Why the Brave Disney Movie is Better For Older Kids
on Jun 26, 2012, Updated Feb 16, 2023
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The Brave Disney Movie opened to high acclaim and cheers from critics. But not this one. Brave was not the movie for me. Proceed with caution if your children are under 8 years-old. UPDATED 9/18/2019
It’s no secret that I love Disney. I was born and raised in Florida, just under two hours from the parks and I love the toys, the TV channel and the movies. I’m a huge fan.
That said, sometimes even a huge fan has to make some hard choices for the sake of her children. So when I knew I had to be brave to write my Brave movie review, I took a deep breath and went for it.
What I am about to say is not popular opinion. And I almost hesitate to share it. But as a mother with young children (boys at that), I want to share my honest opinion about Brave. And the truth is, I did not love the latest Disney/Pixar movie.
I am about to share some major spoilers for this animated feature so if you don’t want to be spoiled, please feel free to click away from this post and read about all the things I DO love about Disney here.
For the rest of us, let’s get down to it.
Brave Disney Movie Review
Here is the official BRAVE synopsis:
“Brave” follows the heroic journey of Merida, a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the unruly and uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane).
Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric Witch (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to harness all of her skills and resources – including her clever and mischievous triplet brothers – to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late, discovering the meaning of true bravery.
First of all, this movie is rated PG. It never even occurred to me to check the rating because with the exception of The Incredibles and UP, every Pixar film made since 1995 has been G rated.
Thankfully, because our screening was at night, my husband and I decided to leave our (3.5 year old and almost 1 year old) boys at home to check out the latest animated film from the house of Walt Disney.
So I will start with the obvious. Because of its well-deserved PG rating, I do not recommend this movie for children under age 8.
It is my opinion that the story was significantly more mature than prior Pixar movies (such as Toy Story) and there were several intensely frightening scenes including vicious fights between man and beast (ie. a giant blood-thirsty bear).
Mature Fight Scenes in Brave
There were a few moments in the fight scenes that really stood out to me. One fight in particular is between two bears. In the climax of their battle, several seconds are spent in close up of one bear slamming the other into a large rock repeatedly, violently, graphically.
It was not a flash in the pan arrow to the leg, or even a flying bullet. It was up-close, physical violence. I don’t care that there was a good reason for the fight. It disturbed me.
There is no doubt that Princess Merida and her mother both had lessons to learn. And while I appreciated the relational struggle between mother and daughter, it seemed more appropriate for the tween crowd rather than the typical Pixar audience which tends to be of the elementary set, if not younger.
I can definitely see how this movie could prompt some really thought provoking conversations between moms and daughters, but for the young ones I don’t think it would even make sense.
We love that Merida is different from the other Disney princesses, but there were so many unnecessary distractions, it was hard to focus on that one positive note.
Gender Stereotyping is not so Brave
I am glad there was a two-parent home featured in this movie. However, I was greatly disturbed at the depiction of Merida’s bumbling, goofball father whose only purpose seemed to be comic relief or brute force – a male stereotype that has been increasingly present in mainstream media in the past couple of decades.
Believe me when I say that I truly loved the empowering female lead characters in both Merida and Queen Elinor. But why did they have to come at the expense of the male characters?
As the mother of two boys, I want to encourage them to be leaders, to be companions of the women in their lives. But from the idiot-fathers to the dimwitted princes (none of whom were even remotely desirable), to the trouble-making triplets, there is not a single male character in this movie that I would want my sons to emulate.
Not a single one.
And I think that is why my overall opinion of this movie is just not good. I was viewing it through the eyes of my boys. My sons who will one day grow to be men.
And just like we need more movies to inspire our women, we should not just allow the pendulum to swing the other way. We are setting the bar for the future of both our sons and our daughters. Why are we aiming so low?
I wish I could base my opinion on the design because Brave was a spectacular visual feast. The animation was positively breathtaking and even thrilling at times.
I am sad to say that it will not be a family classic in this house.
For more opinions of the Brave Disney movie from both sides, please check out the following links:
Scott Mendelson – Brave (2012) Is Pixar’s Most Impersonal and Least Consequential Film and a More Troubling Failure Than Cars 2
Rage Against the Minivan – BRAVE: A Parent’s Guide to Disney/Pixar’s new Movie
Musings from Me – A Lady Does-ny Stuff Her Gob! #Brave
FREE Printable Activity sheets for the Brave Disney movie fans
I received free passes to attend an advanced screening of Brave. All thoughts are my own.
I’ve not seen the movie, and I appreciate your honest feedback. Thanks, Andrea.
Thanks for not being afraid to share your honest opinion! As a mom to boys too, your concerns would be mine as well.
p.s. I ADORE your new haircut!!!
Thank you so much! It’s super fun.
Thank you so much for writing this! I had no idea of the rating or the violence. Had been considering taking Lily (age 4), but will hold off on this one. Sounds like way too much for her.
I could not have written this review any better myself. This is spot on with my thoughts of the movie.
I saw the movie with my 5 year old niece, who – thankfully – has seen several scary movies, and wasn’t bothered by the scary scenes in the movie.
But I definitely feel like they missed the point on sharing with their potential audience that this MIGHT be a scary movie! Even going back to watch the previews, there is very little hint of over half of the movie being so intense and loud, and very frightening.
In the screening I attended, several parents left with crying children – and the parent next to me was holding tight to her 4(ish) year old daughter on her lap while she chanted that it was TOO scary!
I know my own son would not have appreciated the movie, and we would have been the family that had to leave. My son is scared of intense scenes in Care Bears!! haha!
I agree with every word of this, and will just add: the story wasn’t even that good. The script was weak, the message muddled, and it kept feeling like Pixar gave us one movie in the trailers and a totally different one in the theaters. While I felt like it was entertaining enough (I’ve seen worse), I was hugely disappointed in this movie.
I agree that some of the previews didn’t really give much away. I honestly didn’t even know there was a bear in it!
This is interesting. Thank you for telling us about the downfalls of this movie. I was excited to see a strong female lead b/c my daughter is obsessed with the Disney Princesses. I also have to say that the main character’s hair is exactly like mine….and I like that. We may still see the movie, but I will be watching it first to just to be sure. Again, thank you!
I think watching it first would be a smart move. I too, love her hair! The animation really is spectacular.
Wow. Very interesting. I would never check a Pixar movie for a rating, which illustrates my trust for this brand. Thank you for sharing how you honestly feel. I’m gonna remove this from our “Summer Must See” list as my children are too young to sort stereotypes from reality.
I really never even considered looking for the rating! I will definitely be doing that every time from now on.
We haven’t seen the movie, but I will agree in saying that I want my son to be able to grow up and see strong men as an example and not just the bumbling idiot, the tyrant (the Little Mermaid), or the absent one. But I also want my daughter to grow up and see the same thing. We want her to be strong, passionate, able and persistent but we also want her to know what kind of husband she is looking for and to be able to biblically submit to him. IT’s frustrating to feel that there is little that isn’t just a powerplay between men and women in our media and we are always thrilled when we find something that is solid and shows more than just the extremes.
Thanks for the review! My son is 3, and I’m very conscious of wanting him watch movies with strong male characters. It’s too bad in 2012 that a movie for children can’t have both strong male and female characters.
I agree. I would love to get to a point where we don’t have to put one down to lift another up.