Two-time Oscar-winner Emma Thompson
provides the voice of Elinor, the Scottish Queen who has her own plan in mind
for her daughter Merida—a plan that’s been predestined since long before either
of them was born, in Disney/Pixar's new 3D animated feature, “Brave.”
Emma Thompson as Queen Elinor |
A
vision of grace, wisdom and strength of character, Queen Elinor is fiercely
dedicated to the well-being of her family and kingdom. As the measured,
diplomatic counterpoint to her more impulsive husband, King Fergus, Elinor
carries the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders in order to maintain the
fragile peace between the volatile clans. Elinor strives to instill in Merida the
knowledge and manner of a royal, expecting complete commitment to Elinor’s
standards. But her vision of her daughter’s future is at odds with Merida’s
rebellious spirit and desire to forge her own path, which ultimately causes
Elinor to face calamitous consequences.
Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios |
“Elinor
is beautiful, but under a great deal of pressure,” says production designer
Steve Pilcher, “which is tough to showcase visually. We added a shock of white
hair that really shows her backstory—this woman has suffered some stress in her
life, her daughter’s rebellion is likely just the tip of the iceberg. That
unspoken history and bit of imperfection makes Elinor more interesting.”
According
to Pilcher, the design team studied paintings of Lady Macbeth, among other
tragic heroines, incorporating the heavy robes and thick fabrics they observed
to illustrate the weight Elinor bears. Emma Thompson says it’s that attention
to detail and intense research that makes Pixar successful. “I was terribly
pleased to be asked to come and work for Pixar, because their films are works
of genius and extraordinary art,” she says. “And the thing that really made me
want to do ‘Brave’ even more than my worship of their work is that it was set
in Scotland. I’m half Scottish, and I live there for three or four months of
the year. Scotland to me is the land of the free, the land of the brave. The
Scottish landscape is epic and lends itself to epic emotion.
“Scotland
is really a character in the film,” Thompson continues. “The filmmakers didn’t
just look it up in a book. They went off and spent all this time in Scotland
looking at different landscapes, addressing the landscape with the story.
There’s a real connection with the countryside—they loved it as everyone does
because it’s the most beautiful country in the world.”
Thompson
also had an affinity for her character. “Queen Elinor is a character I like
very much because at one time she was quite feisty—Merida’s spirited
personality comes not only from her father but from her mother as well—but
Elinor has managed to put that stuff she had when she was young in a box and
she’s stitched it up nicely. The two of them have to work out which bits of the
other they’re okay with containing and becoming.”
Co-director
Mark Andrews says Thompson captured the essence of Elinor. “Emma is royalty in
the acting world and she knows exactly what Elinor needed to be. She is queenly
and regal and noble, but at the same time, she can be bawdy and funny. She can
be very serious and theatrical—then crack a joke. That’s exactly who our queen
is. Emma gives Elinor just the right amount of emotion, earthiness and humor.”
Animators
often reference video footage of the actors recording their lines and sometimes
incorporate subtle gestures, expressions and mannerisms into the characters’
physical performances. Thompson could see a bit of herself in Elinor. “I love
the way they’ve captured my eyebrows in my character. My eyebrows are always in
this kind of questioning, slightly worried shape, and they got that just
right.”
Thompson
concludes, “‘Brave’ is full-hearted, exciting, adventurous and very funny in
many places, yet emotionally rooted in reality. The calibrations of the story
and the way it moves emotionally is pure Pixar; it’s real and beautiful. It has
everything I would want in a story, including just enough magic to make
trouble.”
Distributed
by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, “Brave” takes aim at
Philippine theaters on August 01, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™
in select theaters.
No comments:
Post a Comment