Teaser Poster For Pixar's Next Film Brave: Can We Skip Ahead To 2012 Already?

With Cars 2 earning some of the worst reviews in Pixar history, it might already be time to start looking forward to their next film, which thankfully isn't a sequel and features the studio's first female heroine. Coming next summer on June 22, Brave is the story of a Scottish girl named Merida who is like many Disney heroines a princess, but also a skilled archer who gets into a ton of adventures that don't seem to involve marriage to a handsome prince. We got our first look at the stunning concept art for the film a few months ago, and now Entertainment Weekly is premiering the poster, which you can see below.



Just like the concept art, the poster focuses on Merida's flaming red hair and not her face-- so far we haven't gotten a clear look at what she'll look like, and I'm wondering if it might be a departure from the rubbery, friendly faces of human characters in other Pixar movies like Up and Ratatouille. In the accompanying EW post co-director Mark Andrews-- who took over last October for original director Brenda Chapman-- emphasizes that Brave might be a little tougher and less cuddly than other Pixar films: “What we want to get across [with the teaser] is that this story has some darker elements. Not to frighten off our Pixar fans — we’ll still have all the comedy and the great characters. But we get a little bit more intense here.”

That sounds great to me, especially after what seems like the factory-assembled, bright and soulless Cars 2 (I haven't seen it, but the fact that I don't want to alone breaks my heart). It's the bummer to think that this is the first year Pixar hasn't released a film that's almost universally beloved, but with Brave at the end of the tunnel, the outlook seems a little less grim.