Katniss, Meet Merida

Pixar's first-ever heroine is a rugged rebel with a cause

Disney/Pixar

Merida, princess from Brave

Pixar has been in a little slump. For an amazingly imaginative decade or so, John Lasseter's animation studio enjoyed a run of features whose quality and popularity are unparalleled in film history, including seven wholly original movies--Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Cars; Ratatouille; WALLE; and Up--between the two terrific Toy Story sequels. Last year, though, Pixar crashed into artistic subordinariness with Cars 2 (code name: Ishcar). The shadow of mortality grew darker still with John Carter, the live-action Disney flop from Nemo and WALLE director Andrew Stanton. With Brave, the Lasseter gang's first original story since Up in 2009, Pixar...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!