Pixar’s next original film marks a first for them as a studio. It will see them going very Disney-esque, or at least more than usual. Brave will be a fairytale and will have a female lead, both very new directions for the studio. Now we have our first glimpse at the production art which comes from the folks at Entertainment Weekly.
The film is set in the Scottish highlands and is about a princess called Merida, who now will played by the more appropriately Scottish Kelly Macdonald, star of No Country for Old Men and Boardwalk Empire, as opposed to the originally cast Reese Witherspoon. EW also provided a synopsis of the film:
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. Also figuring into Merida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.
The cast of the movie is mostly built from British talent, another first for the studio, also in the cast are Billy Connoly, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd and Craig Ferguson. Originally set to be directed and overseen by director of The Prince of Eygpt: Brenda Chapman who was considered a controversial choice by many, considering how bad that movie was, as well as being from the ‘Pixar rival’ company DreamWorks,the project is now going to be brought to completion by Mark Andrews, who directed the Pixar short One Man Band. Both will receive directorial credit, and will be released June 22, 2012.
