Well, it sounds as though someone is fucking something up somewhere with Pixar's first girl-lead movie, Brave. According to Wikipedia, Brenda Chapman (whose idea the whole thing was, supposedly--all my info is from Wikipedia and IMdb--and who is credited as writer, along with Irene Mecchi) was replaced as director by Mark Andrews in October 2010. IMdB has an interesting discussion thread, in which various people put forward opinions on the 'creative difference' between Pixar and Chapman. They suggest gender problems (attractiveness of the leads; worrying about male audience numbers). They suggest storytelling problems (too radical; not linear enough). They suggest all kinds of things. As far as I can tell, they're just guessing.
So right now my hope is that this is just one of Pixar's Oh, this story isn't working, let's fix it, moves. (They've done it before, with things like Ratatouille--which I enjoyed--and Cars 2, which, frankly, sounds dreadful.) But my worry is it's some silly notion about how a Disney Princess needs to look and behave. (I find the bouncing red tresses a troublesome indication.) I expect we'll find out.
Oh, and to answer a question posed in yesterday's comments: as far as I know, this isn't based on any existing fairytale or legend. (Though I'm guessing it borrows from several. Hey, that's what film does.)
Despite all this, I still want to see it. You?
Kelley's latest Clarion West write-a-thon piece, "The Heart of the Matter," is up:
Here was the day when the newly dead returned to finish particular business with the living: a crowded hour of violence and love in breakfast nooks, in bars, motels, alleys, the bedrooms of children come home with sharp teeth. The living knew whether to expect the dead, and whom. Passion and rage were things that cried out for closure, and so the dead came with soft open arms to pull the living into love, or strong hard hands to pull them into pieces. Everyone else locked their doors and turned up the music loud. [more]
So go read it. Read the others here. Consider sponsoring Kelley.
