A few weeks back, ComingSoon.net was invited on a very special trip to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend the junket for DisneyPixar’s Brave, and it was quite an event with clan fighting, archery, Scottish highlander marching bands, haggis, and even John Lasseter in a kilt! (You can see pictures of all of these things in our gallery.)
Pixar Animation’s 13th feature length animated film features the voice of Kelly Macdonald (“Boardwalk Empire,” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) as Merida, a headstrong young princess who prefers riding her horse and archery to the pomp and circumstance of being heir to the throne. While her father (voiced by Billy Connolly) supports her decision, her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson)
At the junket held at Edinburgh’s historic Balmoral Hotel, we had a chance to talk to the lovely Kelly Macdonald about the role as well as actor Kevin McKidd, who actually scored the dual voice role of Lord MacGuffin and his son, one of three suitors vying for Merida’s hand in marriage, the latter a burly kid with such a thick Scottish accent that even his father can’t understand him.
In the exclusive video interviews below, both actors talk about how they got involved with the movie and how their accents were developed for their respective characters. Macdonald talks about how she tapped into her younger self to play the teenage Merida while McKidd about why he wasn’t able to do any of his scenes with the other Lords (including one voice by Craig Ferguson). Lastly, they both talked about the experience of first seeing their seeing how their voices were used for these animated characters.
Brave opens nationwide on Friday, June 22.
Look for our interviews with director Mark Andrews, producer Katherine Sarafian and Pixar founder John Lasseter later this week, but in the meantime, you can check out our pictures from the very special dinner hosted by Lasseter at Edinburgh’s exclusive Prestonfield House in our gallery. It was pretty surreal, especially the presentation of the haggis during dinner, plus there are also pictures of Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, who sings the song “Touch the Sky” for the movie, and as promised, John Lasseter in a kilt!
