By Ashley Bergner, Box Office Buzz
Merida, the star of Pixar’s new animated movie “Brave,” isn’t exactly your typical Disney princess. Instead of spending her days in a castle pining for “prince charming,” the Scottish princess (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) loves to be outdoors, riding her horse through open fields, climbing up the side of steep cliffs and practicing archery. She’s strong-willed and fiercely independent — traits that often put her at odds with her mother, Queen Elinor, who’d rather she be a more traditional, demure lady.
The conflict between the mother and daughter comes to a head when Queen Elinor announces the clans of the kingdom will be gathering, and the chiefs’ sons will be competing for Merida’s hand in marriage. Merida hates the idea of a forced betrothal and tries to purchase a spell from a witch that will “change her fate.” However, the spell doesn’t work out quite like she planned, and instead it brings a curse down on her family. The princess must work to heal bonds that have been broken and find a way to save her family’s kingdom before the curse becomes permanent. Continue reading
Welcome to Phantom Who, a new feature designed to go along with the Earth Station Who podcast, which I co-host. There I am known as “Dave” because “Phantom Troublemaker” takes up too much room on the stationary. Every other week there will be a new podcast discussing all things Doctor Who, with a central discussion about a particular story.
Fresh off our invasion of Earth Station One – we’re back on the underwater continent with prisoners! Mike Faber, creator of Earth Station One, joins us for an interview during our Transmissions Received segment. We also review Disney/Pixar’s new hit animated movie, Brave.
