YMMV / Brave

• Accidental Innuendo: Merida declares her intention to enter the betrothal contest for her "own hand".
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • When Merida is feeding Elinor fish while the latter is turned into a bear, Elinor ends up ignoring her self-made "knife and fork" in favor for eating them predator-style. Was this a funny moment of her loosening up a little and realizing she's a bear for heaven's sake, she doesn't need table manners? Or was it a creepy, early hint of her turning into a bear on the inside? Or perhaps both?
  • The Witch's nature is a constant source of interpretation. Does she only specialize in bear-related curses? Does she twist what the buyer asks for into giving them a bear curse? Some have theorized that she may be a Trickster Mentor who gave Merida the curse specifically because she knew how the events of the movie would play out. Her appearance on Once Upon a Time goes with this interpretation; she appears to be villainous but it ends up being a Secret Test of Character.
  • Some say that the real villains of the movie are actually the wisps. Everything was on track for the royal family to talk their way through their problems before the spirits intervened, and it was only through ludicrous luck that they all survived the resulting mess before ending up basically where they were before the spell took effect.
  • One popular interpretation of Merida is that she's not interested in any of the male suitors because she's homosexual or asexual. Though controversially, it still rules out her simply not wanting to get married. This is only strengthened by Once Upon a Time, which, while obviously not canon, does have some Ho Yay between Merida with Mulan, and to a lesser extent, Belle.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Merida herself has become this for a lot of people. Either she's a very believable character with plausible flaws and great Character Development, becoming a wiser person in the process, or a whiny, unsympathetic, selfish and yet another cookie-cutter Tomboy Princess.
  • Elinor on the flipside too. Fans who didn't like Merida see her as a huge woobie dealing with a Bratty Teenage Daughter on top of her Forced Transformation, others saw her as the one in the wrong and keeping Merida down for being so overbearing to her before her Character Development.
  • Some people dislike the Witch because they feel she's either not funny, doesn't fit into the rest of the movie (and not in the good way), and wastes a lot of screen time since Merida and Elinor have to go back and forth between her place and the castle. Others found her a One-Scene Wonder.
  • The triplets. It depends on whether you find their comedic antics funny or annoying.
• Broken Base: The film is easily one of, if not Pixar's most polarizing film amongst fans. Some love it for the mother/daughter dynamic, the gorgeous animation, the darker tone, the use of Celtic mythology, and Merida herself, while others consider it to be one of Pixar's worst films due to its inconsistent tone, predictable story, uneven pacing, and Merida herself.
• Cliché Storm: The most common complaint that's lodged against Brave is that the plot rethreads a lot of ground that's been covered in previous Disney Canon films, like a Rebellious Princess being forced into an arranged marriage by her parent that she's not happy about (Aladdin), or a Rebellious Princess having an ugly falling out with her parent that leads her to foolishly make a deal with a witch to have her heart's desire (The Little Mermaid (1989)), or a main character being magically transformed into a bear and then mistaken for their own murderer by their relative, which leads them to be furiously hunted down for revenge (Brother Bear). Merida's younger brothers also bear more than a passing resemblance to Donald Duck's troublesome nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie. As a result, despite the Scottish setting being unique, the overall premise of Brave feels very overly familiar for a Disney-Pixar film.
• Common Knowledge: Merida is known for being a Celibate Hero who shows no interest in romance, unlike the other Disney Princesses, except that this is not the case in the film. Merida never shows any opposition to being in a romantic relationship in general (it never gets brought up), but rather, she is opposed to being in an Arranged Marriage with a man against her will. Bravely would go on to shoot down the idea entirely by having her get-together with the god Feradach.
• Crossover Ship:
  • A large community of fans have taken to pairing Merida with Hiccup, which is interesting due to the fact that Vikings are the (historically) sworn enemies of Merida's kingdom. This one even has been named "Mericcup."
  • Merida has also been paired up with Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians, Ralph from Wreck-It Ralph, Hawkeye, Flynn Rider, Jim Hawkins and The Once-Ler. On the Les Yay side, she's been paired with Rapunzel, Mulan, Katniss, and Elsa. This isn't even all of them.
  • The Merida/Hiccup/Rapunzel/Jack Frost relationship square has gotten so popular on Tumblr that it's spun off into a fandom of its own.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The triplets, crafty little goofballs that they are, have gained a fanbase despite their limited role.
  • Fergus gets a lot of fandom love for being one of the film's most entertaining characters, and for how much he adores his wife and kids. Also, he's voiced by Billy Connolly, which gets him like a million extra points.
  • Shy and adorable Young MacGuffin is the favorite pick for suitor, partially because he was the pick before it was decided Merida wouldn't choose, and partially because he doesn't have obvious personality or appearance flaws (which is probably why he was the one Merida was going to pick).
• Fan Nickname:
  • The blond, muttering suitor has a lot in common with Boomhauer.
  • The heavily muscled man who belongs to the Dingwall Clan has been dubbed "The Dingwall Hunk". Word of God says his name is "Conan," which is a reference to his inspiration, Conan the Barbarian.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: It is universally agreed that the film's unused working title, The Bear and the Bow, is a far better and more fitting title for the movie than the somewhat more generic final title, "Brave".
• Fanwork-Only Fans: While it has fans, Brave is one of the most controversial Pixar movies and has a So Okay, It's Average reputation. But its main character, Merida? Extremely popular. As such there's a good portion of fans who don't really care about the rest of the movie and are more interesed in fan works involving her character. A major reason why she's a major Crossover Launcher of a Thousand Ships.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • As fanart already pointed out, the film was the fourth film in 2012 to involve archery. The others are The Hunger Games (Katniss), The Avengers (Hawkeye) and Snow White & the Huntsman (William), then the film was followed by The Hobbit (Kíli).
  • Archery-heavy stories in other media released in 2012: Assassin's Creed III and Arrow, for instance. The latter even name-drops Merida in season 4, as the Big Bad's mocking nickname for Oliver Queen's younger sister who joins his vigilantism.
  • Young MacGuffin spoke in a very thick Scottish accent that no one understood, causing him to be The Unintelligible to everyone around him. One of the trailers for Ralph Breaks the Internet shows that Merida is having that exact same problem with talking to the other Disney Princesses.
  • Young Macintosh, a warrior with a large nose, long black hair, and tons of fangirls who loses his temper when things don't go his way has many people thinking of Kylo Ren.
  • Redheaded tomboy with three younger brothers that lives in a supernatural, wooded environment, from a Disney property that premiered June 2012. Are we talking about Merida, or Wendy Corduroy?
  • This wouldn’t be the last time Pixar would make a film about a Fiery Redhead who is pressured by her mother's expectations which also involves a character being turned into a large furry animal and a mother-daughter conflict. Both of the films also feature a Celestial Deadline for getting rid of the characters' animal forms as a major plot point.
  • King Fergus resembles Stoick, Hiccup's father. Come Howto Train Your Dragon 2, we're introduced to Valka, Hiccup's seemingly deceased mother and Stoick's widow, who looks like Elinor.
• I Am Not Shazam: "OMG LOOK IT'S BRAVE!"
• It Was His Sled: Merida unwittingly turns her mother into a bear. What was meant to be a twist, as it was kept a secret in the trailers, is now probably the one thing that anyone talks about when they mention this movie.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Merida. Fans all over the internet are either making up some Crossover Ship for her, pairing her with their OC, or pairing her up with one of the suitors she outright rejected in the movie.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "I don't want to get married! I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen, firing arrows into the sunset!"
  • if yah had te chance tu change yer fate, wood yeruuu
  • "But mommmm ets jast mah booooooooooooooooooooo◊."
• Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: The film is very well-loved in Scotland. It helps that the cast was mostly genuine Scots, and they were encouraged to tweak the dialogue as much as they saw fit, so it certainly sounds authentic.
• Misaimed Fandom:
  • Fangirls still glorify and adore the super rebellious, feisty, self-centered pre-Character Development Merida of the start. You know, the one that the movie forces to grow up through hardships and learning instead of giving into her whims and portraying her as Flawless Head Bitch In Charge?
  • The flipside is that Elinor pre-transformation gets praised for being an awesome mother cursed with a Bratty Teenage Daughter. While a pretty good queen, Elinor has to learn to stop treating her daughter like a student and actually listen to her.
• Misaimed Merchandising: A large chunk of the movie's Disney Princess merchandise has Merida in the dress her mom forced her in and she practically suffocated in.
• Offending the Creator's Own: A minority of Scottish people (many of them Scots-Americans) attacked the film for offensive ethnic stereotypes, despite the number of Scottish actors who enthusiastically took roles in and promoted it. Some also blamed it for the failure of the Scottish-made CGI animated feature Sir Billi (although that one had major flaws of its own, it's considered one of the worst animated films of all time for a reason).
• Older Than They Think: Merida isn't Pixar's first princess. The honor of being Pixar's first princesses goes to Atta and Dot from A Bug's Life, which came out 14 years before Brave. That said, Merida is the first human Pixar princess.
• One-Scene Wonder: The Witch appears very briefly in two scenes, but she's a major catalyst for the film and is really memorable. Mostly because she's hilarious and weird.
• Out of the Ghetto: Despite being marketed at girls, it was one of the highest grossing animated films of 2012 and stacked up Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Oscars for Best Animated Feature by the end of award season.
• Presumed Flop: This is considered one of Pixar's most divisive films and yet another work to come out during the company's well-known rough patch in the early 2010's, especially riding on the heels of the embarrassing reception of Cars 2. At the time, it was not only one of the highest grossing animated films of 2012 (it grossed in the same ballpark as Tangled while costing less), but it also garnered several awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA.
• Ron the Death Eater: Though Merida is a very flawed person, her detractors tend to exaggerate her faults to the point of making her out to be borderline sociopathic. Most notable is the idea that Merida intentionally set out to poison or mind-control her mother, despite the fact that she did not know what the cake would do beyond a vague notion that it would "change" her, or change her fate. Also widespread is the notion that she could have ended the story instantly by simply apologizing to Elinor sooner, despite the terms of the spell being that they needed to "mend what was broken", indicating that both of them needed to make an effort to rebuild their love, not simply say that they were sorry. People also tend to ignore Elinor's faults in this argument - forgetting the movie stressing that both women were in the wrong.
• So Okay, It's Average: Most Pixar fans slap the film with this distinction, feeling that while it's not close the nadir of Cars 2, it's also felt it doesn't reach the heights of a number of the studio's other works.
• They Copied It, So It Sucks!: People tend to think that the "mother turning into a bear" plot twist is just a rehash of Brother Bear. Heck, one scene from Brave is almost shot-for-shot to a similar one in Brother Bear.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character
  • A lot more could've been done with Mor'du. He's a genuinely threatening and scary presence, with an interesting backstory, and there are hints that there's more to him that murderous monster — it's hinted that he genuinely regrets his past actions, and is possibly trying to get himself killed on purpose. Unfortunately, he has nothing to do with the film's actual conflict, so he's mostly just an obstacle. If his story and Merida's had been more intertwined, and his backstory and current situation was explored more, he could've been a truly great Disney villain.
  • The sons of the clan leaders, once one realizes that they are in the same position as Merida. They are forced to be something they're not, in this case, being Merida's ideal husband, but the narrative doesn't focus on that at all, ignoring the angst that they would possibly feel about trying to impress her and live up to their father's standards. It helps that the movie establishes different personalities for each of them, but only to showcase how flawed they are. If they were given a bit more focus, they could've been really interesting characters.
• Trailer Joke Decay: Lord Dingwall mooning the other lords and saying "Feast yer eyes!" was prominently featured in most of the ads.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The work that was needed on Merida's hair to avert No Flow in CGI with a passion was the hardest by far (Pixar even had to develop a new software to animate the thing), and it beautifully shows given how gorgeous and lifelike that big ginger mane of curled hair is.

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