I begin by examining the queen’s transformation into a bear (which is at once masculine, sexual, monstrous, and abject), and what that entails for both Merida and Elinor.

Although Elinor is a bear for almost half the film, I argue that the maturity and subjectivity of the adolescent protagonist as daughter and princess come not just from a sense of agency, but also as a result of the bond she shares with her mother, a feature often missing from Disney princess films. During the course of the film, however, Merida feels the need to silence her mother (by turning the latter into a bear) in order to be heard. At first glance, it seems as though Merida has a strong voice, and by standing up to her parents and refusing to go through with the betrothal they have arranged, it does seem as if she has agency and an established subject position as a headstrong tomboy.

This paper draws on Kristeva’s theories on abjection, studies on motherhood, and children’s literature scholarship to better understand the relationship between Merida, the adolescent protagonist, and her mother, Elinor, in the Disney-Pixar film Brave.

Disney brave mom