Princess Power - A review of "Brave"

Let's face it Disney princesses aren't exactly known for being kick ass, from the earliest days of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty their main characteristics have always been focused on their beauty and their overwhelming kindness to small woodland creatures.
 And of course their main aim in life is to nab the handsome Prince who generally comes along and does all of the heroic, fighty stuff before whisking them away to happily ever afterville.
 But be not downhearted fellow sisters, Disney has finally bucked the trend and made a stand for womenslib with their new heroine Merida, a fiesty scottish Princess from Brave.
 I saw this film in New York and was pleasantly surprised to see a wild and endearing princess with a mass of red curls fighting against her mothers constant attempts to turn her daughter into a respectable lady.
The irrespressible Merida loves to ride in the woods and is a crack shot with her bow and arrow and is none too pleased to discover the plans being made for her to be married to one of the eligible suitors from another clan.
 The story heads down an unusual path for Disney, our heroine is not interested in marriage or men and wants to make her own choices, she meets a witch and begs her give her a spell which will change her fate. The resulting magic muffin (?) is then eaten by Merida's mother but rather then affecting her decisions it turns her into a bear (honestly.)
 The rest of the film follows Merida and her mother as they attempt to reverse the spell and heal their relationship.
 
 I think Disney have made a great decision here by giving their heroine real personality and for once not focussing on a love story. I am sure that children - especially girls - will love this story and how marvellous to have a role model princess who's not just a ginger but a tomboy too!
 It really is very entertaining, plenty of humour and action and I'd heartily recommend it for the kids this summer hols. And parents should check out Billy Connoly's voiceover talent as Merida's dad.

 Well done Disney for finally offering girls a real heroine and I vote for more kick ass princesses in the future or even - shock horror - a girl who isn't a princess at all ?