Originally Posted By basil fan I've encountered a couple of teens online who seem like they didn't "get" the ending to this movie. Their recap of the film has Merida covering the bear with the tapestry and beginning to cry when she thinks it won't work the way it's supposed to. Then, *whew* it does work after all and her mum turns human. Now I only saw it once, but I thought it was pretty evident that Merida's thoughts on the tapestry were off, that it was her relationship with her mother that was torn and had to be repaired. Thus when she realized or admitted she loved Elinor, the spell was broken. Have you encountered other viewers who didn't "get" it? Or am I off base here? Guilty! The Disney Villains www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/villain.html
Originally Posted By mawnck While I don't think you're off base, I don't think your teens are either. It did have a bit of the traditional Disney "She's dead! No she's not!" thing going. Once you've seen it several times (Snow White, Pinocchio, Baloo, Gurgi, Beast, Robin Hood, Aurora, Trusty, and, ahem, Basil) it gets a bit old, regardless of the explanation.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x Was anyone else reminded of Beauty and the Beast when Merida said, "I love you" at the end? I cried the first time, and cried even harder when she had changed back. I seriously thought Pixar was going to throw us for a loop! My daughter was crying tonight when we saw it, and I had to tell her, "keep watching!" because she had her head buried in my arm. Like me the first time I saw it, she was sobbing. I cried this time, but because I knew what was going to happen, that emotional roller coaster wasn't there.
Originally Posted By danyoung I actually didn't like that whole element to the film. Pixar has brought us some totally unique stories. And now they fall back on the basic princess story. Seemed like some of the old guard at Disney had a little too much to do with this story.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I was a little confused by it. I figured that the bond to be mended was their relationship, but then the focus was on the tapestry. Yes, the tapestry was symbolic of their relationship, but it was never really clear that the relationship changed all that much. Merida taught her mom to catch dinner, gave the speech to the other clans, and ended in a nice little montage, but it was never really clear that they did anything in particular to become closer to eachother. Obviously, to have the happy ending, they did mend the emotional bond, however I would have liked to see a little more of that in the film. I was hoping that Merida would realize at some point that the tapestry was a red herring, and focus more on the relationship, but they decided to take the more obvious route. Overall, the film sets itself up to be something pretty unique and fresh, but the way that the resolution was handled just left me wanting something more.
Originally Posted By lady_tramp mawnck, I appreciate your point and do think the "not really dead" plot resolution has been done ... uh, to death, BUT there are a few times when the character does stay dead ... Bambi's mother, Mufasa, and Sitka (although he's transformed after death to an eagle spirit) all come to mind. And just to be fair, Trusty would have stayed dead (and does in the Ward Greene novelization) if Peggy Lee hadn't persuaded Walt to let him live. (Apparently years later there was a similar discussion over Chief in F&H, which actually got pretty heated. In my opinion, both pictures would have been stronger if those dogs hadn't just "played dead.") But your point is still valid.
Originally Posted By basil fan Although the "I think he's dead" plot is a pretty easy way to create a climax (Finding Nemo uses it multiple times!), not all of your examples fit the mold. Trusty, Baloo, etc. are believed to be dead, but they just aren't. Aurora is never believed to be dead; everybody knows its a sleeping spell that can be broken if they can just get their hands on that prince. Just sayin'.
Originally Posted By basil fan To be fair to Disney, I don't think any of the named movies would be any better if the character really did die. Except maybe Finding Nemo.
Originally Posted By basil fan Interesting as this discussion is, it's still kind of off-topic. I was just wondering if anyone else encountered viewers who didn't understand that the tapestry was not the cure for bear-changing-into-ism. Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Goof <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/goof.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/...oof.html</a>
