Like Brave. (Well, like anything from Pixar really, but this post is about Brave.)
I just love Merida. She's Pixar's first female protagonist, so they're making a big deal of her being a girl. (I don't mind that - In Always Neverland, Peter and the Lost Boys make a big deal of Ashley being a girl, but Ashley refuses to miss out on adventures just because no other Wendy girl has done it before.) But Merida is tough, resourceful, playful, rebellious, sometimes super grumpy, quick-thinking, and surprisingly short-sighted when it comes to making deals with slightly loony witches. She's also the funniest animated protagonist I've seen since Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.
She's the first Disney princess since Mulan whose main focus isn't finding a prince, and I really appreciate that. In fact, the most important princes in the story are Merida's brothers. The most important relationship in the film is between Merida and her mom, and the parent-child storyline is moving and transformative in a way that we haven't seen in a Disney movie since The Lion King. Fun and random fact: the voice actor for Merida, Kelly Macdonald, also played Peter Pan in the stage scenes of Finding Neverland!
Plus, it's set in Scotland!! I'm also a sucker for highland accents, bagpipes, and gorgeously rugged landscapes. :-)
If you haven't seen it, get ye to a theater and go watch!
