On Sunday night I had the opportunity to attending a special screening of Brave at the Walt Disney studios offices — first, let me say “Offices” is really a misnomer as the buildings themselves were just incredible — both inside and out.
Take a look at this building, you see all of The Seven Dwarfs build into the building — quite spectacular.
Walking through the building the theater in was a treat in itself, they have Disney history displays and all kinds of original Disney items.
Fast forward through all that we saw Brave….
I think all of you by now have heard the basic concept of the story, a young teenager who is as wild and crazy as her red unruly hair. You immediately fall in love with her from the first scene in the movie where she is playing in the woods with her mother, a teeny version of the older teenage Merida, I wanted to scoop her up and take her home with me.
Merida is a princess and meant to be betrothed to one of the other Princes, there are three clans and they come to compete for her hand.
Merida wants nothing to do with any of it and as many strong willed teenagers would, rebels against her mother.
“Some says our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one’s destiny intertwines with many others. It’s the one thing we search for, or fight to change. Some never find it. But there are some who are led.” – Merida
She rides off into the forest where she finds “wisps” leading her deep into the forest.
Funny side note about the wisps, they are these cute little jellyfish-like things that glow in the dark and make noises motioning her into the forest. Mark Andrews, the Director, tells a bit about what these are: “The will o’ the wisps are in a lot of Scottish folklore. They were said to lead you to treasure or doom — to change your fate—but they’re an actual phenomenon of swamp and bog gas seeping up through the earth and interacting with the natural resources to create the blue flames. People would follow these lights thinking they were little fairies, and basically drown or get sucked down into the bogs. [So] we made the wisps like actual little spirits.”
Following the wisps, Merida is led to a witch where she requests a spell to change her fate.
Without giving away the story, the twists and turns and surprises throughout culminate in one of the most touching mother-daughter stories I have seen.
The first time I saw it, I actually took it as “WOW, what can I do to improve my mother-daughter relationship”. It makes you humble as a parent and has an excellent message for both parents and kids.
Again quoting Mark Andrews, “The main theme is being brave, finding the courage to let go. Merida is a very brave character — she climbs cliffs, shoots arrows, fights bears — but it’s really that bravery of the heart that’s the hardest.”
I definitely feel the movie is a MUST see! It is rated PG (versus G) as there are moment that MAY be scary to a young-un, I know my kids will do fine with it at 4 and 5. There are also a couple of animated butts shown. 😉
I will be posting more of the “behind the scenes” tidbits over the next few days — so be sure to check back for all kinds of exciting goodies, including our interviews with Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Kelly MacDonald and more!
Disclosure: I was flown to Los Angeles with a group of bloggers for the premiere of Brave and tour of Cars Land – all opinions are 100% my own!
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