I also loved her horse, Angus, and how the will o’ the wisps were rendered, especially their sing-song childlike voices. As I mentioned before, Merida’s hair is just beautiful and worth every bit of all the trouble they went to to create it. What I liked: the marriage relationship between King Fergus and Queen Elinor is beyond adorable, and he is a pretty extraordinary character in every way himself. Isn’t that much more appropriate (not to mention cooler)? The original title of the movie was The Bear and the Bow. That usually goes well.Īnd, here’s a question: In what way exactly is Merida ever “brave?” She’s feisty, and spirited, and passionate, and sporty, but I honestly can’t think of how the title fits at all. But you do have to feel sorry that apparently she’ll have to marry one of those three eventually. And “I’m competing for my OWN hand?” Please let us NOT go there. Queen Elinor deserves better than she gets. I just wish that the script had been written differently so we could focus on MERIDA learning the lessons she needs to learn. Which isn’t to say I’m an apologist for arranged teenage marriages.

And I’m talking about even BEFORE the magic stuff starts. She does NOT deserve the treatment she receives from Merida. Unlike the situation in Tangled, when we can cheer Rapunzel’s bravery as she struggles to shake off the yoke of her evil “mother’s” distorted worldview, Elinor is a good queen and a loving mother who has always done what was right for her daughter. But regardless of how true Merida’s feelings of rebellion are, I’m not sure I can make the case that it’s good for my young children to witness them. I know I certainly gave my own mother a good deal of trouble. I don’t have teenage daughters yet, so honestly I don’t know how that stage goes. My concerns were with the visceral and hurtful arguments between Merida and her mother Elinor, and the bold and spiteful (and public) disobedience Merida shows.

None of those things are an issue for me. Like any good Disney movie, it’ll make your kids cry and cry and cry (Bambi, The Fox and the Hound, Up, I’m looking at you). It helps them to understand that feeling and cope with it in a low stakes situation, rather than confronting fear for the first time in a real life situation.

But I think it’s good for kids to be scared by movies. We watched it with the whole family and the kids (1.5-10) were pretty terrified during the bear fights. As in The Princess and the Frog, appropriate consequences are shown for using magic (against your mother). It has magic: Yes, but fairy tales do, and that’s not an issue for me.

Merida brave dad