I thought that this movie was okay, but did not live up to expectations. I agree with everything that is being said about a strong princess character. I have three daughters of my own and want them to understand that they are capable of anything they set their mind on achieving. With that said, why did Disney/Pixar have to completely bash men to get this point across? I also have two sons and there was not one male character to look up to in Brave. Meridas dad was portrayed as a moron that could not make a good decision to save his life. Now, I agree that our wives will often keep us out of trouble and correct some of our poor decisions, but we (men) are capable of being responsible and making good decisions. Meridas triplet brothers were completely out of control and seemed to not respect authority at all nor did anyone try and get them to follow authority. The suitors for Merida and their fathers were wimps, vain, and idiots. All that to say that I hope Disney/Pixar will continue to develop strong princesses but at the same time not demoralize every male character for our boys. I do not want my sons to just assume that they can grow up to be idiots who dont have to respect authority and can just shirk responsibility. This was not the worst move, but I hope it does not become the norm for Disney/Pixar.
As far as Brave being Pixars 4th best film, I would struggle to rank it that high. I would have to put all of the following above Brave: Toy Story (all of them), Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars, Monsters, Inc., and Up. I have not seen Wall E or A Bugs Life, so I am not sure how they compare to Brave. I dont know in what order I would rank Brave, Ratatouille, and Cars 2. So at best, I would rank Brave ninth of all the Disney/Pixar movies.