Granddaughter Kate and I went to see the new movie, Brave, today. It was from Pixar, and the only criticisms I had heard was that it was too heavy handed in lessons taught, and not as good as Toy Story.
Well, for starters, nothing is as good as Toy Story. Toy Story had it all, courage (bravery),heart (compassion), and smarts (intelligence). That’s the lesson I learned from The Wizard of Oz. This what is required to let you figure out that home is where your heart is.
Same thing in Brave: our rebellious Irish youth, Merida, wants her mother to change. Unfortunately, she gets her wish. She is thrown head first into adventure in the wild, wild, woods, into danger but never bloodshed. Actually, she got a scratch near the end, but we didn’t see the blood. She ends up saving the Kingdom, saving her mother, and ultimately, herself.
The complaint about heavy-handedness doesn’t hold water because the story is set in the time of Celts, Vikings, Blue Picts, and for all I know, Gauls. Twas nothing subtle about those people and the usual over-the-top fighting among themselves seems right at home.
The touch of Magic played well, too. Will ‘o the Wisps are real, we know now, just marsh gas, but for the sake of the movie script, they led to the witch’s lair. She was the one who produced the Magic Cupcake (I kid you not) that caused all the trouble. Merida held fast to her faith and to her mother, and it all came out all right in the end.
Hello! I'm a grandma now, and a stay at home retiree who reads and writes and crochets a lot, and spends entirely too much time at the computer keyboard.
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