoyable for Scottish people and that Disney did a little research before setting it there and cast some actors that matched. And her relationship with her mum is the highlight of the film from a story standpoint, it was my favorite part. I read that that came from Brenda Chapman who wrote some of that based on her own experiences, and who has worked on other great animated films with similar deep relational conflict (Prince of Egypt for one). I rather wonder if the change of directors might be responsible for the tone shifts in the film that can be jarring and Disney feel. Disney/Pixar apparently did Brenda Chapman dirty and removed her from the project even though it was her base story of the mother daughter relationship. Rather wish we’d gotten to see her full vision and not Disney interference mixed in
Remember when you made a film editorial asking can a film be so good, it's bad? I think this is an example. It does everything you're supposed to do in a movie which ironically doesn't make it stand out. 10 years later, I still haven't seen the movie yet.
Instead of Brave, I would recommend watching "Wolfwalkers", which was actually made by Irish filmmakers and animators. Like Brave, it's a fantasy film with Celtic lore, a spunky redheaded girl trying to save her mother, animals as characters, who must fight for survival from human hunters. Mebh Og Mactire is basically Merida, but with more character and freedom, plus there is Robyn Goodefellow, who is the foil to Mebh, as she yearns for freedom from her Puritan society, in addition, we get to see just how oppressive Puritan English life was, a stark contrast from Merida, who's idea of freedom is leaving her responsibilities ... yay girl power. Overall, "Wolfwalkers" is one of the most beautiful animated films I have ever seen, wolves are more prominent in Celtic stories than bears, plus Cartoon Saloon could give Pixar and Disney a run-for-their-money, "Wolfwalkers" was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to "Soul", however, it still won accolades.
This is my favorite Pixar film and it's also my birthday. Whether Doug rips this film apart or actually loves it, this already feels like a nice birthday gift from the universe because this film is criminally underdiscussed.
One of my favorite movies to ever come out of Disney. I love the Scottish setting and how badass Merida is. I thought it was pretty funny too, especially when the mom turned into a bear
As a Scottish person I was always disappointed that the Scottish setting was underutilised as they didn't use any gaelic/celtic myths and folklore. The movie also used the lazy and racist stereotype that Scottish people are stupid and barbaric. This is a stereotype the English created after conquering scotland to make the Scottish lose political power. The english would say they needed to anglicise the Scottish barbarians which lead to much of scotlands culture being erased. Such as gaelic no longer being the primary language but instead forced to English.
@@stempest7218 I know, looking at all the stereotypes, I expected to see Groundskeeper Willie or the Scotsman from Samurai Jack to show up. Then again seeing the latter show up would've really improved the film.
...but she's not badass at all? She does practically nothing new, and barely fights. Even her big "break tradition" speech isn't even her own handiwork.
That song where she's singing while shooting arrows on horseback was great...then I felt it was mostly downhill from there. And when we got to the magical turning-into-a-bear part, I wanted out.
Yeah I know allot of people didn’t like the bear plot and I mean the part of the reason it was like that was because there was a female director that had her vision of what the movie was going to be but then she got fired due to creative differences and then replaced with a male director who didn’t know what he was doing so that’s why we got this film instead of a better version of it of what we could have got but it’s an okay movie for me personally and I accept it for what it is but do you like it dislike it or hate it
I remember being stoked by the original teaser, it looked like something akin to Beowulf (the myth, not the movie). Compared to the three Cartoon Saloon movies (Secret of the Kells, Song of the Sea, and Wolfwalkers-admittedly Irish, but the two countries share some mythology), it pales, but despite being a structural mess, I did find it fairly interesting. I’d love to see someone do the Irish Sorrows
I loved this movie as a kid lol I was all about the bear scenes. Although looking at it now, I love all the designs of the people, the voices, the mother daughter relationship, and the animation. It’s just a nice little time-killer
I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was a decent Pixar movie, but can sometimes feel like DreamWorks movie at one time, but still good Pixar movie. I'm so curious if he's gonna do Toy Story nostalgia critic episodes because if he did Brave, why not do the most popular Pixar franchise. The opening is hilarious with you guys on the head of the oscars for Disney/Pixar.
@@nsasupporter7557 The first Incredibles and Up are widely considered to be among the best films Pixar has ever made. You can't reasonably claim that Pixar has gone downhill if you haven't seen those films.
@@nyxshadowhawk ok, did you not read my original reply? I said Pixar started going downhill after the 2000s, so that wouldn’t apply for Incredibles or Up because both of those came out in the 2000s 🥴
Brave is actually one of the few Disney movies my mom likes. Both my parents said it was much better then they expected. I also, personally, liked it. Yes, the mother-daughter thing is now common but - full offense - Brave does it much better then all of them. I also REALLY love the ending scene; mother and daughter riding together. It shows not just that their bond is stronger, but it also showed an OLDER woman being youthful without it being "quirky".
Touch The Sky is an amazing piece. Kind of surprised he didn't bring it up at all. Plus I think it's worth mentioning that they could totally take a second shake at this plot in a Kingdom Hearts title. That has the potential to either be horrendous or actually pretty fantastic of a rewrite of their world. Plus I admit I just kinda wanna see Sora learn to use a Keyblade Glider to Touch The Sky.
Brave is probably my favorite Pixar film! I love Merida, Billy Connolly as the king and suitors each have their own flair. I like how much the queen and Merida learn, grow, and come together at the end.
This movie isn't a Pixar classic (the period between TS3 and Inside Out was pretty rough), but it's still perfectly enjoyable, even though it absolutely did not deserve the Oscar over Wreck-It Ralph or Rise of the Guardians.
my hot take, Wreck-It Ralph was good, but not THAT good. It was too meta to be good imo. And the core story was nothing new. It was good though, but no original classic imo. Same with Frozen (and the Frozen songs even aren't THAT good too) Brave is similar though, it's good, but nothing really original with a lot of things. But perfectly good
The first time I saw this movie was in the theater. After seeing the trailer, i was pumped. After the twist bear, i was pissed. On rewatches, it's a beautiful film, the score is nice (love the solo track), and i like the idea of mom/daughter relationship...but it's a huge letdown from what I thought I was getting.
I love this movie; I went to go see it twice in theaters when it came out. This movie really spoke to me because my relationship with my mom was kind of like Merdia's (minus turning my mom into a bear). It felt like no matter what I said my mom wasn't listening to me and when I tried to explain my actions as to why I did what I did, she tuned me out because it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Our relationship got better when I got older, however she still works on my nerves sometimes.
4:44 I am pretty sure Monsters University is should be beloved.... I don't know, the message it gives at the end of following your dreams while still going through ALL the hardships (with the montage of mike and sulley grinding trhough A LOT of different jobs to get to become part of the scaring floor), is probably one of the most memorable parts of any pixar film in my opinion
Monsters University is kinda like Rick and morty season 5 were the first act is good ( first 3 eps ) the second act isn't good and take a good chunk of the movie ( eps 4-7 ) and then the last acts amazing ( last 3 eps)
At the entrance to Disneyland, they play a loop of Disney song instrumentals and the song from "Brave" is in there, though that may have more to do with when the loop was made than how memorable Disney thinks it is. More strangely, they play music from DreamWorks' "Spirit" near the Soarin' ride.
You NAILED it when you said the teaser trailers had a Miyazaki-esque feel. I realized you're exactly right! THAT is what struck me when I originally saw the teaser, although I couldn't put my finger on it until just now! I WISH they story had been has sharply cohesive as the potential the trailers had promised. Just imagine--a girl in the wild, the movie capturing the towering isolation and majesty of nature, and she's a magic bounty hunter slaying evil bears. Ugh, it could've been GREAT.
More than Cars, Brave shows the cracks forming in Pixar’s brand. Cars was a movie no one wanted to make, so whatever. But Brave was a passion project compromised to have more mainstream appeal. It shows everyone that Pixar is as much as a corporation as everyone else.
Brave is possibly my favorite Pixar film as a kid because I just liked seeing a red headed princess who didn't want to get married. It meant a lot to me when I was younger.
@@nsasupporter7557 I think the reason is supposed to be it wasn't for the kids but the people who grew up with it. Doesn't explain why it's so dark for a G rating!!
I swear Mordu is scary af. His design and scenes are surprisingly terrifying, especially when he breaks the stone slab and jumps Merida when she is uncovering his origin. It would be amazing to see a dark horror style flick centered on the prince and his evils.
Fun fact: my friends from uni is from one of the towns the animators visited for inspiration for the movie (it’s a very small town in the Highlands; I can’t remember the name of the town atm, but if I can get a hold of her I’ll ask). She has some of the curliest, brightest red hair I’ve ever seen and looks *exactly* like Merida to the extent that we used to joke that the visiting animators must have seen her roaming around town and used her as inspiration for Merida’s character design.
I really like brave I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I don’t really know why, but I like it. I think it’s funny and I think the protagonist is someone a lot of people can relate too.
Personally I don't think brave should've won the Oscar over Wreck it Ralph (which in my opinion is genuinely the best Disney movie in the last 10 years) but the movie wasn't terrible, it was just really forgettable (also I didn't know it was Pixar until now)
For all the problems I have with this movie (and belive me, there's a LOT), the soundtrack is easily the best part of it. I remember when it first came out "Touch the Sky" and "Into the open air" were on replay in my room a lot. Also, while the film's not perfect, I will say that I do find myself enjoying it a bit more upon each rewatch, flaws and all, since Merida's relationship with her mother mirrors the one I have with my mother. But yeah, the film peaked with the arrow scene...
Honestly out of the princess line up I'd still probably pick Kita from Atlantis as someone who stands out. She's also one of the few who are combat competent. We don't really get to see the full scope of it because she's stuck fighting against men with guns who vastly outnumber her, but she still really gives the first few a good beating.
Something that helped Brave stay relevant in pop culture might’ve been the fans combining it with Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, and Rise of the Guardians, the crossover fandom of Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons
I actually love this movie and still remember it clearly, I've watched it many times. I guess I'm the rare person who actually remembers this movie fondly and enjoyed the relationship between merida and Elinor.
21:50 I don’t think it’s that. Up to this point Fergus has been her biggest advocate while her mother believed in magic which is something he was dismissive of. Now the situations are completely revered. In any other instance, he’d be in her corner but because Merida needs to convince her father that a dangerous animal that already attacked his daughter is his polymorphed wife, he’s obviously not going to listen to her.
2:09 Wait... Brave beat Wreck-It Ralph!? I knew oscar voters don't care about animated movies or video games, but I at least assumed they voted for animated movies based on which their kids liked more... Regardless, Ralph deserves far more respect than it got.
To quote the late great Norm Macdonald and something i'm sure Reese Witherspoon might be thinking about is “Love is an artful arrangement of artless pretensions, whereby we labor to appear innocent in what we desire to be most cunning.”
I remember my hs choir teacher giving us the opening song (I think it's called Touch the Sky) to sing at our spring performance and she was so excited to be giving us a Disney song but literally no one recognized the song when she handed out the sheet music. So then she played the song and we still didn't know. It was kind of fun to sing but I don't like singing fast, upbeat pop songs for choir in general. The only Disney song I've heard work in a choir format that wasn't originally for choir already was Reflection from Mulan.
i honestly really like this movie even the cliches aren't that bad imo, and it handles a mother and daughter working out their differences better than some other ones.
I can’t even enjoy this film out of context because I’ll always remember when I saw it in theaters. I had to sit in the front row looking up at the screen. My neck was so sore that I developed a cramp for a couple minutes. And that’s a feeling I’ll NEVER forget.
I actually remember going to see this in theaters with my nieces and a friend. It was definitely one that left me not hating it but also not sure how to feel about whether I liked it or not and my nieces thought the action stuff was fun and both wanted their own bow and arrow sets for a little while but this one never made it into the collection and was forgotten pretty quickly.
Despite Brave’s flaws, I really love this movie. It’s one of those fun flick movies to put on and it’s the only (I believe) Disney or Pixar movie to be set in a Scottish or Celtic world. Sword in the stone should be a Celtic movie too because Arthur wasn’t English but Celtic.
Underrated film in my opinion. I had somehow never heard of it when it came out, but saw my students watching it one day and checked it out for myself. It's not overly memorable, but I quite enjoyed it.
this movie brings up difficult feelings for me... I very vividly remember watching this a few weeks after my first child was born in 2014, I was really struggling emotionally, while watching I was pumping milk as the baby wasn't feeding well. I was struggling to produce, it had taken me a solid hour to collect 2oz, I suddenly spilled it all over the floor...I locked myself in the bathroom and cried for ages... setting off a spiral into postpartum depression. I couldn't watch this movie for a few years after that, it was too triggering aside from that traumatic episode I do think it's a cute message with a good story
The fact that they changed directors halfway through explains so much. Because the beginning of the movie I thought was going to be a independent princess proving herself movie and then all of a sudden it turned into a turning into bears movie. It stinked so much that I just imagined my own version.
What's your favorite Pixar film?
Support this week's charity - www.lbbc.org/
See us at C2E2 August 5th-7th - www.c2e2.com/
DOUG IS LIVE ON TWITCH RIGHT NOW - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome
Can't go wrong with Toy Story 2
My favorite Pixar movie is Monsters Inc
UP
Toy story
WALL-E
I don't think the intro is pointless. It's nice to see the sweet relationship between young Merida and her mother. Kinda makes the later scenes with them when she's older more impacting, seeing how their relationship have changed.
I always presumed that was the battle where the dad lost his leg. It showed why he had such a hatred of bears, and quickly showed the relationship between the three of them, with dad being impulsive and physical, mom being diplomatic and careful, and daughter being inquisitive and risk taker.
It sets us up with an idea and all the narrative does is fill in the information around that scene. They go hand in hand and it isn't pointless. The Narrative wouldn't have the same effect if you didn't have the opening animated sequence. And the Opening Animated Sequence would leave a bunch of questions that aren't entirely answered if we didn't have the following narrative portion.
Exactly. Queen Elinor and Merida probably had a moment sometime between that event and the main film where Elinor said something like "This behaviour wis fun and cute when ye were a bairn, but now ye have responsibilities!"
You’re simply wrong
Queen Elinor was a pleasant surprise and actually my favourite character in this movie. They could have made her downright mean and manipulative or just dead like most mother figures in movies and instead they made her a flawed but well-intentioned mother. In the end, both her and Merida learn to listen and understand each other, which is how sane relationships between parents and their children should be in my opinion: it's not only one of them who has to learn from the other.
And, just like Turning Red, they have to PUNISH the mom into being understanding ("Oh, the pressures of my own upbringing!") before any actual bonding of views can take place.
Unlike Turning Red, however, the whole crisis of the movie actually was the heroine's fault to begin with, and she develops the minimum amount of self-awareness to do less of a victory dance about it.
Now that I’m a mom I relate to Elinor so much more lol I know for certain my mom relates
@@ericjanssen394 The problem is they opted for slapstick when Merida's actions could have gotten a lot of people killed. Being royalty means responsibilities for the welfare of others and she was willing to start a war over selfish reasons. It's treated like a comedic brawl and not a serious war.
@@carlrood4457 Take an in depth look at history. Plenty of Actual Nobles treated things in similar fashions or worse, Some of them leading to wars and some of them being smoothed over, and a few ending up in the exile or death of the one that did such things. More wars in history were actually started over selfish reasons than just about anything else.
@@ericjanssen394
yeah, thats one of the major flaws of an otherwise underrated movie. Wish more could have been emphasized on the politics and the fallout of Merida's behaviour. but that might have been too complicated in a children's movie.
Merida: "I want a spell to change my mum."
The witch: "In what way? Change your mum's hairstyle, clothing preferences, or her thoughts about the wedding?"
Merida really could've been specific with the "change my mum" part.
oh yeahh!!!! XP
that the point. the word your wish carefully.
Merida's brain has a tendency to roll out of her ears whenever the plot needs it to.
@@shounenbat510 Will Smith Genie
" Wishes have gray areas in them "
That's wish granters for you
I'm surprised he didn't touch on how Miredas parents are in love. Like how they would show each other affection was really cute. How Fergus noticed his wife was mad and sat down and talked with her. Or he pinched her butt in the opening scene. Even his little "wahh" when she said she had reservations about their marriage.
I love Merida's parents chemistry.
In old Disney the parents were usually dead (either one or both), while in modern Disney movies they're usually both alive but there's not that much to their relationship with each other, and usually one of them is in charge while the other is barely a character.
Notable exceptions are Pongo and Perdita; the parents from Strange World; Kerchak and Kala; and of course The Incredibles. But they're still exceptions.
@@Alejandroigarabide I like Pacha and his wife from Emperor's New Groove, they were a great couple imo I feel like they could be another notable exception
@@alim.9801 I had totally forgotten them! They're such a nice and relatable couple!
@@Alejandroigarabide. That's because Walt bought a new home for his parents with faulty heating and they died of carbon dyoxide poisoning!
@@alim.9801. In fairness it does allow for a lot more time to be dedicated towards characterising the kid then!
The mother-daughter conflict was definitely my favourite part of the film. Especially how they showed how both Elinor and Merida had to learn to listen and understand, when in other films it's sometimes just only one person has to change while the other is already perfect.
Can you please do another 'Old VS New'? With Disney's Peter Pan vs 2003 live action Peter Pan? I think you and Hyper would have great comments on both and debates.
2012 was an interesting time. Disney tried to be Pixar with "Wreck-it Ralph" while Pixar tried to be Disney with "Brave."
Such an interesting switch but yeah.
My theory is each studio work on the their films, Pixar with WiR and Disney with Brave, and made a bet and flipped who it's from to see which would do better.
I feel like Zootopia was Disney trying to be Pixar.
@@elder-woodsilverstein7716 Zootopia is a masterpiece
But were the truly brave enough?
I watched a fascinating video talking about the behind the scenes of Brave, did you know the original director they had, directed Prince of Egypt?! But Disney didn’t like her version of the story so they dumbed the story down and the director left the project.
That really made me upset because who knows what Brave would've turned into if they kept the old director. HECK maybe it would be a lot better than the shoved in Bear plot that definitely did not come out of nowhere.
@@deadmonsterhead4507 so true. The fact that originally The Queen was not going to turn into a bear explains so much!
Yeah, Disney Warner Bros'd this movie so hard!
That explains the disconnect between the movie and the trailer.
what was the orginal?
This movie always felt more like a Disney animated one than a Pixar one
And Wreck-It Ralph kind of felt like the Pixar film of that year.
I feel like if Brave was a Disney movie it would have become a lot more popular and well remembered
I sometimes wonder if this movie "Brave" would've looked like in a 2D Animated Style.
At least it didn't have any cringe musical numbers, everyone's kid was filmed singing.
@@theblocksays actually it did. I had to sing it in my high school choir when the film came out. It was called Touch the Sky
I actually really love this movie and I'm a little surprised it's perceived as mediocre. There aren't that many animated films that focus on a character's relationship with their mother -- the mother is more often dead, absent, or evil. This is the only one I could think of before Turning Red came out. I found Merida very relatable as a child, but as I get older I'm more able to understand Eleanor's perspective, and I appreciate that nuance. I love the Scottish setting, the animation is beautiful, the music is good, and the witch scene still cracks me up. I think this film was more a victim of poor marketing than anything else.
Poor animated mothers... Loved Eleanor though. She's cool.
I love this movie to!
First half of the movie was really good, second half after the bear transformation felt mediocre.
@@FunFilmFare. At least it makes people appreciate brother bear more, as it tackled toxic masculinity and racism under one plot. Have you noticed how surprised kenai was that Animals are so smart? Not to mention he doesn't view love as an essential part of manhood, going for revenge because of a death that could've easily been prevented if he wasn't stupid, ect!
@@FunFilmFare yeah allot of people didnt like the bear aspect of the film and the mother turning into a bear 🐻 and the movie just turns into brother bear
You know, whenever I think of Brave I can't help but fixate on this one detail. In the trailer Merida says this line: "I want a spell to change my fate" after we see the Will-O-Wisps and it's said in this dreamy cadence. But that line isn't in the movie, instead she says directly to the witch "I want a spell to change my mom!" and it's said in a pleading excited cadence. Seriously I honestly can't think of a more misleading trailer for a movie, what we ended up getting was NOTHING like the advertisement, and not in a good way.
I remember seeing ads on Disney Channel where Merida and her dad were playing pranks on the mom
The film peaks at the archery competition. There’s a lot of perfect symbolism and cinematography going on in it, right up to Elenor being framed by Merida’s bow before she releases the winning shot. And I think their argument in front of the tapestry was good, too. It’s just, once you introduce the witch and the bear element, it feels like a different story supplanted the first. It’s not bad, and I still really love the good, emotional parts. But it was just off.
Also, I recall a lot of people judging this movie on their expectations, rather than on what it IS. The promotion made it seem like this was about Merida hunting Mordu in a magical forest. And a lot of people couldn’t let that go. That might also be why people forgot about the film, because they didn’t even try to connect with it on what it gave. They could only think about what it “wasn’t”.
I never saw the trailers, I was completely in the dark about what it was about and my experience was similar to yours, loved the archery competition, didn't care for anything else.
I knew literally nothing about the movie before watching, I thought it was slightly interesting in the beginning with the mother and daughter stuff, and then it just got worse by the second
Also agree with the critic, I was a kid when I watched and none of the jokes landed, not a single one
I am always happy now that "Turning Red" was essentially able to give me the interesting mother-daughter give and take focus that this film ultimately put to the background and "Wolfwalkers" was able to get me the exciting.....well, it wasn't Scottish to be fair, but it was a much more interesting European adventure with people changing into animals.
The problem was people weren't coming up with that disappointed feeling out of nowhere the trailer was literally a gotcha switch and bait so even though it's a fine movie it left such a bad taste in my mouth I can never enjoy it
That archery scene was chef kiss😘 tho
It's not the only movie that does this but like all the other movies that the trailer presents as a completely different genre than it is leave this bad taste in my mouth no matter how good the movie ends up being
The advertisement didn’t help. I too thought at least, Merida would do more fighting. She’s a good archer but not that great against bears.
I remember my sister and I going to see the midnight premier of Brave. We were so excited to see a Disney movie based in Scotland (we just really like Scottish culture). And although it wasn't the big grand adventure fairytale everyone expected, I still really enjoyed it and always down to rewatch it. It's sort of like a comfort movie for me c:
Same! This movie is quite therapeutic for me as well as nostalgic
Scottish culture? I’m assuming you’re not talking about deep fried mars bars and alcoholism?
I actually really like this movie but the one thing that will always get me is: in the scene where they’re all in the banquet hall and Merida is distracting her dad and everyone else with a speech so the queen (as a bear) can sneak through in the back….how come the people standing BEHIND Merida didn’t see the queen?? Especially cause her dad is supposed to be able to sense whenever a bear is just in the same general area as him, and he was practically standing right behind Merida the whole time LOL. I guess MAYBE he was too distracted by being proud of his kid to notice but even that’s a stretch lol
Read up on "inattentional blindness", essentially the phenomenon that people are apt to miss noticing all sorts of remarkable things either because they're focused on something else or they're not paying attention. A specific example mentioned in the wiki is subjects of experiments totally failing to notice the guy in the gorilla suit in a scene they're looking at to complete various tasks.
So missing a bear really isn't that far-fetched, particularly with Merida creating an attention grabbing distraction.
@@bemusedbandersnatch2069 I remember that experiment. I noticed the gorilla. Because the other tasks were too exhausting for my attention.😅
@@bemusedbandersnatch2069 oh we learned about that in the psych class I took about a year ago! Yeah that’s true it could’ve just been because everyone was distracted, but there were some parts where Merida stopped talking and looked over at/gestured at her mom (maybe without realizing it) and you’d think they’d all look where she was looking since she was the center of attention. It’s really no big deal tho cause I get that it had to be that way for the scene to work, and it’s also my favorite scene in the movie so I’m willing to forgive it XD
@@blackmagician7645 the thing about the gorilla video is it only works if you don’t already know about the gorilla when you watch it. I was told about the gorilla before watching the video, so now I can’t un-see it. I’m kinda sad that now I’ll never get to experience what it’s like to totally miss the gorilla since that’s a one-time thing
No one sees bears very well in this movie, like how that one bear sneaked up on them in the middle of the clearing in the opening.
The one thing I was hoping for was those forest sprites that keep guiding her to play a more important role. Until a bit later in the movie you only ever see three of them. I was hoping it was going to be revealed that they were the spirits of the three other brothers from that story. And they were guiding Merida to get her to finally end their brothers suffering.
That would actually be pretty clever.
@@elder-woodsilverstein7716 fr
"Fiery hair that has a life of its own" is the perfect way to sum up curly hair. My hair is exactly like Merida's (though it looked more like Aurora's when I was younger), and I can tell you: *my hair has a life of its own* and it was great seeing someone who actually kinda looked like me cuz she looked like a normal person and not someone traditionally flawless.
I thought the movie was okay, but I loved the detail in the movie.
I always found it funny how merida is clearly ‘impressed’ by the giant warrior who’s mistaken for a suitor. She totally forgets she doesn’t want to be married off for a second
Repeated by EVERY Red Pill channel in existence ;)
@@KingRandor82 sir this isn't the matrix that's three rooms down
Dude, if you thought that behemoth came from that twerpy looking guy you'd be like WTF, how'd that happen??? too. Literally has nothing to do with being attracted. It's like watching two tiny little asian parents walk into the room with lebron james and being like "hello there this our son :)" You'd be like 0.0
Doesn't mean you wanna bang lebron james XD
Except it wasn't that she didn't want to get married but that she didn't want to get married to some random guy she'd never met and therefore had no interest in. She was attracted to the giant warrior so when she saw him she thought there might be some hope, but nope it was just another guy she couldn’t even care about physically let alone emotionally.
@@DogsandPennies bro the face she is making is a wtf face. shes not attracted, she legit just didnt understand how the giant dark beef dude came from the derpy pasty guy. Being impressed does not mean being attracted ya dingle. Or else dudes would be bangin eachother at every car meet
I really like Brave. It's not a classic, but it has really strong worldbuilding and the relationship between Merida and her mum is interesting.
World building? I doubt you even remember the name of the main kingdom
@@pamoweiberezi5315 I can't even remember your mess of a name, mate lol
It was also refreshing that it was at least one of the first Disney Property Movie to not feature a princess marrying/getting to a prince as well as one where an act of true love involves two family members as appose a prince and princess
@@kurtisdeakin wow, that was a good one.
@@kurtisdeakin ok😐....what does that have to do with brave? My name doesn't have world building..hang on, you're not even the person I was talking to,why are you replying to me?
I quote this movie all the time "I don't want to get married! I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset!"
Billy Connolly really nails it in this movie
It might just be my bias that it’s a Pixar movie set in Scotland but it’s definitely a favourite of mine
_Legit_ the _funniest_ line in the movie.
you got a bunch of kids in your pfp though I call bullshit
Pretty much my feelings too. It's a movie that died on expectations more than it's actual themes and execution. And when I say expectations, it goes beyond the false advertisement (which did play a big part tho) - up to this point, Pixar had developed a brand that was consistently good and heartwarming so seeing them exchange an adventure epic for a Freaky Friday plot REALLY felt jarring and a slap to the audience's face.
It also doesn't help that before it came out they said it would "darker and more mature" than anything they'd done before...
I remember seeing ads on Disney Channel where Merida and her dad were playing pranks on the mom
She’s my favorite princess but not my favorite princess story. I loved her attitude, her proud spirit, and her HAIR!!! I remember seeing the trailer in theaters and was speechless to finally see a princess with hair that matched mine. Curly hair was never really done in Disney, and still rarely seen in other movies. And to see curly hair in red was even more rare so it was a real treat to see it done here.
It's because hair that unruly is incredibly hard to animate. In fact, it's a general rule of animation to NEVER do hair like that.
@@Krendall2 what we aren't going to do is refer to curly hair as "unruly". Thanks.
@@bunnyoppress What other word do you use to describe hair that's difficult/impossible to keep styled?
@@bunnyoppress I mean. I got curls and they’re unruly. They’re on point with that statement. It’s not an offensive term.
It’s one of the few movies that actually put another perspective on the rebellious princess trope, that there are actually political consequences for such actions, and allowed the mother to be a developed character too instead of a person whose role is being wrong. I think it’s worthy
That's something I appreciated about this movie as well. The princess and the mother are both nuanced characters. They were both right and wrong in their own ways, and they get to learn from each other. I also liked the dad too. Despite him being a source of conflict for parts of the movie, he's not portrayed as evil or anything, just protective of his family and probably PTSD from his bear attack. He's also shown to simply be a fairly supportive father. He didn't seem to care too much for upholding tradition, so long as his daughter is happy. It's not too often that we see a family dynamic like this in modern movies. I liked it.
> that there are actually political consequences for such actions,
Oh, were there now? Those seemed to go right out the window after she gave her speech. The clans were willing to go to war and kill each other. But the Princess getting her way suddenly made everything A-okay like they weren't just about to kill one another.
Good thing it's fiction because she' would have made for a terrible princess since there were no lasting consequences, so nothing to keep her from selfishly shirking any other duty she weren't interested in.
I can't think of many disney princesses that don't want to be princesses so i'm not sure why NC said there are.
The only ones i can think of are ariel and jasmine and ariel just wanted to live on land,it's not like she didn't want to be a princess.
@@cinderellaskeleton6720 Eilonwy, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas (if we're counting the sequels then Cinderella, Kiara and the three girls from Mulan II), even Aurora. But I think he means "rebellious princess".
Ariel was pretty rebellious. She endangered her entire kingdom and left her father transformed and defenseless at the bottom of sea. She didn't even try to get the trident back from Ursula. All she was worried about chasing after a man she barely knew. In fact she knew who and what Ursula was when she made the deal with her. Why doesn't she face the consequences of her actions?
I love that the Merida isn’t your typical ‘Barbie’ styled princess, but she’s just another rebellious princess. I love how this movie is more down to earth with its cultural representation, but its obvious the story’s structure and direction weren’t thought through all the way.
@nemo pouncey She was with the other Disney Princesses, but all they did was silently judge her because of her thick Scottish accent.
WRONG! She’s an actual tomboy princess not just a rebel
The rule for Princesses in pop-culture is if they were born poor they wanna be a princess, if they were born a princess they wanna be poor.
She is condescending, rude, ignorant, stereotypical, and selfish, with her not even learning to do good for her people and instead just her and her mom run from responsibilities.
@@leephillips4402 These princesses don’t want to be poor, they want to be ‘independent.’
I watched Brave when it came out on DVD. I really liked how it was about the young girl and her Mum. I watched this with my Mum. She just had surgery to remove a stomach cancer tumour. She is going to pass away soon. Thank you for bringing up the fond memory of watching this with my Mum ❤️
I’m so sorry.
So Sorry for your mother!!!!! :( D:
What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing and sending my best condolences to you and your family.
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother....I hope you can have many good experiences with her while the time lasts. Maybe you can watch this together. *sends hugs*
I've found an odd little thing about this movie. People talk like they don't really remember this movie. But there are various scenes thta if you bring them up specifically that they do remember and usually with some level of liking it and they may bring up other scenes or little things that they liked. But this movie came out when it was popular to hate on everything to the point of nitpicking things to death with fairly hateful language for not being perfect and that has affected the reputation of the movie to be kind of forgettable as people couldn't seperate out the fad of nitpicking with not actually disliking it.
As a girl of Celtic decent with curly hair, I remember being excited when this came out because they made curly hair that looked amazing. I also have a complicated relationship with my mom, so this movie always makes me cry. That doesn’t mean it’s an amazing movie, just that it gets to me personally.
Despite what everyone else says about it, i actually love this movie. The animation and cinematography is beautiful, the Scottish culture is great, and i liked the bear plot (even though many don’t).
I can sympathize with Merida to an extent, but there is a difference between "I really don't want to get married" and "if I don't marry, my kingdom will be at war". I think it would have been much better if she had to go on some kind of fantasy journey with the other clan heirs as her companions. There wouldn't need to be any sort of romance arc, but it would come to a point where they are allied through friendship and mutual respect and not needing a marriage.
I want to see this movie so much.
Wow. Pixar needed you on their story team. This would've made a much better movie.
Her dad basically nails the problem with the character's lack of audience sympathy:
"'Oh, I don't want to get married, I want to ride my horse and shoot my bow!...'"
He ends up being the most identifiable character in the movie, no matter how much Chapman tries to make every male character--except for teen-girl-obligatory Understanding Daddums and Geeky Lil' Brothers--into Toxic Warlike Masculine Loonies...
You know, maybe something like stopping the rampage of an immortal warrior locked into a mindless and monstrous bear.
God that’s a cool movie idea.
@@Backstabmacro Yeah, the evil-bear-prince third act (and more contemporary humor with the witch) was one of the things Pixar staff writers added to the last-minute rewrites, causing Chapman to go into her "You MEN are messing with my empowering masterpiece!" meltdown, when they realized the mom-and-daughter plot was too thin and predictable to support 80 minutes.
As for Improvements, I was hoping, during the Archery contest, we'd see just one shot of one clan boy Merida's age at the back instantly in love with her archery--"Wow, she can shoot! 😍 "--which would emphasize that there is a boy out there who likes Merida for who she is, she just doesn't want to be forced...But no, we're served the message that Self-Centeredness Is Independence.
Dialogue notwithstanding, I think a lot of daughters can relate to fights like that with their mothers. While moms might have the best of intentions, they can't decide for their daughters who they will be. And, I agree with what some people have said, that the movie could have easily made Elinor out to be the "bad guy", but it didn't. It gave her layers. She wants what's best for Merida, but she also wants to uphold tradition, etc. I think it's why I get so emotional watching their scenes (especially the flashback of the two of them singing together during the storm): They are both right and wrong. They are both flawed, and in need of seeing the other's point of view. Whether or not the movie was supposed to be more mysterious, or have more action, one of the things I will always love about it is the mother/daughter relationship, and how it's so *true*.
My family was actually really excited to see this movie before it came out because we saw a later trailer where they were showing the archery competition; we all thought the main character's name was " Meredith " instead of Merida.... and my name is Meredith. To this day, watching this movie is a little awkward for me because I keep hearing _my_ name, but any young girl would probably be excited about sharing a name with a Disney Princess, so I'll always love this movie for that amazing memory.
I really liked this movie, the mother/daughter theme had perfect timing with my young self. The Gaelic song at 19:17 always puts me nostalgic.
I like how Meredith’s mom always walks on her hind legs cause it keeps her humanity and shows how feminine and royal she is cause that would very obvious be harder for her than to walk on her four legs but she still walks on her two legs because she was always taught to walk proper and when she walks On all fours it shows her animalism
Fun Fact: when it was still known as The Bear and the Bow, it was originally going to be about a kingdom of anthropomorphic bears with Reese Witherspoon playing Merida, using her regular voice, with the story taking place in Winter but creative differences lead to the bears becoming human characters with some of them turning into bears, most of the winter scenery being scrapped and Reese leaving the project due to her unable to do a Scottish accent.
Ten years later, I'm still upset Brave won Best Animated Feature over ParaNorman.
I'd honestly have gone to the theater to see that.
Sounds goddamn incredible :/
Well Disney probably does bribe the academy.
Paranorman is amazing v.v
thank you for telling me that, because you have no idea how thankful I am that we never got Reese Witherspoon doing a Scottish accent.....
I actually watch this movie on mother's day because of the mother-daughter relationship development,
My mom having four daughters probably went through a lot of that sort of thing herself
And actually, the fight with Merida and her mother, I found myself relating to with some of the clashes I had with my mom. Including when she slashes the tapestry and Elenore throws the bow into the fire, that always kinda hits home with me
I'm a "movie apologist" in which if a movie entertains me then I'm much more forgiving of it than most other people are. After all, a movie's first purpose is to entertain, so if it does that, then I don't care if it has flaws or may be a bit like another movie. For that reason, I really liked Brave and some of the other movies NC has reviewed in the past because they were entertaining to me. (The live action Yogi Bear movie, for instance.)
And don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing flaws or plot holes or things like that. Just some of those things are secondary to me if I found the movie enjoyable.
@Abby Gould A movie is kind of like a relationship -- if it's good overall, all the little flaws can be ignored or are kind of endearing whereas if it's bad, the little flaws are much more noticable.
How'd you compare a movie that entertains you to a movie that makes you "WOW"
I'm similar. I will acknowledge a movie's flaws. But if I enjoy it, then I enjoy it.
I feel pretty much the same way.
Me too!! It's always nice to see ppl out in the wild that understand you can critique something while still enjoying it. So many people swing too far in either direction imo
This was my first Nostalgia Critic video in many years. Gotta say, production has gotten better and has become more focused. I recall there was an issue where there was a lot of pointless skits that were just... not funny. Good work.
@@discontinued42069 he said on twitch he is doing less and less skits since he is becoming older (he is 40 now) and wants to be less acting based and more analitic and relaxed. Since the NC started as a parody of rant people in the late 2000 where he did nothing but yelling and screamint like an obsesive fanboy. Even AVGN is doing the same by beeing less angry and chaotic and more constructive and calm, plus just like NC with good movies he is reviewing good games to see if they hold up.
I and my mother have a lot of nostalgia for this film. I have a soft spot for it, while I can acknowledge its flaws. Honestly, I'm happy to hear someone speak positively about it!
P. S. The Bear And The Bow was actually the title o the Once Upon A Time episode with Merida! (I enjoyed how the show used her, even if she was underutilized.)
If he’s covering all these animated movies I hope he at some point covers Rise of the Guardians- I wonder what he’d have to say about it.
@UCmAV82zHyOXhpqAReLg0YxQ i know he did a review with his brother when it first came out, but he also has said his opinions on movies changes over time so I wonder if he’d have differing views of it now
What; that owl movie? Didn't he already review that?
(To be clear, I know which movie you're talking about; I'm just joking about how people mix up the names of those two movies a lot)
@@matthewmuir8884 The movie based on the Guardians of Childhood book series. The one where Jack Frost is voiced by Chris Pine and D.I.L.F-Russian Santa Claus
Megamind too
@@LavenderTempest I outright said that I knew what film he was actually referring to and that I was joking.
"you must have stories."
"I have stories."
I like how this doesn't even have to apply to JUST the Slap because MY GOD. The butchering of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (AND IT DID NOT WIN pfft), what's her name going "lol I didn't even watch half these movies, oh don't look up is nominated guess they didn't LOOK UP reviews." OH OH OH and I love LOVED the live action Disney Princesses SHITTING on animated movies saying "it's something adults have to ENDURE" as if it was a TRAGEDY. That was easily one of the WORST Oscars I've seen in a good while. And that's saying something.
Not only did We Don't Talk About Bruno not win, it didn't even get nominated.
@@thefilmwatcher1216 absolute L to not nominate that Disney.
Instead, The Oscars nominated "Dos Orugutias". Don't remember what that one is? No one does.
I have honestly never watched the Oscars, I couldn't care less, I've heard about the Slap of course because it was everywhere, but the rest of this is fascinating news…And who is that trophy at the end supposed to be, anyway? What movie won? I feel like the more context I could get about that end gag, the funnier it would be to me…which, ironically, makes me wish I DID watch the Oscars this year. :P
That’s what happens when the Awards focuses more on celebrity culture than the artists.
So while it might have its bear flaws, i actually kind of like this film just cause, yes we have seen the Disney princess trope a thousand times before this point but i don't know why every single time i just watch this film i seem to get sucked into it. Now are there some weakness sure I think though the part of this film that does stick out though is that some of the jokes in this film go down harder than a lead balloon falling off a mountain, and while yes maybe the bear part does go on for a bit too long in my opinion, i do think though some of the characters and the way the interact with the bears can be cute at times now yes does it go on for way too long yes, but I think the thing i mostly like about the bear stuff is it kind of connects the family more together. Most importantly though I just kind of enjoy that Disney took a different route than we normally see with these Disney princess films, and while yes some of the action scenes by Merida make you want to scratch your head because you have seen that see is capable of taking and in giving so much action it still not a problem i still enjoy the film nonetheless.
*bear flaws
Sorry, I had to.
Bare? 🤨
💯💯
I'm glad you highlighted the films better aspects.
As a half Scot who saw this in cinemas while up in Scotland visiting family, I'll always have a soft spot for this film.
I love that Pixar were the ones to finally have a Princess that didn't fall in love with anyone, which Disney definitely were inspired by.
So glad they got primarily Scottish actors for the film too, rather than the stange mix of British and American that How to Train your Dragon had.
Yeah the tone and message is pretty all over the place, I'm forever blaming that on Brenda Chapman's removal from the film.
But there's some good moments that resonate I like how Merida isn't completely in the right, as demonstrated with her trying to trick her Mum into changing her mind.
Yeah the comedy's a bit childish, but the voice actors sell it well. The animation is also gorgeous throughout, Pixar often hit it with physical comedy: Linguini in Ratatouille, Kevin in Up, so bear Elinor in this slides into that.
Also glad you mentioned the short about Mord'u, feel like more people should see that. (like how I always forget there's a post credit scene that's a nice payoff to an earlier part of the film)
If I had a nickel for every time a Disney film had the line "I don't speak bear" I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's still weird that it happened twice.
😗 Because the another one is from brother bear
Now this is how a Nostalgia Critic review should be! It has great jokes and reasonable points about the movie while being comical at the same time! Best of all, it reviews one of my childhood films
Brave is remembered by my siblings and I, and not in a positive way. My sister, who is obsessed with horses, has no interest in romance, and wants to take combat training, so the exact target demographic for Merida, thinks of Merida as a brat. My sister sees Merida as someone who wants to enjoy all the privelages of royalty without the responsibilities. Merida is actually one of the top princesses who should be getting married, because whilst the other Disney princesses got married out of romantic love, Merida actually has a duty to her people to get married. My sister actually liked the mom far better, especially because she felt more like an actual medieval woman, someone who could project authority whilst primarily relying on diplomacy instead of violence. My sister's also perpetually annoyed the movie had such boring fantasy instead of diving into the wealth of Scottish fairy folklore
I always found Merida incredibly selfish for those same reasons. Also, following a willow of the wisp will get you killed, not lead you to your destiny.
Because of these things I really don't care for Brave.
@@ariadnefrolich7243 She was a bratty teenager, that was the point.
🤓
Your sister is a G!
Pretty sure that prologue with baby-Eleanor was meant to *visually* introduce Mordu and the wisps. We're TOLD about them, but this intro shows us.
I agree it could have been done better, though.
this.
What's neat is the fanbase is still amazing for this film. Despite its flaws, Merida is a very fun addition to the princess lineup, even being added to Once Upon a Time with a post film version of her that many see as a good adaptation.
Hell even a BOOK just came out from Disney that's post film about Merida and her family, delving into more mythology and is genuinely getting a lot of praise.
Even fan communities are keeping her alive through well written crossovers and fanfiction that expand upon her character. Yeah fan works can be hit or miss but it's amazing to see the passion people have for merida and her world
This is actually my favorite Pixar film. It just hit the right buttons for me. Loved the characters, the beautiful scenery, the music, the mother/daughter relationship. Maybe I wish there was more magic in this, but I just loved everything about it. I know I'm a minority in this. Plus, I finally got to dress as Merida for Halloween last year. Maybe it could have been better, maybe there were some missteps, but I love it for what it is, I can't hate it for what it could have been.
Welcome to the club, b ecause I like this movie tooo!
My favourite as well :))
Yeah same for me personally it’s okay for most people they hate it because of the mother turning into a bear 🐻 and the bear plot but if the original director which was female never got fired it would have been better and probably apart of Pixar’s greatest films like Toy Story movies, Ratatouille, Up and etc
this movie has a warm place in my heart cause it gave me a childhood fear of bears, Its a shame they didn't stick with the darker, gibli fantasy atmosphere cause scotish bow girl vs were-bears is quite a cool concept if I say so myself
I think the fear of bears is just called common sense.
exactly!!!! It could've been so cool if that was the story! A girl all alone slaying magical evil bears!
I'm honestly happy in the group photo of the princesses that Kida from Atlantis was included
I am glad you looked at this one! It was quite popular back in 2012 and I do remember the general climate in Scotland being one of excitement that it looked like we were finally getting some good representation for our culture that wasn't Braveheart (can't speak for everyone here but no one I know is a fan) and I went to see it with my family and honestly I was amazed at how beautiful it looked, how exciting I found the opening, how I had no idea where the plot was going but had to keep watching because why a bear, what's the connection? And I adored Merida, just her personality, temperment and general interests were like me and so many other girls I knew growing up. I loved the vocal performances, Billy Connolly especially and I loved that it focused on a mother-daughter relationship. It's so fascinating looking back now because while yes, the film does have problems from a production stand point and the humour, while tbf was quite Scottish in spirit, isn't for everyone I always feel the need to defend it. Maybe because Scottish representation has gone everywhere from made-from-love stereotypes to downright insulting that I like that Brenda Chapman and the people at Pixar were interested enough to come here and learn about my culture (even if it's not set in my region.) I love that they included the music of Julie Fowlis, a Gaelic folk singer and I can't thank them enough for making young MacGuffin speak Doric, a dialect of Scots that is native to my region and that I heard every day growing up (I know to non-Scots and even other Scots it sounds bizarre but you pick up quickly that "ken" means know and "Fit like?" means How are you?) Anyway, my cinema errupted into laughter at that scene. I think some of the humour that's underrated are when they climb onto the roof of the castle and you have wee lines like "Ooh I can see mah hoose fae here!"
Maybe on some level I'm jealous of other beautiful Disney and Pixar works like Coco and Moana where they get praised for their portrayals of another culture and find it unfair that Brave doesn't get the same ammount of recognition. No one has to like the film but I think Americans making an effort to learn about any culture different from their own, whether the people from the culture look/speak like them or not does deserve at least a nod of respect for trying. I will agree that the bear thing is quite strange because we haven't had bears here for a veeeeery long time and there will be some inaccuracies like corsets and kilts not being a thing in 10th century Scotland (nor are all corsets inherently oppressive to women but that's a whole other discussion.) I will disagree that it was copying Brother Bear. Yes it's weird thag there are two films in Disney canon where that happens to someone but animal transformation is common in Celtic Mythology, lots of mythologies actually.
Every time I see the movie mentioned negatively something in me feels strange, not in a defensive way particularly, just in a "Hm, well I quite liked it. It's not a masterpiece but I liked it" kind of way. I always get nervous when I hear people talk about us but don't want to turn into a stereotypical nationalist who can't take a joke at their country's expense. I don't mind a good comedic rib. But it was odd that apparently when the film was released in the US some theatres considered adding subtitles...the film is in English. Quite clearly English. Believe me, there are way stronger Scottish dialects than the kinds the character's speak. Then when they interviewed movie goers about what they know about Scotland, they replied with "kilts" "the Irish" and "our Irish cousins." I would have hoped by now people know we're two different countries who happen to share some similarities, like a lot of Europe. Or we're always mocked for our accents, by people who think they sound less intelligent and agressive and backwards. I don't mind so much the people who try and replicate them honestly or do some gentle ribbing like in this review but I've heard and seen those mocking our manner of speaking atrociously and calling us "jocks," which isn't a majorly offensive slur but can be used as a pejorative. Then when we go abroad people ask how we speak English so well despite it being most people's first language here, the whole political climate during 2014 was divided and stressful and we in Britain have a conservative parliament that to put in US terms is like the British GOP and many of us feel condescended to and our concerns not taken seriously by them. (That's enough politics for a UA-cam comment.)
Maybe it's I've gotten older and listened to my parent's/grandparent's generation talk I've learned to appreciate my culture and history a bit more because when I was a child it felt like I wanted little to do with it compared to now. We were always taught "speak properly!" by schools who while they taught us to be proud of our heritage sometimes felt as if they would rather see our tongue disappear and not just Scottisms, if you used an Americanism around some of my English teachers they'd gawk at you. 😂
I think I'd be interested if Brenda Chapman wanted to pick this project up again, maybe develop a sequel or a short series to explore more of Scotland's legends. Like Doug said, it felt more Grimm's fairytales than Scottish folklore and believe me, our folklore is diverse, fun and scary all at once. There's a skinless creature called the Nucklavee who wanders the Highlands, the Blue Men of Minch who drown sailors at sea, the wulvers, friendly werewolf-headed men who leave fish on the windowsills of poor families in the Shetland Isles, evil carlins (witches) and animal spirits like the cat-sìth and our national animal is the unicorn. I feel like that would be amazing to include in a Pixar production. Someday I hope to write my own stories set in Scotland and bring some more of the unknowm parts of our culture and folklore to the world.
Cheers for reading if you're still fucking here 🤣
What's wrong with Braveheart? I thought it made Scottish history and culture cool.
@@theawesomeman9821 It's a good film from an entertainment standpoint but as a story about William Wallace it fails because almost everything in it depicting him is incorrect. But if you enjoy it, that's okay too!
@@alixjamieson2177 if the movie was historically accurate it probably would have been boring.
@@theawesomeman9821 Not always. You can make it historically accurate and fun or interesting.
I’m glad that the film was enjoyable for Scottish people and that Disney did a little research before setting it there and cast some actors that matched. And her relationship with her mum is the highlight of the film from a story standpoint, it was my favorite part. I read that that came from Brenda Chapman who wrote some of that based on her own experiences, and who has worked on other great animated films with similar deep relational conflict (Prince of Egypt for one). I rather wonder if the change of directors might be responsible for the tone shifts in the film that can be jarring and Disney feel. Disney/Pixar apparently did Brenda Chapman dirty and removed her from the project even though it was her base story of the mother daughter relationship. Rather wish we’d gotten to see her full vision and not Disney interference mixed in
Remember when you made a film editorial asking can a film be so good, it's bad? I think this is an example. It does everything you're supposed to do in a movie which ironically doesn't make it stand out. 10 years later, I still haven't seen the movie yet.
You're not missing anything
Instead of Brave, I would recommend watching "Wolfwalkers", which was actually made by Irish filmmakers and animators. Like Brave, it's a fantasy film with Celtic lore, a spunky redheaded girl trying to save her mother, animals as characters, who must fight for survival from human hunters. Mebh Og Mactire is basically Merida, but with more character and freedom, plus there is Robyn Goodefellow, who is the foil to Mebh, as she yearns for freedom from her Puritan society, in addition, we get to see just how oppressive Puritan English life was, a stark contrast from Merida, who's idea of freedom is leaving her responsibilities ... yay girl power. Overall, "Wolfwalkers" is one of the most beautiful animated films I have ever seen, wolves are more prominent in Celtic stories than bears, plus Cartoon Saloon could give Pixar and Disney a run-for-their-money, "Wolfwalkers" was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to "Soul", however, it still won accolades.
This is my favorite Pixar film and it's also my birthday. Whether Doug rips this film apart or actually loves it, this already feels like a nice birthday gift from the universe because this film is criminally underdiscussed.
Happy Birthday Luna!
Happy bday
Happy birthday.
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
One of my favorite movies to ever come out of Disney. I love the Scottish setting and how badass Merida is. I thought it was pretty funny too, especially when the mom turned into a bear
As a Scottish person I was always disappointed that the Scottish setting was underutilised as they didn't use any gaelic/celtic myths and folklore.
The movie also used the lazy and racist stereotype that Scottish people are stupid and barbaric. This is a stereotype the English created after conquering scotland to make the Scottish lose political power. The english would say they needed to anglicise the Scottish barbarians which lead to much of scotlands culture being erased. Such as gaelic no longer being the primary language but instead forced to English.
@@stempest7218 I know, looking at all the stereotypes, I expected to see Groundskeeper Willie or the Scotsman from Samurai Jack to show up. Then again seeing the latter show up would've really improved the film.
...but she's not badass at all? She does practically nothing new, and barely fights. Even her big "break tradition" speech isn't even her own handiwork.
I actually liked this movie. The landscapes are really pretty and the Scottish folklore on Will-of-the-Wisps is fascinating.
agreed.
@@ddjsoyenby 👍
Even though it looks more like Skyrim than actually Scotland?
That song where she's singing while shooting arrows on horseback was great...then I felt it was mostly downhill from there. And when we got to the magical turning-into-a-bear part, I wanted out.
Yeah I know allot of people didn’t like the bear plot and I mean the part of the reason it was like that was because there was a female director that had her vision of what the movie was going to be but then she got fired due to creative differences and then replaced with a male director who didn’t know what he was doing so that’s why we got this film instead of a better version of it of what we could have got but it’s an okay movie for me personally and I accept it for what it is but do you like it dislike it or hate it
I remember being stoked by the original teaser, it looked like something akin to Beowulf (the myth, not the movie).
Compared to the three Cartoon Saloon movies (Secret of the Kells, Song of the Sea, and Wolfwalkers-admittedly Irish, but the two countries share some mythology), it pales, but despite being a structural mess, I did find it fairly interesting.
I’d love to see someone do the Irish Sorrows
Secret of Kells is CRIMINALLY underrated imo!
I believe this is based on Brave Margaret! There are a lot of similarities.
I loved this movie as a kid lol I was all about the bear scenes. Although looking at it now, I love all the designs of the people, the voices, the mother daughter relationship, and the animation. It’s just a nice little time-killer
I enjoyed this movie. I thought it was a decent Pixar movie, but can sometimes feel like DreamWorks movie at one time, but still good Pixar movie. I'm so curious if he's gonna do Toy Story nostalgia critic episodes because if he did Brave, why not do the most popular Pixar franchise. The opening is hilarious with you guys on the head of the oscars for Disney/Pixar.
I quit keeping up with Pixar movies after Brave.
They started going downhill after the 2000s
@@nsasupporter7557 So that means you missed Inside Out, Coco, Soul, and Turning Red?
@@nyxshadowhawk I missed alot more than that… I haven’t seen Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Up, Brave
@@nsasupporter7557 The first Incredibles and Up are widely considered to be among the best films Pixar has ever made. You can't reasonably claim that Pixar has gone downhill if you haven't seen those films.
@@nyxshadowhawk ok, did you not read my original reply?
I said Pixar started going downhill after the 2000s, so that wouldn’t apply for Incredibles or Up because both of those came out in the 2000s 🥴
Brave is actually one of the few Disney movies my mom likes. Both my parents said it was much better then they expected. I also, personally, liked it. Yes, the mother-daughter thing is now common but - full offense - Brave does it much better then all of them. I also REALLY love the ending scene; mother and daughter riding together. It shows not just that their bond is stronger, but it also showed an OLDER woman being youthful without it being "quirky".
I quit keeping up with Pixar movies after Brave.
After the 2000s, they started going way downhill
Touch The Sky is an amazing piece. Kind of surprised he didn't bring it up at all. Plus I think it's worth mentioning that they could totally take a second shake at this plot in a Kingdom Hearts title. That has the potential to either be horrendous or actually pretty fantastic of a rewrite of their world. Plus I admit I just kinda wanna see Sora learn to use a Keyblade Glider to Touch The Sky.
Brave is probably my favorite Pixar film! I love Merida, Billy Connolly as the king and suitors each have their own flair. I like how much the queen and Merida learn, grow, and come together at the end.
He mentions the great animation. But the change in her mother's eyes as she becomes a full fledged bear is crazy to me.
This movie isn't a Pixar classic (the period between TS3 and Inside Out was pretty rough), but it's still perfectly enjoyable, even though it absolutely did not deserve the Oscar over Wreck-It Ralph or Rise of the Guardians.
Agreed. Wreck it Ralph and ROTG were much better films
my hot take, Wreck-It Ralph was good, but not THAT good. It was too meta to be good imo. And the core story was nothing new. It was good though, but no original classic imo.
Same with Frozen (and the Frozen songs even aren't THAT good too)
Brave is similar though, it's good, but nothing really original with a lot of things. But perfectly good
@@Vicioussama OMG, thank you! Finally someone that does not suck it up to Wreck it Ralph
@@gabrielsalesmartins i think this film was much funnier the overrated trash like ratatouille or inside out and soul i did not laugh at any of those
@@matthewvalente5877 what if you weren’t supposed to that much
I still really like this film. It's one of my favorites from Pixar.
Pixar really started going downhill after the 2000s.
Toy Story 3 came out in 2010 and it was so dark that it was freaky
The first time I saw this movie was in the theater. After seeing the trailer, i was pumped. After the twist bear, i was pissed. On rewatches, it's a beautiful film, the score is nice (love the solo track), and i like the idea of mom/daughter relationship...but it's a huge letdown from what I thought I was getting.
But as NC said (and I agree to a degree) it was interesting how she couldn’t talk then and how she was slowly staring to become feral.
The scene where they were reciting what they wanted to say to each other but not in front of each other is also really good I think
I love this movie; I went to go see it twice in theaters when it came out. This movie really spoke to me because my relationship with my mom was kind of like Merdia's (minus turning my mom into a bear). It felt like no matter what I said my mom wasn't listening to me and when I tried to explain my actions as to why I did what I did, she tuned me out because it wasn't what she wanted to hear. Our relationship got better when I got older, however she still works on my nerves sometimes.
I'm glad you clarified for us that your mom never turned into a bear.
Glad things between your mom and you are getting better.
4:44 I am pretty sure Monsters University is should be beloved....
I don't know, the message it gives at the end of following your dreams while still going through ALL the hardships (with the montage of mike and sulley grinding trhough A LOT of different jobs to get to become part of the scaring floor), is probably one of the most memorable parts of any pixar film in my opinion
not to mention the scene where mike builds up sully's big scare was REALLY good
Monsters University is kinda like Rick and morty season 5 were the first act is good ( first 3 eps ) the second act isn't good and take a good chunk of the movie ( eps 4-7 ) and then the last acts amazing ( last 3 eps)
At the entrance to Disneyland, they play a loop of Disney song instrumentals and the song from "Brave" is in there, though that may have more to do with when the loop was made than how memorable Disney thinks it is. More strangely, they play music from DreamWorks' "Spirit" near the Soarin' ride.
Disneyland also has Merida meet guests sometimes.
You NAILED it when you said the teaser trailers had a Miyazaki-esque feel. I realized you're exactly right! THAT is what struck me when I originally saw the teaser, although I couldn't put my finger on it until just now! I WISH they story had been has sharply cohesive as the potential the trailers had promised. Just imagine--a girl in the wild, the movie capturing the towering isolation and majesty of nature, and she's a magic bounty hunter slaying evil bears. Ugh, it could've been GREAT.
Did u like the film or no because it’s an okay movie for me but could have been better
My favourite part is when she said: "I'm not feared by any of you, because I'm brave!" and braved all over bad guys
More than Cars, Brave shows the cracks forming in Pixar’s brand. Cars was a movie no one wanted to make, so whatever. But Brave was a passion project compromised to have more mainstream appeal. It shows everyone that Pixar is as much as a corporation as everyone else.
Yep
Soooo much this!
So the moral of the story is never trust a witch unless they have a bomb in their hand in which you say yes
Brave is possibly my favorite Pixar film as a kid because I just liked seeing a red headed princess who didn't want to get married. It meant a lot to me when I was younger.
After the 2000s, Pixar started going way downhill.
Toy Story 3 came out in 2010 and it was so dark that it was freaky
@@nsasupporter7557 I think the reason is supposed to be it wasn't for the kids but the people who grew up with it. Doesn't explain why it's so dark for a G rating!!
::slowly puts away ring:: drat.
I swear Mordu is scary af. His design and scenes are surprisingly terrifying, especially when he breaks the stone slab and jumps Merida when she is uncovering his origin. It would be amazing to see a dark horror style flick centered on the prince and his evils.
Fun fact: my friends from uni is from one of the towns the animators visited for inspiration for the movie (it’s a very small town in the Highlands; I can’t remember the name of the town atm, but if I can get a hold of her I’ll ask). She has some of the curliest, brightest red hair I’ve ever seen and looks *exactly* like Merida to the extent that we used to joke that the visiting animators must have seen her roaming around town and used her as inspiration for Merida’s character design.
I really like brave I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I don’t really know why, but I like it. I think it’s funny and I think the protagonist is someone a lot of people can relate too.
Personally I don't think brave should've won the Oscar over Wreck it Ralph (which in my opinion is genuinely the best Disney movie in the last 10 years) but the movie wasn't terrible, it was just really forgettable (also I didn't know it was Pixar until now)
Wreck-It Ralph is one of the greatest movies by the studio ever; Brave is good, but it's no Ralph...and the sequel I'm gonna pretend never happened.
For all the problems I have with this movie (and belive me, there's a LOT), the soundtrack is easily the best part of it. I remember when it first came out "Touch the Sky" and "Into the open air" were on replay in my room a lot.
Also, while the film's not perfect, I will say that I do find myself enjoying it a bit more upon each rewatch, flaws and all, since Merida's relationship with her mother mirrors the one I have with my mother.
But yeah, the film peaked with the arrow scene...
I still have two songs from the soundtrack and I LOVE them. Touch the Sky and Noble Maiden Fair.
@@MistbornPrincess I still find myself singing "Noble Maiden Fair" from time to time. Such a lovely song.
@@spyrotamer ☺️
I remember really enjoying the movie, but having the distinct feeling of "this should've been 2 separate fully developed stories."
Honestly out of the princess line up I'd still probably pick Kita from Atlantis as someone who stands out. She's also one of the few who are combat competent. We don't really get to see the full scope of it because she's stuck fighting against men with guns who vastly outnumber her, but she still really gives the first few a good beating.
Something that helped Brave stay relevant in pop culture might’ve been the fans combining it with Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon, and Rise of the Guardians, the crossover fandom of Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons
I actually love this movie and still remember it clearly, I've watched it many times. I guess I'm the rare person who actually remembers this movie fondly and enjoyed the relationship between merida and Elinor.
I feel like this was a really weird joke someone had at the Pixar writing studio where they thought it would be funny to see a bear family
21:50 I don’t think it’s that. Up to this point Fergus has been her biggest advocate while her mother believed in magic which is something he was dismissive of.
Now the situations are completely revered. In any other instance, he’d be in her corner but because Merida needs to convince her father that a dangerous animal that already attacked his daughter is his polymorphed wife, he’s obviously not going to listen to her.
2:09 Wait... Brave beat Wreck-It Ralph!? I knew oscar voters don't care about animated movies or video games, but I at least assumed they voted for animated movies based on which their kids liked more...
Regardless, Ralph deserves far more respect than it got.
Even though I thought this film was decent, I’m still confused on how this won Best Animated Feature over Wreck it Ralph or Arriety.
To quote the late great Norm Macdonald and something i'm sure Reese Witherspoon might be thinking about is “Love is an artful arrangement of artless pretensions, whereby we labor to appear innocent in what we desire to be most cunning.”
I remember my hs choir teacher giving us the opening song (I think it's called Touch the Sky) to sing at our spring performance and she was so excited to be giving us a Disney song but literally no one recognized the song when she handed out the sheet music. So then she played the song and we still didn't know. It was kind of fun to sing but I don't like singing fast, upbeat pop songs for choir in general. The only Disney song I've heard work in a choir format that wasn't originally for choir already was Reflection from Mulan.
The songs from Tarzan make pretty great choral songs if they're arranged well
9:09 Funny that it's always a "symbol of oppression", but lots of men used to wear corsets, too... It was just a fashion thing, nothing more.
This is literally the first Pixar movie you ever made a nostalgia critic video, thats a surprise, I actually thought you will never going to do one.
i honestly really like this movie even the cliches aren't that bad imo, and it handles a mother and daughter working out their differences better than some other ones.
I can’t even enjoy this film out of context because I’ll always remember when I saw it in theaters. I had to sit in the front row looking up at the screen. My neck was so sore that I developed a cramp for a couple minutes. And that’s a feeling I’ll NEVER forget.
I actually remember going to see this in theaters with my nieces and a friend. It was definitely one that left me not hating it but also not sure how to feel about whether I liked it or not and my nieces thought the action stuff was fun and both wanted their own bow and arrow sets for a little while but this one never made it into the collection and was forgotten pretty quickly.
Despite Brave’s flaws, I really love this movie. It’s one of those fun flick movies to put on and it’s the only (I believe) Disney or Pixar movie to be set in a Scottish or Celtic world. Sword in the stone should be a Celtic movie too because Arthur wasn’t English but Celtic.
Underrated film in my opinion.
I had somehow never heard of it when it came out, but saw my students watching it one day and checked it out for myself. It's not overly memorable, but I quite enjoyed it.
This is actually my family's favorite Pixar film!!
We cosplayed as the characters for a Con many years ago; attended a cosplay contest and won!!!
Yes because when i think of Scotland the first thing i always think about is bears?
this movie brings up difficult feelings for me... I very vividly remember watching this a few weeks after my first child was born in 2014, I was really struggling emotionally, while watching I was pumping milk as the baby wasn't feeding well. I was struggling to produce, it had taken me a solid hour to collect 2oz, I suddenly spilled it all over the floor...I locked myself in the bathroom and cried for ages... setting off a spiral into postpartum depression. I couldn't watch this movie for a few years after that, it was too triggering
aside from that traumatic episode I do think it's a cute message with a good story
The fact that they changed directors halfway through explains so much. Because the beginning of the movie I thought was going to be a independent princess proving herself movie and then all of a sudden it turned into a turning into bears movie. It stinked so much that I just imagined my own version.