

She begs for a magic spell that will change Queen Elinor's mind, but it changes more than that: It turns Elinor into a bear.

Merida leaps upon her trusty steed and flees into the forest, where her friends the will-o-the-wisps lead her to the cottage of a gnarled old witch ( Julie Walters). Nothing doing, especially since all three candidates are doofuses. Then we flash forward to Merida as a young lady of marriageable age, who is startled by request from Queen Elinor ( Emma Thompson) to choose among three possible husbands chosen by her clan. The princess is Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald), seen in an action-packed prologue as a flame-haired Scottish tomboy whose life is changed by an early birthday gift of a bow, which quickly inspires her to become the best archer in the kingdom.
