50 Fun Facts About Brave Trivia (Pixar)

Which Scottish actress voices Merida in Brave?

She was a late replacement, announced in 2011, after the originally cast American star dropped out over scheduling.

Which actress was originally cast as the voice of Merida before scheduling conflicts intervened?

She joined the cast in 2010 alongside Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters, who all stayed on.

What was Brave's working title when Pixar first announced it in April 2008?

Brenda Chapman drew the story from her relationship with her own daughter and became Pixar's first female feature director.

Who replaced Brenda Chapman as director of Brave in October 2010 after creative disagreements?

Chapman called the news devastating but kept a directing credit and went on to share the Oscar, becoming the first woman to win Best Animated Feature.

Brave was the first Pixar film to have what kind of lead character?

Merida is also the first character in the Disney Princess line to come from Pixar.

Which sound format made its debut with Brave's theatrical release?

Pixar also completely rewrote its animation software for the film, the first such overhaul in 25 years.

Which composer wrote the score for Brave?

He is Scottish himself, and the score was played by the London Symphony Orchestra with bagpipes, fiddle and Celtic harps.

At which film festival did Brave premiere on June 10, 2012?

It went into wide North American release on June 22 in 4,164 theaters, a record for Pixar at the time.

Roughly how much did Brave gross worldwide, against a budget of $185M?

It won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Animated Feature.

Which Pixar short played in cinemas before Brave?

Brave's end credits also carry a tribute to Pixar co-founder Steve Jobs, who had died the previous October.

What is the name of Merida's clan and kingdom?

The other three are the allied clans whose lords bring their firstborn sons to compete for her hand. Pixar designed original tartans for three of the four.

What gift does Fergus give young Merida on her birthday, to Queen Elinor's dismay?

That same day the family is attacked by Mor'du, and the fight costs Fergus his left leg.

Which part of his body does Fergus lose fighting the bear Mor'du?

He wears a wooden peg in its place and spends the film hunting the bear that took it.

How much time passes between the opening birthday scene and the main story of Brave?

Merida is 16 when she learns she is to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies.

How does Merida get around the rule that only the eldest sons of the clans may compete for her hand?

She then easily outshoots all three suitors, which sets off the furious argument with her mother.

During their argument, what does Elinor throw into the fire?

Merida has just slashed the family tapestry with a sword. Elinor pulls the bow back out of the flames in regret as soon as Merida has fled.

What is the name of Merida's horse?

He is a Clydesdale, and he carries her into the forest the night she runs away.

What trade does the elderly witch practise in her cottage in the woods?

Merida is led to her hut by the will-o'-the-wisps after finding a circle of standing stones, and bargains for a spell to 'change' her mother.

In what form does the witch give Merida the spell?

Elinor eats it and turns into a bear, keeping her human mind but losing the ability to speak.

According to the witch's message, what must Merida do to break the spell?

She has until the second sunrise, or the transformation becomes permanent. She assumes it means repairing the tapestry.

What are the names of Merida's mischievous triplet brothers?

They eat the enchanted cake too and spend the climax as bear cubs, stealing the key from the maid Maudie to free Merida.

Who was Mor'du before he became a demonic bear?

He is the prince from Elinor's legend, whose pride and refusal to follow his father's wishes destroyed his kingdom, and his ruined castle is where Merida and Elinor find him.

How does Mor'du finally die?

The prince's spirit is released and thanks Merida and Elinor before turning into a wisp.

What finally turns Elinor back into a human at the second sunrise?

Draping the mended tapestry over her mother does nothing; it is Merida begging her to come back that fulfils the true meaning of 'mend the bond'.

What is delivered to the castle gate in Brave's post-credits scene?

They are the carvings Merida had ordered from the witch's shop, and the crow asks the dozing guard to sign for them.

How do the triplets end the film?

Fergus has to chase after the boat in a rowboat while Merida and Elinor ride off together.

Which comedian and actor voices Fergus?

He also leads the cast on the boisterous drinking number 'Song of Mor'du' on the soundtrack.

Who voices Queen Elinor?

She also sings the Gaelic lullaby 'Noble Maiden Fair' with young Merida's voice, Peigi Barker.

Which Harry Potter alumna voices the witch in Brave?

Fellow Potter veteran Robbie Coltrane voices Lord Dingwall.

Which actor voices both Lord MacGuffin and his Doric-speaking son in Brave?

Craig Ferguson is Lord Macintosh and Robbie Coltrane is Lord Dingwall, completing the trio of clan chiefs.

Which Pixar regular, who has voiced a character in every Pixar feature, plays the guard Gordon in Brave?

He is Pixar's good-luck charm, from Hamm in Toy Story to the Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc.

Which Scottish Gaelic singer performs 'Touch the Sky' and 'Into the Open Air' on the Brave soundtrack?

Brave was the first Disney film with lyrics sung in Scottish Gaelic. Songwriter Alex Mandel wrote several of the tracks.

Which folk-rock band joined singer Birdy on the Brave end-credits song 'Learn Me Right'?

The soundtrack was released on June 19, 2012, three days before the film's wide release.

Which ensemble recorded the score for Brave?

Doyle wove in bagpipes, a solo fiddle and Celtic harps to give the score its Highland colour.

Merida's 2013 coronation as the eleventh official princess of the line was held at which Florida resort?

She remains the only Disney Princess to come from a Pixar film.

Roughly how many signatures did a 2013 petition against Disney's sparkly Merida redesign gather in a week?

Brenda Chapman called the redesign atrocious, saying Merida had been created to break that mould. Disney quietly went back to the film look.

Which actress played a live-action Merida on the TV series Once Upon a Time?

Merida has also turned up in Ralph Breaks the Internet and Sofia the First.

With which 1998 film did Brenda Chapman become the first woman to direct a major-studio animated feature?

That was at DreamWorks. With Brave she became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

How old is Merida in Brave?

She has wild curly red hair and is described as one of the most skilled archers in the kingdom.

For how many of the film's four clans did Pixar's designers create original tartan patterns?

The tartans are one of many small touches meant to make the fictional kingdom feel like real medieval Scotland.

How does Fergus come to believe his wife has been killed?

He then mistakes the bear Elinor for Mor'du and leads the clans on a hunt, locking Merida in the castle for her own safety.

Brave won the Academy Award in which category?

It completed a sweep, also taking the Golden Globe and BAFTA for animated feature.

Brave was the first Pixar film animated with which new proprietary system?

Pixar rewrote its animation software to handle the film's complex visuals, notably Merida's hair.

Brave's end credits carry a special tribute to which Pixar figure, who died in 2011?

Jobs was Pixar's co-founder and CEO as well as the co-founder of Apple.

Which of Brave's clans wears a red tartan modelled on a real Scottish clan rather than an original design?

Pixar designed original patterns for the other three, and Disney registered the DunBroch tartan officially.

Which First Minister presented a tartan certificate at Brave's Edinburgh premiere?

The registration of a fictional tartan drew criticism from an MSP as 'shallow and irreverent'.

Who voices Lord Dingwall in Brave?

The Hagrid actor plays the head of the smallest clan; talk-show host Craig Ferguson voices Lord Macintosh.

The rowdy 'Song of Mor'du' is sung in which language, distinct from Gaelic?

Scots is a Germanic language, whereas Scottish Gaelic is Celtic; Billy Connolly is among the singers.

Long before Brave, Disney registered a tartan in 1942 for which fictional family?

Scrooge McDuck's clan got its own official pattern seven decades before DunBroch.

Brenda Chapman drew inspiration for Brave's story from her relationship with whom?

She saw the film as a fairy tale in the tradition of Andersen and the Brothers Grimm.