Family Films: Brave

Recently, I went with my kids to a local theater and we watched the new Pixar movie "Brave".  I asked them about it, and they had some good stuff to say.  If you are interested in totally being surprised, thre are a couple of key plot points revealed here, so know that going in.  I record these interviews on my iphone, and it has a fun old style recording screen when I do the interviews.  At some point in the interview, Jack got more interested in seeing how high he could make the sound needle go than actually talking...but before it went there, I got some good stuff from them :)....

Joel: "So we went over to the Riverview theater today and saw a movie...what did we see Wessie?"

Wes: "MMM...Brave."

Joel: "Now what...do you know what the company that made this movie is called?"

Jack: "I don't know."

Joel: "That thing with the lamp."

Corrie: "Pixar."

Joel:  "What other movies has Pixar made?"

Corrie: "Cars"

Joel: "Cars...Jack said Wall-E."

Jack: "Nemo!"

Joel:  "Nemo...they all kind of look alike don't they?  Similar style."

Corrie: "They all look like they're made of clay."

Joel: "I really liked 'Brave' a lot, I thought it was one of my favorite Pixar movies.  My favorite Pixar movie is of course what?"

Jack: "Nemo."

Joel: "Not Nemo."

Corrie: "Wall-E?"

Joel: "No not 'Wall-E.'"

Corrie:  "I was about to say 'Kipper'!

Joel:  "Not 'Kipper', that's not a..."

Jack: "What is your favorite Pixar movie?"

Joel: "Ratatouille."

Steph:  "That movie is gross."

Joel: "It's not gross, it's a cute movie...it's odd."

Corrie:  "I like how the rat is like...he doesn't like eating rat foods..."

Joel:  "What I liked about Brave is that I really felt like it told a classic fairy tale kind of story.  The girl was a strong willed character, but it reminded me of a Grimm's fairy tale.  Let me ask you some questions about why I feel that way.  Is it all a happy-go-lucky story?"

Corrie and Jack:  "No!!"

Joel: "What is the main character's name?"

Corrie: "Merida."

Joel: "What does she do wrong in the movie?  What does she do that really gets her into trouble?"

Corrie:  "She wants a spell that will change her mother, and she does get one, but she got tricked, because it changed her mother but not in the way she had in mind."

Jack: "She changes her into a bear."

Joel: "So she has to figure out out to get her right again.  There's a lot of fairy tales where people in the same family do some strange and sad things to each other.  I can think of one right away..."

Corrie:  "Snow White?"

Joel:  "Yeah...the one I think of the most has to do with two kiddos who get lost in the woods..."

Corrie: "Hansel and Gretel."

Joel: "Yeah...the mom wants to get rid of the kids!  Fairy tales can be pretty harsh, and this one goes along with it."

Corrie: "It's not just the parents who make a mistake in 'Brave'."

Joel: "Well, one of the reasons many of them are so harsh is that they want to make a point, like an Aesop fable.  What was your favorite part in the movie Corrie?"

Jack:  "My favorite part was the end."

Corrie:  "O like the end and I like the part where she's riding through the woods with Angus and shooting the targets in the trees...I bet she put them there."

Joel: "I also really liked the art work...very pretty...how great the drawing looks"

Corrie: "That's drawing?"

Joel: "It's drawing that people do on computers...whereas 'Winnie the Pooh' is hand drawn, this one is made on computers."

Jack: "Then they put all the pictures they made into one big moving part!"

Joel: "So do you think this movie is too scary for little kiddos?"

Corrie: "It's not the most kid friendly movie in the world...it's not like 'Winnie the Pooh' or 'Kipper'"

Jack: "It's a little bloody..."

Corrie: "There's no blood!"

Joel: "It made me think of the two ladies in my life, the mommy and the girl in our house, but you guys don't fight like that.  And mommy doesn't get to pick out your husband for you.  Did you like the archery scene Corrie?"

Corrie: "That was really fun."

Joel: "Do you want to shoot archery like that."

Corrie:  "I liked it when I shot the middle of the target when we went."

Joel: "How many did she get in the middle of the target?  All of them!  She was walking across the targets and the last one she split the arrow?"

Corrie: "Yeah the guy had shot it in the middle and then she split it."

Joel: "What's your favorite Pixar movie?"

Corrie: "This one!"

Jack: "I like a lot of them..."

Corrie: "The one I liked best before was 'Tangled' that's Pixar isn't it?"

Joel: "Actually, that's a Disney movie but not Pixar..."

Jack: "WOO HOO-My favorite Pixar movie is....IS.....I don't know..."

Joel: "OK...Jack is now just talking loud to watch the sound needle go up...allright, that's all for now."