Another classic Disney movie about saving the world—but this time, what’s the price?

I finally watched Brave after much procrastination, and it was a fun little mix of Tangled‘s animation and character setup, combined with Brother Bear‘s storyline (if any of you remember that one). The ending doesn’t leave much to build on for a potential Brave II, unless they explore the mystery of the spirits or explain what happened to the witch.

These elements were never fully addressed, nor was it made clear why Merida was chosen in the first place. Maybe I just missed that part.

Personally, I think the legend was a bit pointless, though it did play a slight role. In the end, Merida didn’t really learn anything new from it, other than the obvious lesson: fix your mistakes. She already knew that when she turned her mother into a bear! The story mostly reminded her of the consequences of her actions, which she only truly figured out much later when she realized the curse had a permanent issue.

In the end, the prince didn’t fix it either, and you see his “regret” by the end of the film—his acknowledgment or relief of being free.

So, I guess the moral of the story is: Don’t turn your mother into a bear, kids. Lesson learned.