First Look at Brave-Based The Legend of Mor'du Short

Another story I didn't get round to posting before my mini-break over the weekend: Entertainment Weekly have got the first images from Pixar's Brave-based short film, The Legend of Mor'du. The short film, based on the demon bear from Pixar's latest feature, will be a bonus feature on the Brave DVD and Blu-ray when they're released, and features Julie Walters as the Witch.

According to EW, the short goes "a little deeper into the backstory of the movie’s fearsome, snarling villain.". They also tell us that the short is (continuing Pixar's recent run of shorts) directed by a first-timer, Brian Larsen. Larsen worked as a storyboard artist on Ratatouille, and was story supervisor for Brave. Larsen describes The Legend of Mor'du as "like Grimm’s fairy tales" saying there's "not always a happy ending.”

The short is apparently in a different style to Pixar's norm; it seems it'll be like Your Friend the Rat, with CG sequences featuring the characters from the feature, and then more traditionally animated animation for the bulk of the short, more in the style of Mary Blair:

"The short is book-ended by Brave‘s cheerful witch (voiced by Harry Potter’s Julie Walters) recounting the tale of Mor’du for another, unseen customer seeking a potion that might change his fate. But as she flashes back to the savage prince’s backstory, we see it depicted in a kind of hand-painted, paper cut-out style."

Brave arrives on home media on 13th November in the US, and 26th in the UK.

Via The Pixar Post.

Brave Review - A Magical Film that Hits the Bullseye!

*This review is largely spoiler free, but read cautiously if you haven’t seen the film yet*

Brave is the thirteenth feature film from Pixar Animation Studios, the studio most notable for having produced critical and commercial hits such as Toy Story, Up and Monsters, Inc. The common denominator between these films (aside from their obvious brilliance) is that none of them have a female main character. Brave is therefore notable for being the first Pixar feature to have a female as its lead, and also for being Pixar’s first fairytale. Hearing those two statements however might give you entirely the wrong impression about Brave; it is neither a feministic rant nor a traditional, princess-prince-stepmother-villain type fairytale. The common denominator with Brave and previous Pixar films, is that it’s brilliant.

Brave has received decent reviews, but, at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, nothing near what we’re used to from the studio. It seems Cars 2 acted to, unjustly in my opinion, make people doubt Pixar, the studio they once revered above all else, and look for flaws. Well, they must be looking pretty damn hard to find things to gripe about here, as Brave was phenomenal. Touching, powerful, immersive, funny and gorgeous – all in equal measure – Brave is yet another winner from Pixar, and has the feel of a grand epic, and an instant classic.

New Brave Featurette - Kilt

What we've seen from Brave in the past has been, with a few exceptions, very tense, very ominous, very eerie and very badass. However, what we're treated to today is a much more light-hearted, jovial advert for the film - a featurette satirising fashion adverts, selling Kilts. The advert may seem a little adult or low-brow for Pixar, but, in my opinion, this is a very needed move. As fantastic and exciting as Brave looks, up until very recently it's showed very little of its funny side - of the side that'll attract the majority of its audience: kids. Animation may be an art-form that perpetual children like myself enjoy, but the fact of the matter is, their key demographic is actual children, so comedy is an essential.

As it's Pixar, the film will undoubtedly be a deft blend of comedy, pathos and emotion, but it's a smart idea - marketing wise - to try and get that across in its advertisements.

The featurette (above) parodies the oftentimes ridiculous fashion adverts we're regularly subjected to; advertising the traditional kilts that populate Brave. It, as well as being very funny, features a decent amount of previously unseen footage - including a shot of Merida's father, King Fergus, fighting the demon bear, Mor'du.

Brave hits US theatres on 22nd June, and arrives here in the UK a couple of months later on 13th August (up slightly from its previous due date of the 17th).

Via iTunes Movie Trailers.