

It's being sold as a Scottish adventure, a story set in mythic times of old when marriages were planned to ensure land security and familial tradition stepped in for any real ideas of finding true happiness or falling in love. But that's not how this movie is being sold. So many animated films out there, so many studios pumping out story after story that depict relationship after relationship, and Brave is the first to really aim at the bond between a mother and daughter. The comparisons to How to Train Your Dragon won't be completely in the film's favor, either, but measuring it up against anything else becomes a moot point when you finally discover what Brave is really about. No other studio out there is consistently making films as good as Brave, even though the film itself isn't completely up to Pixar standards. Could they bounce back gloriously unveiling another true triumph in the history of animated film? Would their next film be just another cash grab with very little in the way of true heart or dimension? For years, Pixar ruled over the world of animated film.

It's down to their next release, Brave, that would truly test Pixar's mettle. You could hear rival animation studios licking their lips last summer when Cars 2 released and the Pixar guaranteed stamp of excellence was seriously called into question for the first time.

The stories say a king's reign isn't forever, that the first sign of fallibility is a catalyst to being overthrown.
