The visuals were stunning, of course. As a kid who grew up running around in the woods herself, I loved the light treatment and compositions of the forest scenes. The mother-daughter relationship was also well done. I managed to not have the plot twists spoiled, so I won't reveal them either in case some others haven't caught the film yet. Pixar has really knocked it out of the park in the character design department and I was squealing with delight at tiny Merida whose hair was bigger than her body. I know without a doubt that if Brave had come out when I was a kid, it would be right up there with Little Mermaid and Lion King as my inspiration.
I would still have loved to see how the film may have been different had Brenda Chapman been able to direct it fully to her vision, but at least Pixar didn't bury her name in the credits and try to gloss over the obvious love and hard work she put into Brave. Any film that makes a cynical artist like me want to draw its main character (and several secondary characters too!) well, I'd call that a success.
Here's a wee Merida I painted on Tuesday:
