Brave

"Change your fate."

2012 1h 33m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 14,482

AdventureAnimationFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the mystical Scottish Highlands, Merida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Merida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Merida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish.

“Change your fate.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Disney PlusSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Kelly Macdonald
Merida (voice)
Emma Thompson
Elinor (voice)
Billy Connolly
Fergus (voice)
Julie Walters
The Witch (voice)
Robbie Coltrane
Lord Dingwall (voice)
Kevin McKidd
Lord MacGuffin / Young MacGuffin (voice)
Craig Ferguson
Lord Macintosh (voice)
Peigi Barker
Young Merida (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mark Andrews
Writers: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$185M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 14 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

315+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mark Andrews, shot by Robert Anderson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Patrick Doyle. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nicholas C. Smith shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kelly Macdonald and Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Change your fate.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mark Andrews directs. Robert Anderson behind the camera. Patrick Doyle scores. Nicholas C. Smith cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$185M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 14 years ago.
3315+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Mark Andrews, shot by Robert Anderson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Patrick Doyle. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nicholas C. Smith shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Kelly Macdonald and Emma Thompson and Billy Connolly carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Change your fate.".
9IMDB entry: tt1217209 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1014,482 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
11Classified under 20 themes, including "witch", "kingdom", "scotland", "rebel".
12Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Anderson
Original score: Patrick Doyle
Editing: Nicholas C. Smith
Production design: Steve Pilcher
Sound: E.J. Holowicki
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $185,000,000
Box office: $538,983,207
Return: 291% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Brave (2012)

Awards

Annie Award
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mark Andrews

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Travis Bell2012-11-26
★ 8/10
I enjoyed Brave but it wasn't without a few flaws. First of all, I never felt like there was much meat to the story. It was enjoyable sure, and had some good morals and family values but I never felt like I was invested in the main characters. Stuff just seemed to happen. Secondly, and this isn't as much the movies fault as perhaps the marketing that surrounded it, but it was actually a very different movie than I thought it was going to be. I discovered that it's hard to break those pre-conceptions as I kept thinking the story was going somewhere else than it did. Brave was at its best when it made me laugh which unfortunately, was just too seldom. For example, the entire scene where the 3 clans try to fight for Mérida's hand was way too short! The voice cast was very good though. Kelly Macdonald in particular, was perfect as Mérida. All in all, Brave was good but not great. It just seems to lack the "magic" I expect from Pixar. Not their worst outing but close to it.
Gimly2019-12-29
★ 5/10
The following is a long-form review that I originally wrote in 2012. The film in all was a relatively decent venture. Perhaps Pixar's well deserved success is its pitfall here. Though highly enjoyable, Brave was simply not up to the standard brought forth by the likes of the Toy Story trilogy, Up or Monsters Inc. ?This movie falls more into the category of "Entertaining, acceptable, cute" instead of the higher echelons some of the studio's past work has earned it. Brave attempts to take the "Disney Princess" line away from its predecessors in which princesses are only good for getting themselves into trouble so that men can rescue them (ie. Snow White, Belle, etc.) or in the case of the Little Mermaid in which she is willing to almost literally walk on broken glass for a man simply because he's pretty. And for this, we thank Brave. All that said and done however, there was one rather unfortunate side-effect of all this. I at first simply felt it was my warped interpretation, but every person whom I've spoken to drew the same conclusion, so perhaps not... Now, I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but, I must say, the main character Merida... Seemed to... Have a thing for her mum. Just saying, honestly, that's how the piece feels as it plays out. On a less incestuous note though, stand up comic/actor Billy Connolly as Meridia's father King Fergus is simply brilliant, and probably the highest point of the whole film. Though the animation didn't exactly make leaps and bounds forward in comparison to anything else that's come out in the past couple of years, it was still most certainly impressive. Maybe if I had been part of Brave's target audience I could have appreciated the movie more. It was most certainly good, but I wasn't really ?blown away? by any aspect of the film whatsoever. It managed to scrape a slight "above average" but I really would have liked something more than I got, especially seeing as movies on the big screen tend to impress me more readily. Brave's biggest problem is that it is, in essence, forgettable. Though an entertaining 93 minutes to be sure, I can't imagine myself hankering for a re-watch any time soon. 62% -Gimly
r96sk2020-08-23
★ 8/10
A wholehearted animated film from Disney. <em>'Brave'</em> is very good. The Scottish vibes help a lot, but the meaningful message and superb animation are just a few of the film's other big positives. The casting, characters and music are some too. The premise itself isn't anything breathtakingly new, but is most certainly enjoyable to see unfold. The cast are excellent, with my personal standouts being Kelly Macdonald (Merida) and Emma Thompson (Elinor). There are also good performances from Billy Connolly (Fergus), Robbie Coltrane (Dingwall) and Julie Walters (Witch). It's a fun and simple watch, one I thoroughly felt entertained by.