Must Watch: New Trailer for Disney-Pixar’s ‘Brave’
One of the main complaint I have with most trailers is that you have no idea how a movie is going to actually feel. Is the humor going to hit the spot? Is the protagonist interesting? It’s usually hard to tell from the hyper-edited, quick-cutting previews Hollywood churns out. So in that regard, this third trailer for Pixar’s upcoming animated feature Brave is effective as it shows an extended scene in which princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is defying her mother by participating in an archery competition.
So is this the beginning of a new fad in film marketing? Do you like it? Let us know what you think!
Brave opens on June 22. Watch the trailer below (via (Apple):
Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.
Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In “Brave,” a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts.
23 Comments
I think this is going to be epic. Pixar just make great films…that’s all they do.
Cars 2…?
THIS FINALLY LOOKS GOOD!! I love Pixar. Too much. And Merida with her hair *le sigh*.
Ahah glad you like it Nikhat. I’m not convinced it’s going to be great but it looks like Pixar is returning to form.
I’m not sold. This still feels more like a Dreamworks film (uh How to Train your dragon anyone?) rather then a Pixar animation… And come on! The cliche of the arrow piercing another arrow was way too obvious.
And I thought Pixar was better than all the slapstick in this trailer. From the rest of it I’m still eager to see more though.
Yea definite How to Train Your Dragon feel but I think it’s because of the way some of the characters look and the Scottish setting.
How to Train Your Dragon is about vikings. The characters often have viking names. Brave is about Scots, occurs in Scotland, and contains characters with Scottish names. I get what it is about the two films people see that, in their heads, connects them, but even a cursory look at the details pretty significantly sets them apart.
Ah good points Andrew. We are really generalizing here ahah
The animation on her hair is amazing! I was hoping this would Pixar’s Princess Mononoke but looks like I’m mistaken
Yea, one of my main complaint with US mainstream animations right there. They just won’t cross a line, in terms of more adult themes.
Anyone getting the Tangled connection? With Merida struggling against her oppressive mother and all?… And the crazy hair?
Indeed Xeno. Nice observation!
Criminy! I have to wait till June! Man, I want to see this (enjoyed the little salute to ‘Braveheart’ with the blue paint on the one guy and the “… lovely flowing locks” line). Thanks for the heads up.
Glad you liked this Michael! Let’s hope Pixar returns to form here.
I wasn’t sold by all that slapstick until Merida started shooting all of those arrows. I can breathe now.
I’m still not sold lol
This looks like a fun film and I’m not a big animation fan. May have to take my niece to see it, I’m sure she’ll enjoy it.
I’m curious, have you checked out some Japanese animation like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke or Grave of the Fireflies? I’m not really into US animations myself but I find some of the Japanese ones really great.
Just to further address some of the “this looks like that” comments: Brave has been in development since 2008 at least (back when it was called The Bear and the Bow). If this looks like Tangled or How to Train Your Dragon, it’s coincidental, since both of those films saw their theatrical releases in 2010. Apart from that, Dragon isn’t about Scots; it’s about vikings. Vikings != Scots. I don’t care if Craig Ferguson vocalizes in both of them (though it should be noted that Brave severely outnumbers Dragon in Scottish cast members).
As far as the footage itself– great. It’s as slapsticky as anything else Pixar’s done, and that. Arrow. Shot. We should all appreciate great animation, and that final slow-motion arrow, bending and quivering as Merida looses it, looks pretty damn great– exactly what I’d expect from the best American animation studio out there. This is just adding to my excitement for the film.
Excellent points, Andrew. I’d add, as a former amateur archer, Pixar (as one would expect from this studio) nailed the actual physical dynamics of the release of energy of the bow onto an arrow at launch with that segment in the trailer. Outside of the flaming arrow lighting of the Olympic Flame at the Barcelona Games, it doesn’t get any better for us archery geeks.
@ Andrew, Michael: Sure, the animation looks great and almost photo-realistic but at the end of the day, it’s all about how the story is told. If I wanted to watch realistic hair flowing in the wind or how an arrow is launched from the bow in slow motion, I would just watch the real thing in real life
But part of evaluating an animated film lies in examining how well it’s animated. And that’s a really well animated shot. If the rest of the film is terrible, then that shot will still be great.
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