I was seeing The Avengers again, and amidst the trailers for stuff that I couldn't care less about, I caught the trailer for Brave, Pixar's 2012 film. Embed after the break.
The mere fact that this was being shown before what is arguably the biggest blockbuster of the year speaks volumes about Pixar's mass-market appeal. I honestly don't recall any trailers for animated films being shown before live-action blockbusters in the past, though I'm sure I must be forgetting some. More than any other western animation studio, Pixar have succeeded in showing that animation is not just for kids, and they've done it without resorting to the endless crude humour (although there is a little bit of that here) and pop-culture references that plague lesser works.
Of course, one could make the argument that this a cynical exercise by Disney to restore Pixar's credibility amongst adults after the much-maligned Cars 2. There is probably an element of truth to this. Certainly, the critical lashing that movie received at all levels, reaching its peak when it didn't even get nominated for the Best Animated Picture Oscar, should stand as an eternal lesson to the studio: they are not gods. They are incredibly talented, and have a phenomenal work ethic, but if they allow their pride to get to them, as I believe happened with that movie, then critics are not going to hesitate to pan their work.
I think they've learnt their lesson, though, because this trailer is truly amongst the best I've seen for a Pixar film. Even as a fan of the studio, I have no shame in admitting that their trailers tend to be mediocre at best. The only movie that had trailers good enough to make me want to see the movie on their merit alone was Toy Story 3, and even that had the benefit of an a pre-existing relationship with the characters. I don't see Pixar movies because the trailers interest me; I see them because I know Pixar make good movies. After Cars 2, however, I had started to doubt, and I must admit that I hadn't sought out any information on, or trailers for, Brave.
In spite of, or perhaps because of, their recent failure, Pixar (or possibly Disney; I'm not sure who actually makes the trailers) have produced a trailer that has me genuinely excited to see the movie. I won't bore you with a recap, but rather I'll look at a few of the elements that worked for me. These are presented in no particular order.
1. The protagonist. Merida is a break from tradition in many ways. First and foremost, she is Pixar's first female protagonist. The studio is far from misogynistic, and has had many strong female characters in the past (Jessie from the Toy Story movies, Elastigirl from The Incredibles and EVE from WALL-E, to name the most obvious examples), but they have always played second fiddle to the male lead. There are good reasons for this, the most obvious being that all of Pixar's feature film directors up to this point have been men, whereas this film was initially being directed by Brenda Chapman (long story). At any rate, bringing something different to the Pixar formula certainly gets my interest.
Comparisons between Merida and the Disney princesses are inevitable, and I think Merida is looking to be more interesting in several ways:
(i) While Merida is by no means ugly, she is not what I would call conventionally attractive, what with the long curly hair and the interesting face (honestly, I can't think of a better way to describe it). When compared to the Disney princesses, who all have much more conventional beauty, this strikes me as much better, hopefully doing something to remove the subconscious link between physical appearance and goodness.
(ii) She's a fighter. By now, we've all probably seen her with that bow, and she knows how to use it. This should allow her an active role in the film's climax, in whatever form that may take, unlike most Disney princesses (I don't consider Mulan to be a princess, and I have forgotten how Pocahontas ends). An active protagonist is almost inevitably more interesting than a passive one, not to mention a better role model.
(iii) She's fiesty, but flawed. In the trailer, her fiesty side is obvious, but it's also quite clear that the way she expresses it is flawed, whiny even. She's the sort of person who I would probably hate to be around in real life, but will likely love to see grow over the course of a movie. Now, we've certainly seen some fiesty Disney princesses in the past, particularly in the Disney Renaissance, and Ariel certainly had the flaws to go with it. However, Pixar have frequently proven themselves to be positively masterful at handling character flaws in a way that keeps said character likeable.
2. The setting. Again, this is a huge departure from previous Pixar films, which have generally had 20th or 21st century settings, with the obvious exception of the dystopian future of WALL-E. Interestingly, that is my favourite Pixar movie, perhaps because it was willing to do things so differently, even by the studio's standards. By changing the setting so drastically, WALL-E was able to give us a unique experience, by putting the staff's talents to use in whole new ways. I think Brave could do a similar thing with its dark age/medieval (I think we can safely assume there will be many anachronisms in this movie, assuming it's even set in roughly the real world) Scottish setting. For that matter, I love the setting itself, with its misty, highland feel. It's the sort of thing that animation has not done nearly enough, in my opinion, with the most noteworthy example that comes to mind being How to Train Your Dragon. In answer to every Pixar fan's question regarding the setting, yes, they have apparently found a way to work in the Pizza Planet truck, at least according to IMDB.
3. Scottish accents. Yes, this warrants its own mention, because Scottish accents are awesome. No, I have no idea if these accents are strictly Scottish, or just miscellaneously British/Irish, but the results are good enough for me. What really makes this work is that they've managed to keep this roughly consistent across all of the characters. This is in obvious contrast to How to Train Your Dragon; the mish-mash of Scottish and American accents there was my only major annoyance with the movie (interestingly, both movies feature the voice of Craig Ferguson). In Brave, on the other hand, they're able to extend the Scottish accents to Merida herself, whose delightfully thick accent is another aspect that sets her apart from the American-centric protagonists of most animated movies. Interestingly, Reese Witherspoon was originally going to voice Merida, but scheduling conflicts supposedly changed that. I for one am glad for that, because I honestly cannot picture Witherspoon giving anything other than a generic performance in the role.
4. The music. Okay, I certainly haven't heard enough yet to judge the film's score, but I do know it's being composed by Patrick Doyle. For those unfamiliar with his work, he composed the scores for most (if not all) of Kenneth Branagh's movies, amongst other things. If you've seen Thor, then you'll probably agree with me when I say that this man can make some truly epic music. Music is an area where I feel Pixar movies have often fallen short in the past, certainly when compared to Disney. Hopefully, Patrick Doyle can give me another great soundtrack to add to my collection.
Conclusion: These are just a few reasons why I'm excited for Brave. As I've said, I've largely stayed in the dark in regards to this movie, so I can't say very much about the story, or characters other than Merida, but what I've seen is enough to convince me that Pixar can pull off a comeback. I doubt this will be their best work, as it's hard to imagine anything beating the sheer emotion of WALL-E or Toy Story 3, but at the very least, it should be a fun, entertaining movie. If at all possible, I will be at cinemas on the 21st of June for the Australian release.
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