Unfortunately, Brave doesn’t always live up to the potential of its rich subject matter. (You basically have to go all the way back to Dumbo and Bambi to find a Disney cartoon where mothers figure prominently - and it doesn’t work out so well for them.) Yet the relationship between a mother and daughter is one of the most profound, lifelong bonds - and also one of the thorniest - and it’s worthy of examination. Usually, in children’s stories (and animated Disney cartoons in particular), it’s the absence of a mother that’s the character’s defining quality. Of course, it backfires, and she winds up casting a spell that turns her mother into a bear, and she has to work to reverse her spell while maintaining her independence.Īlong with the negative view of princesshood, Brave is unique in that the mother/daughter bond is the center of the story. When Merida’s mother and father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly), decide that it’s time for her to marry a prince of another clan - the typical end-goal for most fairy tales - Merida sets off to find magic that will change her destiny and win her freedom.

While her mother, Elinor (Emma Thompson), tries to teach Merida virtues befitting her royal stature, Merida prefers to gallop off into the wilderness, honing her archery skills and climbing rugged cliffs. The princess in this case is Merida (Kelly Macdonald), Scottish princess of Clan DunBroch.

Perhaps the most courageous thing about Brave, then, is how it shows princesshood not as a station to aspire to, but a burden to be freed from. Princesses have become something of a cottage industry for Disney, a company more than willing to take fairy-tale fascination to new levels of dress-up.

Disney brave main character