I didn't intentionally miss
Brave (2012) when it came out in theaters, and I certainly haven't been avoiding it. But Disney/ Pixar doesn't just dump their animated films out there in the usual release windows, instead controlling them pretty carefully and maximizing profits, etc... none of which I hold against them. They know what they're doing. This I learned in 3 summers working a cash register at The Disney Store.
I was aware of how far Disney and Pixar have taken animation, and while I wish they'd delve into stylized pictures a bit more (
Big Hero 6 is probably the closest to what I'm talking about in recent memory),* it is pretty amazing what they can do with blending the natural and real with the imaginary. You have to be kind of crazy not to appreciate everything about the character animation in
Brave, blending Disney cartoonism with the absolutely believable wild strays of Merida's red curls.
Further, a couple of years ago I was at Disneyland with The Dug, my brother-in-law, and we spotted Merida crossing the park, and he said "let me send you a video tonight" and, as it turned out, the actress had perfected
Merida's determined walk, something that was very non-Disney Princess-ish in its galumphing purposefulness. It's that kind of attention to character, rotoscoped or otherwise, that tells who the character is, that even the other big gun American animation studios could stand to pay more attention to.
Pixar has absolutely lit a fire under Disney Animation proper, and the self-awareness and deconstruction of traditional Princess ideals in
Brave (Pixar) and
Frozen (Disney proper) should hopefully resonate a bit more than Aurora passing out for a good chunk of
Sleeping Beauty and
Cinderella sitting around thinking positive thoughts and, if not for deus ex machina and a rich guy, she'd be stuck in a life of domestic servitude.
Brave is a really solid first stab at dismissing the Disney Princess demure non-player-in-her-own-story problem Disney has had since
Snow White stumbled her way into a house full of short miners, and may be a bit on the nose in making sure we know this is not a cute princess movie.