The Animation Freak. Brave.

                                       The Animation Freak. 

                                                Brave. 

In Medieval Scotland, Princess Merida of the clan Dunbroch is given a bow and arrow by her father, King Fergus for her sixth birthday to the dismay of her mother, Queen Elinor. While venturing into the woods to fetch an arrow, Merida encounters a will-o'-the-wisp. Soon afterward, Mor'du, a huge demon bear, attacks the family. Merida flees on horseback with Elinor, while Fergus and his men fend off Mor'du, though the fight costs him one of his legs.

Ten years later, Merida, now sixteen years old, discovers that she is to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies. Elinor explains that failure to consent to the betrothal could harm Dunbroch, reminding Merida of a legend of a prince whose pride and refusal to follow his father's wishes destroyed his kingdom.

The allied clan chieftains and their first-born sons arrive to compete in the Highland games for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida twists the rules, announcing that as her own clan's firstborn she is eligible to compete for her own hand. She easily bests her suitors in an archery contest, shaming the other clans, and after a heated disagreement with Elinor, runs away into the forest. Wisps appear, leading her to the hut of an elderly witch. Merida bargains for a spell to change her fate, and the witch gives her an enchanted cake.

When Merida gives Elinor the cake, it transforms her into a bear, unable to speak but still retaining most of her human consciousness. Merida returns to the witch's cottage with Elinor, only to find it deserted, and discovers a message from the witch: unless Merida is able to "mend the bond torn by pride" before the second sunrise, the spell will become permanent. Merida and Elinor are led by the wisps to ancient ruins, where they encounter Mor'du. Realizing that Mor'du was the prince in the legend, Merida vows that she will not let the same thing happen to her mother, and concludes she needs to repair the family tapestry she damaged during their argument.

They return to the castle to find the clans on the verge of war. Merida intends to relent and declare herself ready to choose a suitor as tradition demands, but Elinor prompts her instead to insist that the firstborns should be allowed to marry in their own time to whomever they choose. The clans agree, breaking tradition but renewing and strengthening their alliance.

Merida sneaks into the tapestry room with Elinor, while Fergus, looking for his wife finds out she's gone. Elinor, who is losing her humanity, attacks Fergus, but suddenly regains her composure and flees the castle. Mistaking the queen for Mor'du and thinking it has eaten his wife, Fergus pursues the bear with the other clans, locking Merida in the castle. Merida escapes with the assistance of her identical triplet brothers, Harris, Hubert, and Hamish, who have also eaten the enchanted cake and are now bear cubs. Merida repairs the tapestry and rides out after her father. Fergus and the clans capture Elinor, but Merida thwarts them before the real Mor'du arrives. Mor'du batters the clan warriors and targets Merida, but Elinor intercedes, holding off Mor'du and causing him to be crushed by a falling menhir. This releases the spirit of the prince, who silently thanks Merida for freeing him and transforms into a wisp. Merida covers her mother in the repaired tapestry, but she remains a bear. As the sun rises for the second time, Merida realizes the mistakes she has made and reconciles with Elinor, unknowingly fulfilling the true meaning of the witch's message and reversing the spell's effects on her mother and brothers.

With Mor'du gone, Merida and Elinor work together on a new tapestry when they are called to the docks to bid farewell to the other clans, and ride their horses together.

Announced in April 2008 as The Bear and the Bow, Brave is Pixar's first fairy tale. Writer and director Brenda Chapman considers it a fairy tale in the tradition of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. She also drew inspiration from her relationship with her daughter. Chapman conceived the project and was announced as the film's director, making her Pixar's first female director, but in October 2010, she was replaced by Mark Andrews after creative disagreements between her and John Lasseter. Chapman found the news of her replacement "devastating," but later stated that her "vision came through in the film" and that she remained "very proud of the movie, and that I ultimately stood up for myself." Chapman then stated in an interview in 2018 that while she was still bittersweet about being taken off the film and believed that there was no reason to do so creatively, she felt that it "opened more doors for me to have that happen". Brave is also the first Pixar film with a female protagonist and Pixar's first film to have two credited directors.

Following his hiring as director, Mark Andrews did a major overhaul of the story to give more focus on Merida and her troubled relationship with her mother. Among others, he cleared away many magic elements, which he found affected the environment. However, he wanted to stay truthful to Chapman's story. He said: "The bones of the film were totally fine. That was not the issue. What was hanging off the bones, there were problems. There were things that were not working. The focuses and balances that were out of whack."