When it comes to Pixar movies, audiences have been conditioned by the incredible studio to expect certain things. Strong messages that adults can learn from just as much as children, colorful characters, and creative concepts are all things Pixar do better than any other animated studio.
However, though it continued some traditions, Brave is an outlier in Pixar’s filmography for so many reasons. It set a lot of precedents for the studio, many of which haven’t been repeated since, but the originality of the movie is what makes it one of the best standalone Pixar movies.
Takes Place In The UK
Out of all of the creative Pixar movie preceding Brave, most of them have been set in the US. Only one other movie before that had been set oversees, which is the Paris-based Ratatouille.
It takes place in Scotland, and the country looks so beautiful in the movie that it probably did wonders for Scottish tourism, despite it being animated.
A Female Protagonist
There have been so many great female Pixar characters before Merida, such as Jessie from Toy Story 2 and Helen in The Incredibles. However, there was surprisingly no central female protagonist in Pixar’s first 12 movies.
Brave put an end to that. Not only does the movie feature Merida front and center at all times, but it isn’t about a relationship with a male character, but with her mother. It even influenced future Disney movies like Frozen.
It’s About A Princess
It isn’t just Pixar that influenced Disney movies, but Disney had some kind of influence on several Pixar movies after the companies merged in 2006. Technically, Merida is a Disney princess, as she’s the heir to the Dunbroch throne.
Merida is a far cry from the characters of other Pixar movies, which are generally inanimate objects like toys or cars. And even when it comes to human characters in the studio’s canon of movies, she’s so much more normal than the superheroes that came before her.
It’s Supernatural
Though Pixar’s movies are full of toys that come to life when children aren’t in the room and cars that have minds of their own, it is more fantasy than anything. But Brave not only features undoubtedly supernatural elements but they are grounded in real folklore too.
The movie features a witch, a woman turning into a bear, and the Will O’ The Wisps - which are all based on existing supernatural lore. As Brave is the only Pixar movie that has ventured into this, it’s why the film should get a Disney+ spin-off series.
It Has A Period Setting
Pixar might have set WALL-E in the future, but up until 2012, the studio had never attempted a movie set in the past. It isn’t just a period setting, but it’s set way, way in the past, as Brave takes place in the 10th century, over 1000 years ago.
This is the first time that Pixar attempted anything like this, to the audiences’ knowledge, that is, as there’s no knowing exactly when the Cars franchise and Monsters Inc. is set. It must be a tough task, as Brave is almost wholly unique to Pixar, with no other film having done it since.
It Heavily Uses The Location’s Culture
Not only is Brave set in the distinct and beautiful location of Scotland, but it also includes part of the country’s culture, such as the clan tartans and the Highland games. And not only that but the spiritual premise of the movie is based on Scottish folklore too.
Though Ratatouille was based in France and the animated shots of the city are beautiful, the movie doesn’t use French culture in the same way that Brave uses Scottish culture.
No American Voice Actors
Though Ratatouille is about a rat who learns how to cook and Brave is about a princess’ relationship with her mother, Ratatouille is the most similar to the 2012 movie in a lot of ways. However, even the 2007 movie for food lovers didn’t commit to casting French voice actors.
Ratatouille features mostly American actors putting on French accents, whereas Brave primarily featured only Scottish and English actors. There is one exception, which is John Ratzenberger, but he is voice-acting royalty to Pixar, as he has played characters in almost every Pixar movie, most notably Hamm in the Toy Story series.
No Talking Animals
Up until the thirteenth movie in the studio’s filmography, every Pixar film had featured talking animals to some extent, whether it’s the fish in Finding Nemo or the ants in A Bug’s Life. Even The Incredibles featured The Underminer, who acted and looked a lot like a mole.
But in Brave, there isn’t a single talking animal or inanimate object that can talk. Granted, Elinor, Merida’s mother, turns into a bear in the movie. But while she takes the form of the bear, she isn’t able to talk, even if she can still feel human emotions.
Original Songs From Contemporary Bands
The first 12 Pixar movies all had original scores, which are upbeat Randy Newman tracks or typically heroic-sounding orchestral swells from The Incredibles. And for the most part, Brave is no different, as it features an original score from Patrick Doyle, which is again faithful to Scotland’s culture by using Celtic instruments.
But what the movie does differently from any other that came before it is by hiring more contemporary musicians to make original music too. English band Mumford & Sons wrote songs for the movie, which were performed with Birdy.
It’s Dark
Almost every Pixar movie leading up to Brave has featured moments of melancholy and outright tear-jerking scenes, but none of them have been completely dark for the whole of the film. The dark tone of the movie is ironic, considering it’s more like a Disney movie than anything else Pixar has done.
And the darkness doesn’t just come down to its tone, but in how it looks visually too. Brave is literally a very dark movie compared to the bright colors that Pixar is known for. However, it still looks great on screen, and it should be given that it was one of the most expensive Pixar movies to make.