Pixar’s Brave And Their Bear-Hunting Anti-Princess

Princesses in animated features are usually occupied with royal duties and finding Prince Charming. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but it’s a breath of fresh air to hear Pixar will soon be giving us a princess who’s more interested in her bow and arrow skills in the wilderness than her hair. Brave co-director Mark Andrews has opened up about the new tale, the first Pixar film with a female heroine as its star, which is sure to become an instant classic with little ones (and adults) everywhere. 

“She’s your anti-princess,” said Andrews. “She isn’t your typical princess. She doesn’t wear nice clothes except in a couple of scenes when her strict mom, Queen Elinor, makes her do it for special functions. She’s an active and action-oriented person. She wants to get out in the outdoors of the Highlands, escaping from castle life and exploring the woods.”

The film will be released June 22 next year and stars Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire, No Country For Old Men) as Princess Merida, her mother, Queen Elinor is played by Emma Thompson and her father King Fergus by Billy Connolly. Craig Ferguson, Kevin McKidd and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid from Harry Potter) add their voices to the cast as well.

MacDonald mentioned she was really struck by her future place in fairy tale history when visiting Disney recently and seeing all the classic Princesses there. “I just thought, `My goodness! There’s eventually going to be a Merida doing her thing up there,'” she said. “The people that they cast to be the characters and wear the costumes at Disneyland have to do the accent, so somebody at Disneyland is going to be doing me. Some American girl will have to do my accent. It kind of blows my mind, really.”

Andrews told the Associated Press, that Brave “will be less about girl power and more about the oppositional relationship between mother Elinor and daughter Merida, likening the defiant red-haired princess to a scrutinized teenager who is forced to attend the same high school where her mother serves as the principal.” He also said despite the 3-D film’s darker tone and visual style compared with past Pixar movies, Brave won’t be “missing any of the comedy or entertainment you usually associate with Pixar.”

Here are two new stills courtesy of Empire Magazine.

The trailer for Brave premieres tomorrow online and personally, this redhead can’t wait.

(via Yahoo)