Disney movie reviews: Brave

     In this series I will be reviewing some original Walt Disney movies, but since there are only a few I truly enjoy, I'll be including Disney/Pixar (or as I like to call them - Pixney) movies as well. I only have one suggestion so far, and that is Brave, so I'll start with that and see if anyone suggests more, or I'll just start picking my favorites.
     There are several things to gush over with the animation of this film: the accurate recreation of Dromberg (the circle of rocks) and Ireland in general, the adorable design of the Wisps, or the fact that Pixney made a new computer program just for Merida's hair, to name a few.
     The soundtrack alone is a reason to love this movie - I couldn't help but listen to some Gaelic music while writing this 😊. As a person with Irish blood, I've fallen in love with Ireland, the landscape, music, the various accents, and parts of their mythology.

     For me, this movie was about acceptance and understanding, I feel like that's the theme with most Disney movies, so I found the repetitiveness a tad annoying, but all in all it was an entertaining movie with some funny scenes and decent moral lessons :) When I watch movies that aren't Christian, I enjoy finding things in them I can take away that teach good morals and life lessons. Here are a few things I took away from brave:

     The Will-o'-the-Wisps:
     Wisps - according to the folklore I've researched - are known for leading travelers off the beaten path, some say to their destiny, but most tales make them out to be devious little stinkers.
     When Merida followed the wisps to the witches cottage, she was searching for a way to "change her mother", not just her mind about the decision of marriage, but to change her as a person. My point is, I believe Merida thought by changing her fate she could make things better. But there is always going to be something we don't like about our fate, or life, or whatever you want to call it. In the end of the movie Merida realized that Elinor was always there, she never gave up because she wanted Merida to succeed, she didn't show it in the most loving way, but she only wanted what was best for her.
     The witch said in order to turn her mom back into a human, she had to remember these words "Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond torn by pride." My theory is this: the "bond torn by pride" wasn't only referring to how Merida cut the tapestry and Elinor burned her bow, these were the physical things that could be fixed easily. It was how they were both too prideful to admit they could be wrong, and thus needing the other to succumb to their will. I believe the bond was mended in the scene when Merida was going to choose a suitor, but Elinor gave the whole 'screw tradition' speech. 
     My best friend once said "the grass is greener on the other side because it's fake.", this movie kind of reminded me of that, because when we try to gain something in hope of fulfillment, we often find another reason to be dissatisfied, and the cycle continues. 

The Tapestries: In the first tapestry that Elinor creates, I noticed a couple of things. Take a look at it while I explain:

     Elinor depicts herself as slightly separated from the rest of the family, there is a gap between them and her. When I saw this it made me think of the dinner from the first scene - the way that Merida is laughing, telling stories, and conversing with her father and brothers. But Elinor is too caught up in the business of ruling the kingdom and taking care of other matters to have fun. Again, I think Elinor simply wants what's best for Merida, but portrays it poorly. There's a scene when Elinor is helping Merida get ready for choosing a suitor and in the scene they both pause, Elinor wanting to say why she wants the marriage, and Merida wanting to explain why she doesn't want to get married. But neither of them speak their mind, I think it was because they were tired of fighting, believing that neither would be willing to change, and so just ignoring it.
     Also, Merida has her hair braided back and is wearing the dress her mother forced her to wear. This is the way Elinor desires Merida to dress because it's the appearance of a respectable princess, opposed to the wild untamed look Merida prefers.
     I know the second tapestry is testament of the journey they just shared, but I see so much more. Elinor being shown as a bear spoke to me, because all the time that she was a bear and there was trouble, she did everything in her power to simply protect Merida. And with Merida depicted in the way she desires to be (hair wild and free, her active-wear dress). The first thing that came to mind upon noticing this was: Elinor has come to accept the person Merida chooses to be, but she will never stop fighting for her and being a protective mama bear.

     Anyway! This is an amazing movie, and it's defenitely in my 'could watch more than once' list, which isn't a really hard list to make it on, it's my 'could never get tired of it' list that's hard to reach....I think it only includes like, ten out of the thousands of movies I've seen. So yeah, thanks for reading, I'd love to know what YOU think of this movie feel free to comment below on your likes/dislikes of it, or even what I've written :) and what you think I should write about next!