New Pixar film Brave set in Scottish highlands

Stars Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane

Pixar – the CG animation powerhouse behind hits such as Finding Nemo, Up and Wall-E – are turning their attention to Scottish shores for their next feature, Brave. Due to be released on Fri 17 Aug 2012, it stars Kelly Macdonald as the voice of Merida, a headstrong Scottish princess determined to carve her own path in life. When she inadvertently unleashes a powerful malevolent force in her parents’ kingdom, she has to summon her own courage to defeat it.

The film stars an excellent line-up of Scottish and British acting talent – as well as Macdonald, the likes of Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd and Julie Walters all lend their vocal chords as various inhabitants of the highland kingdom.

As you can see from the pictures and trailer below, Pixar have once again applied their expertise in creating a lush and immersive environment – and not without some small references to that other Scottish film starting with B. Auburn-haired warriors of the world will also no doubt be pleased to see a ginger in the lead role.