23 years ago, Disney presented their first ginger heroine. Ariel, the title character in The Little Mermaid (a retelling of the Hans Christian Anderson fable) went through the trial and tribulations of growing up and like many of her fairy tale sisters, ended her story with a happily ever after and prince charming.
Last weekend, Disney & Pixar presented another ginger princess to the world of fairy tales. Merida, like Ariel is a princess repressed by both duty and an overbearing parent. She dreams of having another life. That is where the similarities end.
Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) is a medieval princess in the Scottish Highlands. She longs for freedom, but her mother, Queen Elinor (voiced by Emma Thompson) keeps reminding her daughter of her responsobility as princess. The clash between mother and daughter reaches its peak when Merida is forced to witness an athletic contest between the eldest sons of three local clans. The winner will become Merida’s husband, an idea that Merida vocally disaproves of.
I wont give the rest of the movie away, but I walked out of the movie a very happy moviegoer. This one of the best movies that both Disney and Pixar have put out in years.
Women have been fighting for their rights in this country for many decades. The best part of the movie was seeing the payoff of that fight, that we as women can stand on our own two feet, without relying on a man.
Writergurlny 