Is Brave Really a Miyazaki Film?

Set in a dramatic and beautifully rendered landscape of rivers and valleys, it’s a story of a courageous girl, mysterious wood spirits and an old witch. In Japan, it’s called Merida and the Frightening Forest, but we know it as Brave.
Brave
Image: Disney/Pixar

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Set in a dramatic and beautifully rendered landscape of rivers and valleys, it’s the story of a girl who finds herself in the ruins of her ancient ancestors. Mysterious wood spirits lead her to the cottage of an old witch, whose enormously exaggerated head makes her scary just to look at. The resourceful girl sets out alone to battle against enchanted creatures and uses her cunning, her strength and her courage to help save her family and restore its honor.

Witch from Spirited AwayThe Witch from Spirited Away. Image: Studio Ghibli In Japan, it’s called Merida and the Frightening Forest, but we know it as Brave .

I recently watched the newly-released Blu-ray version, including my favorite parts of any video, the special features. Included were trailers from the US, the UK and Japan. Here in the US, Brave is obviously a coming of age tale of a teen who would rather pursue her own interests instead of the lessons she is supposed to learn as she rebels against the expectations of her parents. In the UK, the trailer portrays it as a story of adventure and heroes defying their fate.

But from watching the Japanese trailer, it’s clear that Brave is an anime masterpiece in the tradition of director Hayao Miyazaki. The willful Merida character was obviously inspired by the teenage heroine of Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service . The journey of discovery into the forest by the disobedient child? That’s straight from Spirited Away — as is the nightmare-inducing witch.

Witch from BraveThe witch from Brave. Image: Disney/Pixar Brave sparked some interesting discussions and disagreements among the GeekMoms and GeekDads this year. If you enjoyed the film or missed it in theaters (or, like me, went to see it at the drive-in on a rainy night and spent half the film collecting wet lawn chairs and blankets and the other half trying to appreciate the film’s amazingly-detailed computer animation between swipes of the windshield wipers in a steamy van full of kids), you can now own the video in several formats, including the Brave Ultimate Collector’s Edition with DVD, Blu-ray 2D and 3D, DVD, digital copy, Blu-ray Bonus disk, and cool 3D cover.

And when you get to the special features, watch the foreign trailers for yourself and tell me if you don’t agree!

I was provided with a copy of the Blu-ray Ultimate Collector’s Edition for review purposes.