By: Rebecca Plaisance

When I was out visiting Pixar last month I was treated to a variety of experiences in anticipation of the release of Brave on June 22, including how the took the film from page to screen.

Bringing Merida and the cast of Brave characters to life presented filmmakers with a new set of challenges; how to dress the royal family and their many layers of clothing, how to recreate the rugged terrain and architecture of Scotland and how to bring all of their drawings and ideas to life.

Dressing the Brave characters forced animators to get creative. King Fergus for example has eight layers of clothing. Previous Pixar characters were limited to tee’s and pants. With production of Brave, new computer programs and software was created to bring the layers of clothing to life. The clothing moves with ease when the characters walk.  I think people would be surprised by how advanced the technology is that goes into Pixar films. I had a hard time wrapping my head around it and I was there!



Dressing the characters was one set of challenges but bringing the rugged terrain of Scotland to life presented a whole new set. Scotland is known for it’s lush forest, dense fog and stunning cliffs. Animators took several trips to Scotland to ensure they had a good grasp on the landscape. Brave truly transports moviegoers to Scotland. The vegetation is rich, the castle textures are so life like you could reach out and touch the rocks. Creating the textures of the Scottish countryside and giving them a life like appearance was paramount to film makers.

The story of Brave was first conceived by director Brenda Chapman because of the relationship with her own headstrong daughter.  Chapman says that she began to imagine a tale about a mother and a willful daughter, from this Brave was born. 



Brave was intended to be a fairy tale but turned into an adventure and action film instead. Chapman, who has a long standing love of Scotland knew right away that was the perfect setting for this adventure. The underlying themes in Brave are universal to all families. The need for self-expression, carving out your own path and ultimately finding that family is always there for you make Brave relatable to parents and children alike.