Her wild spirit and strong desire to take charge of her own life set her apart from many other Disney princesses, even though these same positive traits can become negative. This scene makes their central conflict crystal clear.ĭespite her flaws, Merida is still a fun protagonist to follow. As the scene plays out, the cuts between locations and characters become more frequent and quicker, eventually leading into a two-sided discussion, though neither Merida nor Elinor are able to hear the other side of the argument. As Merida complains to her horse that her mother won’t listen, Elinor complains to her husband Fergus about the same issue involving Merida.

This strong point of the central conflict, Merida and Elinor’s misunderstandings of each other, is expertly displayed using a scene that goes back and forth between two conversations. Merida and Elinor begin the story unable to listen to or understand each other the mother-daughter relationship is messy and lacks effective communication. The story centers on familial tensions instead of romantic ones, a welcome change from the classic princess formula. In stark contrast to the classic but unfortunate Disney trope, Brave’s more modern story not only allows Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) to have a relationship with her mother, Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson), but also centers the conflict of the plot on their struggle to understand each other.

Merida brave on horse