Pixar's Brave (formerly The Bear and the Bow)

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eralkfang
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Post by eralkfang »

I'm fairly sure Witherspoon is confirmed, although we'll see how that fares. Can't imagine Pixar switching a "big name" out.

I really do hope she has a Scottish accent; having a Scottish princess gives us an uncommon opportunity to have English speakers in different accents, rather than relying on the translation conceit (i.e., Belle and the Beast have American accents, despite being French, for much the same reason that they're not speaking in French). I kind of liked the Scottish/American divide in How to Train Your Dragon, as it reflected a certain generational outlook on life, but I don't think it'll work for one rebellious princess. (And while we're at it, a sturdier princess would be quite nice, too.)

I'm fairly sure this isn't a musical (Pixar doesn't do musicals, unless you count overlaying Randy Newman songs in the Toy Story films as musicals). As far as the plot goes, I haven't heard anything about a prince, just a clash of wills between Merida and her mother–I'm assuming they have a terrible fight, Merida does something horribly rash, mother's life is in danger. (While I'm sure there will probably be a love interest, I'd be over the moon if there wasn't one.)
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Post by phan258 »

eralkfang wrote:I haven't heard anything about a prince, just a clash of wills between Merida and her mother–I'm assuming they have a terrible fight, Merida does something horribly rash, mother's life is in danger. (While I'm sure there will probably be a love interest, I'd be over the moon if there wasn't one.)


See, I'm so worried there won't be a love interest for Merida....I'll be terribly disappointed if there isn't one! -is a hopeless romantic-
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Post by DancingCrab »

I'd bet money that it WON'T be a musical. Pixar has never done one and I think this will stick closer to their formula more than classic Disney. Which is best. I could see them maybe adding a couple background songs at best.

I'm kind of excited, but I'll wait until I see more artwork or some footage before getting carried away.
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Post by taoayumu »

phan258 wrote:
eralkfang wrote:I haven't heard anything about a prince, just a clash of wills between Merida and her mother–I'm assuming they have a terrible fight, Merida does something horribly rash, mother's life is in danger. (While I'm sure there will probably be a love interest, I'd be over the moon if there wasn't one.)


See, I'm so worried there won't be a love interest for Merida....I'll be terribly disappointed if there isn't one! -is a hopeless romantic-
Same here! 'Brave' is the movie I looking forward the most as of now (after watching Tangled) and I be really annoy if there isn't a love interest.

I'm curious to see if Merida does become part of the Disney Princess Line? It would also be nice to have another red head in the Disney Princess Line.
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eralkfang
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Post by eralkfang »

I know when we think "princess movie", we also think of romance, but I'd be impressed with Pixar if they didn't go that route–but it's not like I'd be offended if there is a love interest. I'm just much more interested by the relationship between Merida and her mother, and I hope that's the centerpiece of the film.

And I think she is slated for inclusion–I can't imagine a reason why not.
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Post by RyGuy »

Maybe they'll go the Mulan route here with respect to the love interest? The sequel aside (which I've actually never seen), when I first saw Mulan, I left with the impression that there was a spark between Mulan and Shang, but that was it. They didn't ride off into the sunset or anything singing a brief reprise of Reflection with accompanying ooohs and aaahs by the Disney chorale.

I agree that Pixar probably won't make Brave a musical (especially given Mr. Lasseter's comments of late) but it would be kind of cool and out of the box (for Pixar) if it were a musical. I'm expecting the genre here to more fantasy (i.e., Willow or LOTR) than anything else, which is still out of the box for Pixar. From my perspective, the only out of the box movie for Pixar to date is The Incredibles.
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Post by Disney's Divinity »

I'm not sure why everyone is obsessed with every single movie having a romance going on. :? Even when Pixar's movies have a "pairing up" at the end, the romance rarely ever plays a significant part of the movie--Woody and Bo Peep and Buzz and Jessie had very little point (as a couple) to the first two Toy Story's. The only one's I can think of where romance/a couple was the centerpoint was Cars and The Incredibles.

Thankfully, with everything I've heard about this film (and that is very little), there hasn't been any mention of a romantic interest. The film seems to be focused more on mothers and daughters. For that reason, it could be my favorite Pixar film since Monster's, Inc and The Incredibles.

I personally think the reason Pixar has avoided having a female protagonist for so long is because they know how difficult it is to please some feminists these days. And to make their first film focused on a girl/woman about romance--well, I doubt that would win huge praise.
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Post by PrincePhillipFan »

Ditto to not having a romance in the film. I'd love to see possibly a male sidekick to Merida, but why can't they just be friends and leave it at that? There are many girls out there who can have male friends without falling for each other. I love Disney fairy tale romances as much as the next person, but I think it would be more moving and different if there was a male-female friendship with no hints of romance.
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Post by phan258 »

Disney's Divinity wrote:I'm not sure why everyone is obsessed with every single movie having a romance going on. :? Even when Pixar's movies have a "pairing up" at the end, the romance rarely ever plays a significant part of the movie--Woody and Bo Peep and Buzz and Jessie had very little point (as a couple) to the first two Toy Story's. The only one's I can think of where romance/a couple was the centerpoint was Cars and The Incredibles.

Thankfully, with everything I've heard about this film (and that is very little), there hasn't been any mention of a romantic interest. The film seems to be focused more on mothers and daughters. For that reason, it could be my favorite Pixar film since Monster's, Inc and The Incredibles.

I personally think the reason Pixar has avoided having a female protagonist for so long is because they know how difficult it is to please some feminists these days. And to make their first film focused on a girl/woman about romance--well, I doubt that would win huge praise.


I'm certainly not "obsessed," but I prefer my stories with a little romance...and there's nothing wrong with that at all. I never said I wanted it to be focused on the romance, but I DO hope there is at least a little bit of a love story.

And why wouldn't love be worthy of huge praise? :)
As for pleasing some feminists.....you can't please everyone, ever. Oh well. :lol:
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Post by taoayumu »

For me, I would like the romance bit to be like Mulan too. It doesn't have to be the main focus for the film, but at least give you hints Merida and her love interest would end up together eventually kinda like how Mulan and Shang gave you that feeling at the end of the film.
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Post by blackcauldron85 »

http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... about.html
Another artist related that she understood The Bear and the Bow was getting retooled from the ground up after Brenda Chapman's departure. We fell into a discussion about directors getting replaced on animated films, how it happens with regularity, and she said:

"I don't know why management says "Directors run the show" when directors obviously don't. When John wants it one way and a director wants it another way, John's way wins. Some employees around here believed what was said instead of what actually happens, and got demoralized.

"I guess they [top management] just want to polish their legacy and build themselves a storyline about how the studio is. But I think it would be
better if they just were honest about the reality." ...
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Post by toonaspie »

blackcauldron85 wrote:http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... about.html
Another artist related that she understood The Bear and the Bow was getting retooled from the ground up after Brenda Chapman's departure. We fell into a discussion about directors getting replaced on animated films, how it happens with regularity, and she said:

"I don't know why management says "Directors run the show" when directors obviously don't. When John wants it one way and a director wants it another way, John's way wins. Some employees around here believed what was said instead of what actually happens, and got demoralized.

"I guess they [top management] just want to polish their legacy and build themselves a storyline about how the studio is. But I think it would be
better if they just were honest about the reality." ...
Interesting to say the least. It would be interesting to do a compare/contrast of Chapman's take on the film vs Lasseter's (not thinking he's directing the film but he's still gonna be a major influence on it). I am a little bit dissappointed though. I would have loved to see this film be a fresh take on films done at Pixar. With Lasseter back at the helm, I fear/worry that the film will take on the form of another 'Bolt' (it will still good but it likely wont be unique or extraordinary). It's a shame too. Have you seen Chapman's credits? They're pretty impressive for the first female animation director!
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Post by Sotiris »

Word on the web is that Brave is gettng completely retooled after Chapman's removal ala American Dog turned to Bolt situation.
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Post by PatrickvD »

I wonder when the movie is going to be released. I hope they'll still give us a memorable female lead. Pixar is kinda low on them.
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Post by DisneyJedi »

PatrickvD wrote:I wonder when the movie is going to be released. I hope they'll still give us a memorable female lead. Pixar is kinda low on them.
I know! We need more female lead characters/protagonists. The closest we actually got was EVE from WALL-E.
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Post by BK »

At this rate it will be Bolt 2.

Buddy flick with Scottish princess and some warrior or some bull.

Bloody Lasseter. Unkrich's movie was better than yours.
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Post by SWillie! »

Have you guys not heard the thousand times that people have said American Dog was awful? It's really ridiculous to me that not even two years ago, people were bowing at the mere thought of John Lasseter, and a couple movies later people forget that he CREATED PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS and are all hating on him.

We had not heard a thing quality-wise on what Brenda Chapman's version of Brave was like. All we knew were the very basic plot points or characters. For all anyone knows, it was horrible, and there's very good reason she got kicked off.
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Post by PatrickvD »

SWillie! wrote:Have you guys not heard the thousand times that people have said American Dog was awful? It's really ridiculous to me that not even two years ago, people were bowing at the mere thought of John Lasseter, and a couple movies later people forget that he CREATED PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS and are all hating on him.
I guess Disney fans are just bitchy like that.

I'd like to see ANYONE here direct/produce 15 (11 Pixar, 4 Disney) animated features that are ALL critically acclaimed.

His least successful film as a producer with critics would be Meet the Robinsons... which stands at a 66% Rotten Tomatoes score. And we all know that film was pretty far in production when he took the reigns at Disney.

Remind me, why are we still doubting him? Why would a movie's quality be at fault if it doesn't make enough money? Isn't it Lasseter's job to deliver high quality films? Then what's the problem?

The thought of David Stainton's regime still in place makes me wanna puke my guts out.
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Post by Sotiris »

SWillie! wrote:Have you guys not heard the thousand times that people have said American Dog was awful?
Yes, some anonymous "insiders" have claimed to have seen early reels and proclaimed the film to have been a "mess". So what? Every film has story problems but you persist and resolve them. You cannot judge from early reels or some storyboards whether the finished film would be the same since during the process of creating an animated film a lot of things get reworked and rewritten. I just find hard to believe that the creators of such critical successes like Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon could not have made this film work eventually.

Here's what John Sanford said about American Dog:
Almost every single animated film ever made is “unwatchable” or “an unmitigated disaster” for the first few screenings.
Then, with a little support and a lot of hard work, they come together.
I’ll say this about American Dog:
It endured 2 years of fussing by David Stainton.
Then The Pixar group came in and dictated that almost EVERYTHING be changed, including some of the more fantastic elements. A big one? Chris wanted the dog to talk. “That doesn’t make any sense!” The Pixar group declared! Talking cars are okay, and a house can be lifted by balloons but a talking dog?
Well, that is just ridiculous.
Chris’s original movie was like “The Big Lebowksi” meets “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” with talking animals.
SWillie! wrote:We had not heard a thing quality-wise on what Brenda Chapman's version of Brave was like. All we knew were the very basic plot points or characters. For all anyone knows, it was horrible, and there's very good reason she got kicked off.
Disney and Pixar artists such as Floyd Norman, Tom Sito, Mike Gabriel, and John Saford have defended Brenda's talent and skills.
Tom Sito wrote:I worked with Brenda on Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and The Prince of Egypt. In every project her creativity was only outshone by her engaging personality and poise. She is one of the finest artists working in animation today.
Floyd Norman wrote:Brenda is indeed a class act, and for this old animation veteran the news is heartbreaking.
Mike Gabriel wrote:Brenda is a class act. A beautiful soul. A star talent in the industry who continues to inspire, more so in adversity than a smooth ride.
John Sanford, however, gives a more detailed picture of the specific project Chapman had been working on and the possible reasons she was removed.
Directing not her forte?
Horsesh**.
Brenda was doing a great job. I saw the movie 3 years ago and it was awesome.
Brenda was shoved aside because she was doing an unconventional movie in a studio that fears failure.
They are second-guessing themselves to death.
Director driven studio indeed.
They took a look at her movie and couldn’t fit it into any box they had, and so they took it away from her and gave it to someone else.
A movie that SHE conceived, She nurtured, and she worked hard to make a reality.
Then, they trumpet it to the heavens that “Pixar has a FEMALE director!!! Huzzah!”
So what happened? She made a movie that didn’t fit into the “Pixar mold”, and these guys are afraid of failure, so they make a few changes. One of those changes is that Brenda is no longer directing.
The Pixar powers that be smugly tell everybody that it’s all about the story and that it’s a director’s studio.
Sure it is.
I do know that her movie was unconventional and that it was unpopular with certain members of the “Brain Trust” because of this.
I can speculate based on other cases, the Chris Sanders thing, the Jan Pinkava thing, the Newt deal, and the troubles Brad and his Incredibles gang endured when they first arrived up there.
I know how things work up there. You play by their rules. It’s their game.
Like I said, I’d have no problem with this if they just fessed up and admitted that they are a business and no better than anyone else.
I do know more about this firing then most of you do. I wouldn’t be talking about it if I didn’t.
No I haven’t seen the movie recently. I saw the MOVIE (not just a pitch) 3 years ago and it was brilliant. It was truly awesome, even in it’s rough state. One of the best early screenings I’ve ever seen. All they had to was build and shape.
I have it on good authority that it has been “noted to death”.
No I have not talked to Brenda. However, this was a movie that she wrote and conceived. She based the central character on her DAUGHTER.
“What if the film was heading in a direction that would see lower gross revenue? ”
Well that’s great. Let’s do that everytime.
Here is the problem.
See, there was this little movie that Disney released a few years back that they were sure was going to bomb, so they didn’t support it with merch or a decent release date.
The fim? Toy Story.
There was another a few years before that everyone in the studio was sure was going to be a massive bomb.
Hell, I remember hearing execs at Disney expressing fears that The Incredibles would alienate Pixar’s “core audience”.
In other words, that excuse is flimsy, and cowardly.
I am well aware Pixar is a company. It’s a company that got where it is by taking RISKS.
Not kneading their hands and worrying like a bunch of old women.
I would accept the possibility that the film just wasn’t working,….except that I saw a screening that was truly amazing. It was a film full of heart, brilliant characters, and great moments. I left the screening thinking “Holy sh**! This is going to open things up around here the way The Incredibles did!” The problems the film did have were fixable.
The idea that this movie wasn’t her cup of tea is laughable. She conceived it from the ground up! For the film not to be working at this point, someone must have thrown a pretty big monks wrench into it.
Source:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film ... brave.html
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Post by RIPJoeRanft »

PatrickvD wrote:
SWillie! wrote:Have you guys not heard the thousand times that people have said American Dog was awful? It's really ridiculous to me that not even two years ago, people were bowing at the mere thought of John Lasseter, and a couple movies later people forget that he CREATED PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS and are all hating on him.
I guess Disney fans are just bitchy like that.

I'd like to see ANYONE here direct/produce 15 (11 Pixar, 4 Disney) animated features that are ALL critically acclaimed.

His least successful film as a producer with critics would be Meet the Robinsons... which stands at a 66% Rotten Tomatoes score. And we all know that film was pretty far in production when he took the reigns at Disney.

Remind me, why are we still doubting him? Why would a movie's quality be at fault if it doesn't make enough money? Isn't it Lasseter's job to deliver high quality films? Then what's the problem?

The thought of David Stainton's regime still in place makes me wanna puke my guts out.
Completely agree with this post.

Lasseter is making huge box-office hits that also are critically acclaimed. How many other movie studios can claim this? I respect the opinions of animation insiders and defenders of Brenda (although some sound excessively bitter and/or emotional), but I see this only as an issue if the annual released films were void of quality.

The way I see it is the folks at the top of the food chain at Pixar are perfectionists, so they may get in the way sometimes but it's only for the good of the upcoming film.
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