Japanese 'Brave' Poster Contains New Story Elements

A few weeks back, Disney invited me up to Pixar Animation Studios to watch the first 30 minutes of their new film Brave. The fantastic segment ended just as the main character, Merida, finds a mysterious cabin in the woods (no, not that one). Once the lights came up, everyone realized most everything we've seen from the film – both in clips and trailers – was included in that first 30 minutes of the movie. So what happens in the next hour plus?

A recent Japanese trailer unraveled a bit of that mystery and a new Japanese poster takes it even further. 

Before we get to the poster, a bit of background is needed. Also, while most of what's said below is speculation, it could be considered spoilers. Here goes. To begin, here's the US trailer for Brave.

Having seen the first half hour of the movie, I'm not joking when I say all but maybe a dozen shots from that above trailer are from the beginning of the film.

Compare that to the Japanese trailer here:

Most of that trailer is from the same footage, it's just edited to look like the early action beats are later in the film. However, this trailer talks much more about the "laws of the forest" being broken and shows Merida making the wish that changes the entire course of the movie. That's where the mystery begins.

Which that leads up to the new Japanese poster from IMP Awards (via Pixar Times).

Very similar to the other Brave images but with four major changes. First are foremost is the witch in the back left, voiced by Julie Waters. This is a character who has yet to show her face and is most certainly the person who grants Merida's wish. Then there are the three bears. They're glimpsed in both the other trailers but don't actually seem to fit...until you realized Merida has three brothers. Put the witch, the brothers and the bears together and you start to get an idea where the story of Brave goes.

Check back soon for more on Brave as I have an interview with director Mark Andrews all ready to go.

What do you think of how the film is being marketed different in different countries? Are you curious to see where it goes?