15 Best Animated Movie Moments Of The Decade
7. Brave - Merida’s Archery
Pixar clearly knew what they had with this scene. Brave was a fantastic movie right from the off, although as soon as the mother became a bear it began to unravel. The most popular trailer though avoided the traditional spray of scenes to focus on a snapshot: Merida’s archery.
The scene is a brilliant distillation of everything which made Brave great, and is easily the best thing in the film. First off, there’s the quality of animation itself. We see the feather graze Merida’s cheek as Pixar took their attention to detail to new levels.
More than that though, it’s how much Pixar actually does with this scene. The three boys competing for Merida’s hand are all characterised uniquely, instantly, and brilliantly. The way Merida’s dress splits open to reveal her more comfortable clothes is a fantastic piece of visual storytelling too.
It’s only right for Brave to end up here as well. Perhaps more than any other animated movie this decade, Brave was a film made of moments. Together, it didn’t always work in sync, but separately so many set pieces shone.
None moreso than Merida’s archery scene.