New Images From Pixar's Brave Give Us A Better Look At The Bears

In addition to giving us a fair introduction to the lead character and her family, the recently released trailer for Pixar's Brave also gave us a glimpse of the adventure awaits Merida, a Scottish girl who's looking to change her fate. These recently released photos offer a closer look at a few moments featured in the trailer, including that final scene.

Brave tells the story of Merida (Kelly Macdonald), a girl living in the Scottish highlands, who's also the daughter to King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). As the recently latest trailer indicates, she isn't happy with her place in life or what's expected her and is determined to change her fate. This leads her on a dangerous adventure where bravery is likely a requirement for survival.

The first of the three photos released is a familiar sight, as we've seen Merida taking aim in the videos. Still, it's a nice close-up of her profile…

The other two give us a better look at some of the bears we saw in the trailer. Between these two pictures and the trailer, I was inspired to come up with a theory about the plot. It's just a guess, but if you'd rather not speculate on the story beyond what we already know, don't read beyond the photos below!

Speculation ahead…

The bears seem like they may be fairly (if not majorly) relevant Merida's adventure. There's a moment in the trailer when we see Merida walking with a bear. She doesn't seem to be afraid of it, as it's walking behind her through the woods. And in the second of the above two photos, not only does it look like she's reaching out for the bear, but the bear that's looking back at her appears to be frightened and possibly even reaching out for her. The claw coming from below seems more menacing, but that may not be the case. So, it might not be a stretch to suggest that the bears aren't the source of the danger in this story. In fact, I'm going to take it further and theorize that the bears are her family…

Just to break down my thought process here, the description for the film references a "beastly curse," which Merida must undo before it's too late. Could it be that somehow Merida's family members have been turned into bears? One of the photos above features three small, adorable little bears. Three (possibly blue-eyed?) bears to match the three small, adorable boys introduced to us in the trailer as Merida's brothers? Again, it's just a theory, but family seems to a focus of this story, with the phrase, "In every age, family is king, and the bravest journeys are never taken alone," used in the trailer. Perhaps the result of her wish to change her fate is a curse put on her family, transforming them into bears, and leaving her (and her family) to try to find a way to undo it. Is it completely out there or does it make sense?

Of course, it's also entirely possible that the bears we see are another example of family, meant to reflect Merida's own family and help her appreciate what she has at home. That's another possibility. We'll have to wait and see

Brave arrives in theaters on June 22. More information, photos and videos can be found in our Blend Film Database.

Kelly West
Assistant Managing Editor

Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.