The Philosophy of Pixar: Brave

"Brave" is Pixar's feminist take on a traditional Disney princess movie. Something that makes "Brave" stand out from a traditional princess movie is the lack of a romantic prospect or subplot. The movie instead focuses on the relationship between Merida and her mother, Elinor. This movie was very progressive as it focused on a female relationship that did not revolve discussing men or being witty sidekicks. It shows the generation gap between Merida and her mother. Merida refuses to be given away in marriage and proudly proclaims that "I'll be shooting for my own hand". Merida does not fit in the traditional roles of ancient Scotland. She places her bow on the table, climbs dangerous cliffs, and excels at archery. At one point, Merida literally breaks out of her antiquated gender roles as she rips her stifling dress in order to shoot her bow.

Elinor represents the older generation that does not understand why progress would be needed when she is perfectly happy. On the other hand, Merida represents the progressive youth who cannot understand being happy while trapped in traditional roles. Eventually, their fighting progresses to the point when Merida seeks out the aid of a witch in order to finally find "freedom". Instead, she accidentally turns her mother and triplet brothers into bears. The rest of the movie revolves around Merida and her mother finding understanding and compromise. "Brave" is groundbreaking for providing a princess movie where the motivation of the film does not revolve around romance or the potential for it. It is also important because it does not have a triumphalist message to it. That women can only be powerful or "worthy" if they accomplish something grand like saving China. Not to say that Mulan isn't a wonderful feminist critique because she is my favorite and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Instead, Merida and Elinor find compromise and acceptance. They were able to put aside their differences and understand the other's perspective.

Through using her mother's strength and eloquence she is able to make the leaders of Scotland listen to her and stop fighting. She did not have to outmatch them in archery, which would have been a cheaper plot device, instead, she depends on her mother's wisdom to help unite Scotland. Merida shows that strength comes not only from throwing tradition out the window but by forging strong bonds with her mother and discovering the strength within herself. "Brave" is the feminist critique that Disney was never brave enough to write.