4. Brave
Brave is infamous among the Pixar back catalogue for its troubled production. When first announced, it seemed a breath of a fresh air the boys own studio deciding to put more feminine influences onscreen. Directed by Brenda Chapman and featuring Pixar's first female protagonist, The Bear And The Bow (the original title) was viewed as a continuation of Pixar's innovative methods and Cars aside rarefied form. Really, all the signs looked awesome Chapman had a brilliant CV featuring animation classics like The Prince Of Egypt and The Lion King, and her story was personal (apparently inspired by her relationship with her daughter) and long in the making. Yet after the relative disappointment of the marketed-at-girls The Princess And The Frog, she was replaced with the very male-sounding Mark Andrews, who was tasked with giving the film a broader appeal. Weirdly, this message-change seemed to play out in the final cut in the film. Advertising surrounding the release made it clear that it was about a Scottish princess's quest to rid herself of the male-dominated society's demands, and this theme was given no better vignette than when she ruins her constricting dress to best her would-be suitors at archery. It was a bold message, and one people tend to pile into cinemas for. Yet this wasn't what we ended up with, and people who came in expecting a story of female empowerment in the Dark Ages would've come away disappointed. Instead, while the story starts with Merida subverting expectations, it soon settles into a much more conventional plot concerning mother-daughter relationships. Sure, it was still good this is Pixar, after all but it was a crying shame compared to what it could've been.