We can say a lot about the reputation of Pixar after the release of “Toy Story 3.” The Threequel crowned the unprecedented success sequence of the animation studio from 1995 to 2010, which ended final thanks to the “Cars 2” widely exploded a year later. “Brave” was followed by The Black Sheep of Pixar’s Filmography at the time, and although it was definitely an improvement, critics and the public have always thought that the film did not succeed in Pixar’s previous work … Although this did not prevent him from winning the best length animated feature in the 85th Oscars in 2013.
A large part of the lukewarm critical reception to “brave” can be attributed to the production of the film. The film was initially designed by the co-author / director Brenda Chapman, who was influenced by fairy tales in the vein of Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm brothers. The project, originally entitled “The Bear and the Bow”, was also inspired by Chapman’s relationship with his daughter and was ready to be the first pixar film of a director (as well as the first with a leader no less). However, due to creative differences with the ex-honorary of Disney and Pixar, now now released, Mark Andrews replaced Chapman as a director (although the two have shared realization credits and the two received the Oscar). Andrews then revised a large part of history and many other modifications to the film, including the redesign of the actor expressing her protagonist, Princess Merida.
Reese Witherspoon had trouble mastering a Scottish accent
Reese Witherspoon, winner of an Oscar, was initially thrown to express Princess Merida in “Brave”, which would have been her second animated film after her turning point in Susan Murphy / Ginormica in “Monsters vs Aliens” by DreamWorks Animation. According to Andrews, Witherspoon was involved in the creation of “courageous” for a while before planning conflicts put themselves on the way and it was replaced by Kelly Macdonald. As he said Digital spy In 2012:
“We had Reese Witherspoon when we started the project and that she had been for some time. She reduced her Scottish accent, she worked very hard, and that was good, but as we were continuing with the film, she had other films, so we unfortunately found Macdonald, who has Scottish and fantastic. High teenage quality.
Years later, however, Witherspoon was much more candid while discussing his departure as “brave”. During an appearance in 2017 on the British TV program “Lorraine” To promote “Sing” of Illumination Entertainment (in which she expressed Rosita Le Cochon), Witherspoon thought about her attempts to master a Scottish accent and ended up being quite difficult with herself:
“Scottish is really … I had to do … Oh no, I don’t really want to talk about it! I tried to make a Scottish accent once … It was bad, I had to leave the film. It’s not my best time. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It just came out and I really want it to have not done it.”
Breaking Kelly Macdonald in Brave was finally the right call
In the end, since “brave” takes place in Scotland in the Middle Ages, throwing a Scottish actor while Princess Merida was the right call for authenticity. Although the character did not have the same cultural impact as, say, his animated colleague Royalty Anna and Elsa d’Arendelle made a year later in Disney “Frozen”, Merida has even more than her share of fans, and the vocal performance of Macdonald was rightly rented.
Macdonald would later continue to resume its role in “Ralph Breaks the Internet” of 2018, in which Merida Memorably confuses Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) and the other Disney princesses with its thick Scottish dialect. (As the princesses explain to Vanellope, she is “from the other studio”). Since Pixar continues to follow up on a large part of its catalog, it is possible – if, certainly, somewhat improbable – Macdonald can still come back as Merida once again. Of course, “Brave” may not have the same reputation as the most popular films in the studio, but there is certainly a segment of viewers who grew up with the film in the years that followed its release and that would be impatient to go on a new adventure with Merida.
“Brave” is available to broadcast exclusively on Disney +. Meanwhile, you can read / film the glowing criticism of the Pixar offer in 2025, “Elio”, here.
