Blu-ray review: 'Brave: Ultimate Collector's Edition'

While it's still a shame it took 13 features for Pixar to finally spotlight a female protagonist, the Oscar-winning computer-animation gurus deserve kudos for creating a groundbreaking, emotionally resonant fairy tale that strips the timeworn storytelling style of some of its more troublesome tropes, including the idea that a princess must have a dead mother and a prince charming.

Perhaps the most beautiful of Pixar's consistently eye-popping films, “Brave” is set in the lovely and mystical wilds of ancient Scotland and centers on Princess Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), an impetuous, headstrong teenager with an untamed mane of stunningly rendered flame-hued locks, a jaw-dropping talent with a bow and arrow and no interest at all in following her prim and precise mother Queen Elinor's (Emma Thompson) endless rules of proper princess behavior. Merida is a daddy's girl with nothing but love for her jolly warrior-king father Fergus (Billy Connolly) and little respect for her mother, although the queen is the diplomatic mind who keeps peace between their family and the other three clans that dwell in their corner of the Highlands.

When Elinor decrees that Merida must marry one of the firstborn sons from the other clans' first families and that an archery contest will decide the lass' future husband, Merida rebels, wins the competition and strikes a bargain with a mysterious witch (Julie Walters) that utterly transforms her mother and their relationship.