Disney PIXAR - Brave (The Bear and the Bow)

[Aya_Alexa]

director Pete Docter has been doing lots of interviews and other press. In a discussion with Coming Soon, an intriguing slip lead to massive amounts of speculation. We tried to stay out of that mess until some clear(er) details were available. So what exactly is Brave you ask?

‘Brave’, it turns out, is Pixar’s internal name for The Bear and the Bow. Writer and director Brenda Chapman (Cars, Prince of Egypt) is ‘behind the lens’ of Pixar’s first fairy tale, which stars Reese Witherspoon. The Pixar Blog reports the story is of a Scottish princess Merida, who would rather be known as a great (and brave) archer. Against her mother’s wishes, she “make[s] a reckless choice which unleashes unintended peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life…”

The slip about The Bear and the Bow happened during a conversation about general work practices at the Pixar Studio. The question asked was while working on Up, did Docter have any involvement with developing pictures? His response:

Once in a while, we’re at these meetings where we all look at ‘Toy Story 3′ or ‘Brave’ or whatever and we all give comments and notes, but that’s just like a day here or there.

[Aya_Alexa]

Pixar’s Brave (formerly The Bear & the Bow) is not due out in theaters until 2012, but that has not stopped Disney/Pixar from releasing an official logo for the film, which will be the computer-animation studio’s first release to feature a female character in the lead.

That leading gal is Merida (voice of Reese Witherspoon), a young “daughter of royalty” who yearns to prove herself as a master archer. She chooses to defy her backwards-thinking father and mother to do just that – and ends up having to do battle against an ancient curse in order to restore order.

Check out the official Brave logo below:



Brave will be the first Pixar feature that takes place before the 20th century and should contain some impressive CG visuals of an ancient world setting. The studio has yet to release a flat-out terrible film and – judging by the premise – Brave seems an unlikely candidate to break that winning streak.

[Aya_Alexa]

Conceptual artwork has been released for Pixar’s ‘Brave’. Check out the early look at what will be the animation company’s first fairy tale movie.



Fairy tales about princesses that yearn for a more fulfilling existence are an old hat for Walt Disney Pictures, but Pixar has not yet released an entry in that genre. That will change next year with Brave, the computer-animation company’s first ancient world fable – and unlike the slew of upcoming “re-imagined” fairy tale movies, this one is an original story.

Conceptual artwork for Brave (formerly The Bear and the Bow) has been unveiled, offering a look at the sort of period European landscapes and mystical settings that are quite unlike anything glimpsed in a Pixar film before (and no, the portrayal of Paris in Ratatouille doesn’t count).

Brenda Chapman (co-director of The Prince of Egypt) conceived the project, and was initially set to become the first woman to direct a Pixar animated feature. Creative heads of the company were less than enthused about the direction of Chapman’s The Bear and the Bow, which led to Mark Andrews ( Pixar’s Oscar-nominated short “One Man Band”) taking over directorial duties on the movie – which was renamed Brave – and Chapman leaving the studio.

Here’s is how EW describes the plot of Brave, followed by conceptual artwork for the computer-generated feature:

‘Brave’ is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom.

In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman (Julie Walters) and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), the surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson), and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane).

This conceptual artwork for Brave is reminiscent of that for Tangled, and the Pixar title should also follow in the footstep’s of Disney’s most recent princess movie by presenting its female protagonist as a more capable and active player in her fate. Brave will surely feature Pixar’s now customary brand of truly gorgeous and detailed animation, but it could potentially break from the studio’s tried-and-true formulaic approach to storytelling as well. That’s not at all a knock of their previous films, mind you – it would just be cool to see Pixar continue to stretch its artistic wings even more than it has already.

On an amusing sidenote: now that Macdonald is providing the voice of Merida instead of Reese Witherspoon (who officially withdrew from the film due to a scheduling conflict), that means Brave will feature the vocal talents of no less than four actors – Macdonald, Thompson, Walters, and Coltrane – who have worked on the Harry Potter movie franchise. Small world, eh?

Brave is slated for theatrical release on June 22nd, 2012 – the same day as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Despite the potential of the latter film to be good summer popcorn entertainment, the Pixar movie is arguably the one better poised to be an overall well-made film.

[info118]

Here's the teaser trailer of BRAVE. Parang kakaiba ito a..

http://youtu.be/tYg0VgPy6Uk

[jaypogi]

very interesting

[QT II]

My only beef here...is why a Yank like Reese Witherspoon to voice Merida?

Can't they get an authentic Scots to voice her instead?

[mikomouse]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4EZULqhP2E


June 22, 2012.

[rej_miller18]

I like the trailer.

The playdate's quite a long wait though.

Will catch this. I have renewed love for animated feature films after having watched The Adventures of Tintin during the weekend.

[WZUPDOC]

Looks cool and funny

[forg]

Opens in the US this week but in the Philippines we have to wait until Aug. 1

[QT II]

Opens in the US this week but in the Philippines we have to wait until Aug. 1

As per the Disney Channel Asia ad spot, at least we still get it before Singapore and Thailand

[Aya_Alexa]

My only beef here...is why a Yank like Reese Witherspoon to voice Merida?

Can't they get an authentic Scots to voice her instead?

si Reese pala ang VA ni Merida kaya pala medyo na o-off ako sa accent.

[bolickylicky]

si Reese pala ang VA ni Merida kaya pala medyo na o-off ako sa accent.

reese declined the role. kelly macdonald, a scottish actress, took over. kaya authentic yung accent ni Merida.

[Aya_Alexa]

reese declined the role. kelly macdonald, a scottish actress, took over. kaya authentic yung accent ni Merida.

lol so hindi pala kasalanan ni Reese bakit medyo na o-off ako sa accent haha.

[DPS.ph]

Played the game from appstore (Temple run style)

[Solo2carino]

Awww... Ang tagal pa. Hinintay ko pa naman ito. Kala ko maipapalabas na siya agad dito.

[Albrige]

Cute! Mukhang masaya panoorin to.

[naturecrawler]

hindi ba nakaka-distract yung hair n'ya habang nakikipaglaban siya..anyway, mukhang maganda naman..

[Lady_Avarice]

Ang chaka nung bida pero papanoorin ko to kasi gawang Pixar naman

[Aya_Alexa]

hindi ba nakaka-distract yung hair n'ya habang nakikipaglaban siya..anyway, mukhang maganda naman..

ranged combat naman siya eh, siguro mas nakaka bother kung hand-to-hand combat.