Disney Pixar BRAVE's Princess Merida is a True Heroine Who Changes Her Own Fate

The latest film from Disney Pixar, BRAVE, opens in theaters today.  Our family was fortunate enough to be invited to an advanced screening last week at the AMC in Boston and I have been eager to share my thoughts about the film with my readers.  Before I get into the film, though, I must tell you about the wonderfully delightful treat "La Luna", the Pixar short that preceded the movie.

Also in 3D, this short features three generations of a family whose job it is to tidy up the moon.  Without a single word, this Pixar short shows how even the oldest and wisest can still learn from the younger generations.  The amazing 3D effects make this little tale a magical one.




BRAVE is the tale of a Scottish princess named Merida (voice of Kelly MacDonald) who is a heroine like no other Disney Princess.  This young girl not only changes her own fate, but changes the fate of her people, and does so without the help of a prince at her side.  In fact, this film does not offer any romance for the Princess . . . just 100% adventure.

Merida is not the first Disney heroine to face the unsavory idea of a forced marriage, but she is definitely the first to vie for her own hand.  What she is as a person has been defined by the Queen (voice of Emma Thompson) having trained her to be the perfect princess since birth, time spent with her mother that Merida has grown to resent rather than cherish.  The moments she did cherish were those spent mastering the use of a sword, her trusted bow, and riding her beloved horse Angus. . . all things Queen Elinor did not approve of.  The Queen found it as impossibly challenging to tame her daughter, as it was to tame her wild red hair.

This tale of Merida's quest to change her fate began with a demon bear and ended with it as well.  In between, you will find adventure, humor, bravery, witchcraft, and patriotism.  Although the rest of the film is appropriate for children of all ages, the scenes with the big black ferocious demon bear in 3D on the big screen frightened both our 5 year old twins.  It ruined the film for our daughter, who seemed to be enjoying the film otherwise.  Her twin brother actually cried during the final battle with the bear.  As an adult, I thought those scenes were extremely intense, especially in 3D.  The bear is the main reason the film is rated-PG rather than rated-G.  You can catch small glimpses of the bear in the trailer below . . .




One major victory for Merida is her mother's realization that she could never survive outside of the castle, while her very capable daughter could do so easily.  To me, that was the turning point that started the change in Merida's fate.

In addition to the amazing 3D effects and the breathtaking scenery depicting the Highlands of Scotland, there were two other aspects of this film that help to make it an outstanding one. The first is the hilarious displays of testosterone by King Fergus (voice by Billy Connolly) himself and all the clansmen.  The second is the antics of the the triplets, Merida's mischievous and overly-clever little brothers, who eventually end up using their powers for good.

If you end up going to see Disney Pixar BRAVE in the theaters, I would love to know what you thought of it.  It is a truly amazing film and like no other that Pixar has produced so far.  If you have little ones in your household, you may want to wait until the Blu-ray/DVD comes out.  I'm sure the bear would seem less frightening on a smaller screen and not in 3D.  You can check your local theaters for showtimes here.

My family received an invitation to attend an advanced screening of this film in order to facilitate my review.

Holiday 2011: Disney Pixar Cars 2 (DVD)

The kids loved the first Cars movie…Who am I kidding, I loved it as much as they did. So when we had the opportunity to try the new Cars 2 Blu-ray/DVD combo pack we were very excited.  The set includes both the Blu-ray and DVD copies, so regardless of your set up you are guaranteed to see the movie and extras in the best quality possible.  We used the DVD copy as we do not have a Blu-ray player yet. One thing I love about Disney DVDs is the Fast Play feature; you simply do not need to wait to watch anything but the movie if you do not want to.

If you have not seen the movie yet, I will not spoil it for you, but the kids had an absolute blast. Disney Pixar did a fantastic job bringing the Cars world back to us while also introducing a whole new cast of cars and a new story.  As always the kids were smitten with Mater, but the car they cannot stop talking about is Holley Shiftwell. Lightning McQueen had a diminished role in this movie, but was still the focus of the story, so we got our fill of Ka-chow!

Included in the bonus features are a couple of funny shorts about 6 minutes long each. The first short called “Hawaiian Vacation” stars the cast from Toy Story 3 and is funny as heck. I am pretty sure it is the same extra that was shown after the theatrical release of Toy Story 3 in the theatre.  The second feature is an episode of Mater's Tall Tales called “Air Mater”. My kids are nuts over Mater's Tall Tales and I can say with confidence that this was the funniest one to date. Not to spoil too much, but in this Tall Tales episode they announce and set up the next cars world movie due out in 2013. Great fun and I cannot wait!

Overall the set does not disappoint (does Disney Pixar ever?) and we enjoyed the Cars 2 combo pack very much.  You can purchase the Cars 2 DVD or Blu-ray/DVD Combo at most major retailers of Disney movies, such as the Disney Store, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Toys"R"Us, Walmart, and Target.


Thank you to Click-Communications for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Free Printables: Disney Pixar Cars 2 Coloring & Activity Pages

Since Disney Pixar Cars 2 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD and your little Cars movie fan is likely to be very excited about this release, these free printable coloring and activity pages may add to the fun.  If you have not already run out to purchase this movie, click on this link to receive $5 off the Cars 2 5-Disc Combo Pack good through November 6th, 2011.




Look for my son's review of Cars 2 coming soon!

Holiday 2010 Review: Disney Pixar Cars Toon "Mater's Tall Tales" (Wii Game)

My family has loved the Disney Pixar Cars movie and themed toys for years so it is a treat to review a copy of Mater’s Tall Tales from Disney Pixar for the Nintendo Wii game system.

The game is themed after the Mater’s Tall Tales television show and will be instantly recognizable to anybody who has watched the show. All six sections of the game are based on actual Tall Tales episodes; you get to play through missions as Lightning McQueen with Mater as your guide.

I was very impressed by the variety of methods you need to control your car in each section. You are required to change the controls for each event so you are never bored. Each section has clear and understandable animated instructions as well. No reading is required to learn how to play.

My favorite section was "Monster Truck Mater". This section has plenty of variety and the goals of each episode were fun and engaging. The graphics for all sections was amazing and very pleasing to look at.

My seven your old son Jake also logged quite a few hours with Mater’s Tall Tales. He has a different idea of fun and spent all of his time in the "Free Play" area that allows you to play any of the unlocked sections that you choose. Once Jake realized that each event yielded money you could spend on fun upgrades for your car, he couldn’t stop playing. The idea of customization was just up his alley.

Overall Mater’s Tall Tales is a fun game and it varied enough to keep even an adult entertained. The difficulty was low enough as not to frustrate but not so easy that it was boring. The replay value for me is light, but for my seven year old son the game is the perfect mix of adventure and progression promising countless hours of fun.

Mater’s Tall Tales from Disney Pixar will make a great stocking stuffer for any kid this holiday…Even if that “kid” is in his 40’s… You can find this game at the Disney Store and most places where current Wii games are sold.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Disney Interactive Studios and received the Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales Wii game to facilitate my review.

Review: Disney Pixar's UP (Blu-ray/DVD)

My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing Disney Pixar's UP on the big screen with our kindergartner. I was very pleased to find that the film was just as captivating on the small screen. I was also curious as to how our twin toddlers would react to this 96 minute film.

This film is centered around the character Carl Fredricksen (played by Ed Asner). Mr. Fredricksen and his wife were two adventurers who fell in love at a young age and lived a long happy life together, but never had children of their own. After becoming a widower, Fredricksen changes his plans of living out his days quietly and alone. Instead he decides to move to Paradise Falls . . . a dream he and his wife once shared. That is how his adventure begins.

What I thought about Disney Pixar's UP on DVD:


1) There are many concepts introduced in this movie that you can discuss with your children, such as the actualization of dreams, the idea of soul mates, real life role models vs. famous role models, selflessness, loyalty, and friendship.

2) Every character seems to have a key part in the film. All the characters were developed so well that none of them seemed to be expendable.



3) Mr. Fredricksen, Ellie (Fredricksen's wife), Russell (the 8yr old boy), Kevin (the bird), Dug (the dog), and even antagonist Charles Muntz and his pack of dogs were all endearing characters. My kindergartner's favorite character was Dug. We are dog lovers in our family and Dug's loyalty, big heart, and vulnerability won us all over immediately.

4) Amongst the many bonus features, my family's favorites are the "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" short and "Dug's Special Mission". The latter is very cleverly written to show what the dog Dug is experiencing while he is apart from Mr. Fredricksen and Russell.

Here is a clip from "Dug's Special Mission" . . .

If you are only able to purchase one movie before the year is out, I think it should definitely be Disney Pixar's UP. The adventure these engaging characters embark upon are entertaining for viewers of all ages. Although our nearly 3yr old twins were not able to sit through the entire 96 minutes, they did enjoy many parts of the movie.


You should be able to find Disney Pixar's UP on Blu-ray/DVD at the Disney Store and most places where Disney movies are sold.

Free Printable Activity Pages from Disney Pixar's UP

Here are some fun full color printables featuring the characters of the Disney Pixar movie UP, which is now available in a Blu-ray/DVD combo. My kindergartner's favorites are the Spot the Differences activity and the maze puzzle.


To Print: Click on the desired image to enlarge. Then right-click on the enlarged image with your mouse and select print.

Q&A With Dug the Dog (Disney Pixar's UP)

Did you know that Disney Pixar's UP came out in a Blu-ray/DVD combo on November 10th? If you have not seen this film, I highly recommend it. We took our kindergartner to see it on the big screen and we just watched it on DVD with him and his younger brother and sister tonight.

The character of Dug the dog is my kindergartner's favorite. He wears a special collar which allows him to speak to humans. To give you an idea why he is my son's favorite character, here is a fictional Q&A with this endearing dog . . .


Q: We’re here to talk to Mr. Fredricksen’s dog, Dug.


Dug: Hi there! I just met you. You are nice, I like you! Do you have peanut butter?


Q: No, sorry. I don’t have any right now.


Dug: I am on a mission to find some. It is my favorite. Oh, you are tall.


Q: Yes, thanks. So tell me, do you have friends?


Dug: Oh, yes. I have many friends. There’s Alpha. There’s Beta and Gamma and Epsilon…and Theta—I do not like him. He is smells of bugs—and Kappa and Lambda…


Q: Okay…


Dug: Omicron…Sigma. Delta..


Q: I think we’re good. We got it. What I meant was do you have people friends?


Dug: Oh, yes, I like people. People are nice. Like my new master.


Q: Tell me about him.


Dug: Yes, yes, my new master, not like my other master, no. My new master is very nice. He smells of prunes. He found me while I was on a special mission! I was lost and sad in the fog. The fog makes me sad. Then I was happy to find him! He and Russell are very nice. They have a house with balloons. They like my howling and barking. Can you bark? We can bark together like this, “Woof! Bark! Bark!” Do you want to try howling?


Q: I can’t right now but maybe later. Tell me about your special mission?


Dug: Oh, yes. My pack sent me on a special mission all by myself. And when I found my new master and Russell I found the bird! I wanted to take the bird back to our camp and make him my prisoner—SQUIRRELL!-- It was my first time to see the bird up close.


Q: Tell us about your old master.


Dug: He is good and smart my old master. He made me this collar so that I may talk. I am good at talking. I am scratching now. There are fleas. Can you reach under my jaw? I am a good tracker. When I am on a scent I will find what I’m looking for. That’s why my master sends us out—to track the bird. He’s been looking for this bird a long time.


Q: Thank you for talking to us, Dug.


Dug: You are nice. I like you. I am going now. Have you seen the bird? I think I lost the bird and my new master in the trees. The bird is fast and he is tall. You are tall. Do you have any peanut butter?

Look for my review of Disney Pixar's UP later on this week!