'BRAVE' - MiceChat Reviews

Howdy Pards,

Box office estimate as of July 8th,

Domestic:	$174,519,000	82.7%
+ Foreign:	$36,600,000	17.3%
= Worldwide:	$211,119,00

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

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Originally Posted by Wild Ol' Dan

Howdy Pards,

Box office estimate as of July 8th,

Domestic:	$174,519,000	82.7%
+ Foreign:	$36,600,000	17.3%
= Worldwide:	$211,119,00

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

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As always, let's not get carried away with numbers. Theater owners and film distributors split box office receipts roughly 50/50. Cut the total worldwide box office total in half and that is about what Disney/Pixar has pocketed to to date. A film needs to make about twice its production costs to break close to even. If it makes three times the production costs, then its successful.

Check The Amazing Spiderman box office receipts (roughly 340 million on a 200 million dollar movie in 6 days) and you can see what a successful run it is shaping up to be. Brave will run up against Ice Age this week and will have pretty much run its course. Financially, DreamWork's Madagascar 3 looks to be the bigger success for CGI animated movies. Pixar missed. But help is on the way. Disney's Wreck-it Ralph and Pixar's Monsters University should be HUGE hits.

Thing about BRAVE is how 1 dimensional the story is. Yes, I know there's emotional layers but you can get it all on the first viewing. A lot of people are skipping out on multiple viewings like they do for most Pixar films.

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Originally Posted by Coheteboy

Thing about BRAVE is how 1 dimensional the story is. Yes, I know there's emotional layers but you can get it all on the first viewing. A lot of people are skipping out on multiple viewings like they do for most Pixar films.

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Good point. Clowns like me went to see Toy Story 3 - 3 times in the theater including IMAX 3D. A billion dollar movie, I contributed my share to the pot. I waffled back and forth on whether to see Brave in the theaters and ultimately decided against it. I just didn't see the story compelling enough though the previews in the theaters in 3D looked beautiful. I can wait to rent it and if I like it, would consider buying a Blu-Ray edition.

I used to buy every Pixar movie when it was released on DVD/Blu-Ray. That streak ended with inexplicably bad Cars 2. With purchase streak now broken, I'm not even compelled to buy Brave sight unseen. This is one of Pixar's great successes beyond the box office. There are few enough movies made over a reasonably short period of time that many people own all of them including the shorts. A run of movies that are 'meh' and the Pixar compulsion to own them all may begin to fade.

Howdy Pards,

As of July 9th,

Domestic:	$176,510,299	82.8%
+ Foreign:	$36,600,000	17.2%
= Worldwide:	$213,110,299

FOREIGN TOTAL	-	6/20/12	$13,500,000	36.9%	$36,600,000	7/8/12
Here are the Foreign Countries it has been released in so far...
Australia	Disney	6/21/12	$2,526,943	22.9%	$11,023,859	7/8/12
Bolivia	Disney	6/21/12	$82,431	59.4%	$138,673	7/1/12
India	Disney	6/22/12	-	-	$366,994	7/1/12
Indonesia	Disney	6/22/12	$363,004	34.5%	$1,051,580	7/1/12
Malaysia	Disney	6/21/12	$285,654	32.6%	$876,482	7/1/12
New Zealand	Disney	6/21/12	$397,306	26.8%	$1,483,815	7/8/12
Russia - CIS	Dis./Sony	6/21/12	$5,369,166	45.2%	$11,866,533	7/1/12
Ukraine	B and H	6/21/12	$435,954	47.9%	$909,772	7/1/12

Will cross the $200,000,000 Domestic mark very soon...
Is not scheduled to open in Great Britain till August...headed for tremendous box office, Blu-ray and DVD success...yet another spectacular PIXAR blockbuster! Great film...I've now seen and enjoyed three times!!!

1	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
2	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
3	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
4	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
5	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
6	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
7	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06
8	WALL-E	BV	$223,808,164	3,992	$63,087,526	3,992	6/27/08
9	Ratatouille	BV	$206,445,654	3,940	$47,027,395	3,940	6/29/07
10	Toy Story	BV	$191,796,233	2,574	$29,140,617	2,457	11/22/95
11	Cars 2	BV	$191,452,396	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24/11
12	Brave	BV	$176,510,299	4,164	$66,323,594	4,164	6/22/12
13	A Bug's Life	BV	$162,798,565	2,773	$291,121	1	11/20/98

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

So here's my two cents.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Spoiler::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::

So, I went and watched Brave and my friends and I hashed it out and I think I figured some of the problems. First of all, visually freaking stunning (duh) and I'm pretty sure I might have paid just to go see Merida's hair and the animation on her and her mom's dresses. I could see the weave on the cotton for gods sake. However, the movie overall was a bit disappointing. You can totally tell where the new director came in halfway because the movie shifts gears so hard it almost gave me whiplash. It goes from campy, happy comedy to deadly serious action flik. They also never explain why exactly Merida equates marriage with loss of freedom or why she doesn't want to do it. They make it crystal clear from the beginning that her mother wears the pants in Clan Dunbroch and that all major decisions are hers. Her parents love each other and only occasionally (usually about Merida) disagree. So what makes her hate the idea of so much that she is willing to start a civil war? No one knows... I also found it incredibly off putting when Merida is joking about the Clans declaring war. This land hasn't been at peace for long and the alliance is tenuous. She knows that. She doesn't care at all that men will die just because she doesn't want to get married?! Not even a little? It was so callous and cold hearted it really threw me out of the film. Particularly when we have no idea why she is so set against marriage in the first place. She hasn't even met the guys yet. Also, does Elinor never explain any of this to her? We see her lecturing about what to do or not to do but never WHY it shouldn't be done. The why of the responsibilities and privileges of royalty and the power that Merida's choice will have over the land. Lazy story telling and that made if feel incomplete as a storyline for me.

Another issue I have with it that I haven't pointed out anywhere else because I'm sure no one else remembers is that pretty much everything in this story wise is directly ripped off from Brother Bear. The didn't even pick a different animal! They changed the brothers to the mom and added better animation and poof it's a different story!?! Really Pixar, really? I know things have got to be rough because the Brain Trust is too busy to do all the movies and you're having to pull in your B teams but there has got to be better than this on the bench. Right?

Of course, everyone should go see it because it's freaking beautiful and there are some really funny scenes and good actions sequences that are totally worth it. If it were any other studio making it everyone would think it was amazing but Pixar just has too much impressive history for this one to be considered good work from them.

Thought I'd share this.

Brave is about to be released in Japan on July 21st (Saturday, a common release day in Japan), and, like many films, the title is altered to better fit the Japanese market. There, the film is titled メリダとおそろしの森 (Merida to Osoroshi no Mori ; Merida and the Forest of Fear).

The film is, naturally, dubbed in Japanese. Singer Yuko Oshima, of the huge (and hugely popular) girl group AKB48, provides the voice for Merida, and singer Miu Sakamoto will be the voice behind the ending theme of the film.

tokyohive | Merida to Osoroshi no Mori

Here's the movie poster:


http://i48.tinypic.com/28gtl3n.jpg

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Disney/Pixar's Brave, in its fourth weekend, was number four with $10.7 million and a gross-to-date of $195.6 million.

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Box Office Report: 'Ice Age: Continental Drift' Stays Afloat with a $46 Million Opening - The Hollywood Reporter

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No. 5, Brave released by Disney, is playing in 17 foreign markets, and drew $6.5 million on the weekend. Pixar’s latest animation title has grossed $46.8 million offshore compared with its $195.6 million domestic cume.

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Foreign Box Office: 'Ice Age 4' Reclaims No. 1 Berth, 'Amazing Spider-Man' Slips To Second Place - The Hollywood Reporter

I thought Brave was great, until (spoiler alert!) her mom turned into a bear.

I understand that they were trying to tie it in with her fathers story but it seemed a little too forced to me. Why would the witch know or care that her mom turned into a bear? She didn't seem like a meddling type character to me. And if the witch didn't have control over what she turned into, what was the deciding factor for her to be a bear? This seemed unexplored and didn't validate the story enough to me.

Also, for Merida to be such a strong and smart character, it sure took her a long time to realize (another spoiler!) that she needed to fix the tapestry.

This is all on top of the fact that I'm not a big fan of people turning into animals. (The Princess and Frog would have easily been one of the best Disney films of the decade if it hadn't been for all the amphibians. Maybe if she was a frog that turned into a princess or something. Perfect villain though. Wish he was represented more in the parks.) I give Brave a 3.5 out of 5.

Howdy Pards,

Well, as of July 15th, Brave is estimated at...

Domestic:	$195,596,000	80.7%
+ Foreign:	$46,800,000	19.3%
= Worldwide:	$242,396,000

It is projected to be the tenth Pixar film to cross the 200 million dollar domestic gross mark by no later than Thursday, July 19th.

PIXAR DOMESTIC FILM STANDINGS TO DATE:

FILM .................................GROSS............ ................. OPENING

1	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
2	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
3	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
4	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
5	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
6	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
7	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06
8	WALL-E	BV	$223,808,164	3,992	$63,087,526	3,992	6/27/08
9	Ratatouille	BV	$206,445,654	3,940	$47,027,395	3,940	6/29/07
10	Brave	BV	$195,596,000	4,164	$66,323,594	4,164	6/22/12
11	Toy Story	BV	$191,796,233	2,574	$29,140,617	2,457	11/22/95
12	Cars 2	BV	$191,452,396	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24/11
13	A Bug's Life	BV	$162,798,565	2,773	$291,121	1	11/20/98
TOTAL:			$3,226,870,537	-	-	-	-
AVERAGE:			$248,220,811	3,671	$54,933,678	3,153	-

In "Hollywood lingo" this means that Brave is already in the TOP TEN HIGHEST GROSSING PIXAR FILMS of ALL TIME! And headed up!

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

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Originally Posted by awndrayuhh

I thought Brave was great, until (spoiler alert!) her mom turned into a bear.

I understand that they were trying to tie it in with her fathers story but it seemed a little too forced to me. Why would the witch know or care that her mom turned into a bear? She didn't seem like a meddling type character to me. And if the witch didn't have control over what she turned into, what was the deciding factor for her to be a bear? This seemed unexplored and didn't validate the story enough to me.

Also, for Merida to be such a strong and smart character, it sure took her a long time to realize (another spoiler!) that she needed to fix the tapestry.

This is all on top of the fact that I'm not a big fan of people turning into animals. (The Princess and Frog would have easily been one of the best Disney films of the decade if it hadn't been for all the amphibians. Maybe if she was a frog that turned into a princess or something. Perfect villain though. Wish he was represented more in the parks.) I give Brave a 3.5 out of 5.

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Howdy awndrayahh,

First, let me agree with you, I thought Brave was great too!

Now let's explore the story a little...the legend that Queen Elinor related to her daughter...remember? That fourth prince who wanted to be stronger and more powerful than all the rest went to the woodcarver/witch for a spell long, long ago. And, it was then that he asked her for the strength of ten men. She granted that wish with a spell that turned him into the demon bear Mor'du. Yes, the very same bear that attacked Merida's father King Fergus and took his leg.

The woodcarver/witch, seemed to have a particular fondness for bears as evidenced by her many wood carvings...

Now all these years later here comes Princess Merida with a request for a spell to "change her mom". She wasn't very specific about it...so the witch created a spell cake that would, indeed change her mom...into a bear. Ahhh...but there was a way to get her back... "Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond, torn by pride."

When Merida stumbled into the ruins of the old castle she sees in the shadows a stone carving of the four princes...broke into two pieces separating one prince from the three others...just like the tapestry of her family she split with a sword earlier.

She begins to piece it all together... understanding that the legend her mom had told her was true...and the spell had happened before. Now it became a race against time...until the sunrise of the second day.

It all made perfect sense...an exciting story, a thrilling story...in which Queen Elinor discovers some things about her Brave daughter...and in which Princess Merida discovers some things about her Brave Mom, the Queen. To my way of thinking it's a celebration of family...a celebration of the free spirited red-head named Merida...her mom, dad, and three little brothers. A celebration of Scotland...it's beauty...it's history...it's legends. I gave Brave not one, two, three, or four...but FIVE stars all the way! I've seen it three times in the theater so far...and can't wait to see it again! There's magic in those woods...magic in watching Merida and Angus running free...and, there's lessons to be learned as well.

I found the film to be a complete joy...a celebration of life!

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

Howdy Pards,

Well, it's Thursday, July 19th, and, as predicted, Brave has crossed the 200 million dollar Domestic mark and is headed UP...as of yesterday July 18th...

Domestic:	$201,217,358	81.1%
+ Foreign:	$46,800,000	18.9%
= Worldwide:	$248,017,358

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
2	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
3	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
4	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
5	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
6	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
7	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06
8	WALL-E	BV	$223,808,164	3,992	$63,087,526	3,992	6/27/08
9	Ratatouille	BV	$206,445,654	3,940	$47,027,395	3,940	6/29/07
10	Brave	BV	$201,217,358	4,164	$66,323,594	4,164	6/22/12
11	Toy Story	BV	$191,796,233	2,574	$29,140,617	2,457	11/22/95
12	Cars 2	BV	$191,452,396	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24/11
13	A Bug's Life	BV	$162,798,565	2,773	$291,121	1	11/20/98
TOTAL:			$3,232,491,895	-	-	-	-
AVERAGE:			$248,653,223	3,671	$54,933,678	3,153	-

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

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Originally Posted by Wild Ol' Dan

Howdy Pards,

Well, it's Thursday, July 19th, and, as predicted, Brave has crossed the 200 million dollar Domestic mark and is headed UP...as of yesterday July 18th...

Domestic:	$201,217,358	81.1%
+ Foreign:	$46,800,000	18.9%
= Worldwide:	$248,017,358

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
2	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
3	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
4	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
5	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
6	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
7	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06
8	WALL-E	BV	$223,808,164	3,992	$63,087,526	3,992	6/27/08
9	Ratatouille	BV	$206,445,654	3,940	$47,027,395	3,940	6/29/07
10	Brave	BV	$201,217,358	4,164	$66,323,594	4,164	6/22/12
11	Toy Story	BV	$191,796,233	2,574	$29,140,617	2,457	11/22/95
12	Cars 2	BV	$191,452,396	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24/11
13	A Bug's Life	BV	$162,798,565	2,773	$291,121	1	11/20/98
TOTAL:			$3,232,491,895	-	-	-	-
AVERAGE:			$248,653,223	3,671	$54,933,678	3,153	-

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

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Again... always caution when dealing with box office numbers. Of the $248,000,000 Brave has made in box office gross, only about half goes to Disney/Pixar. The theater owners get the other half. Since Brave had about a $185,000,000 budget, it is approaching the break even point though usually, the $185,000,000 production cost does not include the cost to market the film. The bulk of Brave's profits will come out of the DVD/Blu-Ray sales which remains fairly strong for Disney and Pixar movies (unlike the rest of the home video sales market).

Charts that reflect number comparrisons with other Pixar movies normally do not account form inflation. It not only costs much more money to make a movie these days, it costs once to see it, thus it is unfair to compare Brave with original Toy Story and A Bug's Life both made in the 90's unless the chart being used adjusts for inflation. Comparing Brave with last year's Cars 2 is a fairer comparison.

Howdy Pards,

As of July 23rd, 2012...

Domestic:	$209,748,406	74.8%
+ Foreign:	$70,500,000	25.2%
= Worldwide:	$280,248,406

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	Toy Story 3	BV	$415,004,880	4,028	$110,307,189	4,028	6/18/10
2	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	3,425	$70,251,710	3,374	5/30/03
3	Up	BV	$293,004,164	3,886	$68,108,790	3,766	5/29/09
4	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	3,933	$70,467,623	3,933	11/5/04
5	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	3,649	$62,577,067	3,237	11/2/01
6	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	3,257	$300,163	1	11/19/99
7	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	3,988	$60,119,509	3,985	6/9/06
8	WALL-E	BV	$223,808,164	3,992	$63,087,526	3,992	6/27/08
9	Brave	BV	$209,748,406	4,164	$66,323,594	4,164	6/22/12
10	Ratatouille	BV	$206,445,654	3,940	$47,027,395	3,940	6/29/07
11	Toy Story	BV	$191,796,233	2,574	$29,140,617	2,457	11/22/95
12	Cars 2	BV	$191,452,396	4,115	$66,135,507	4,115	6/24/11
13	A Bug's Life	BV	$162,798,565	2,773	$291,121	1	11/20/98
TOTAL:			$3,241,022,943	-	-	-	-
AVERAGE:			$249,309,457	3,671	$54,933,678	3,153	-

Adios for now. Talk to ya on down the trail.

Wild Ol' Dan

Worldwide Box Office: $442.4 million