Pixar return to their tear jerking, narrative absorbing best with Brave, a rousing tale about the blessings and consequences of breaking with tradition, and the love between mothers and daughters.

Last year Pixar found themselves in an unusual situation when Cars 2 failed to set the world on fire. Does the highly acclaimed animation studio have something to prove with Brave? Yes and no. While they are the team that dominated the animation field with classic such as Toy Story and The Incredibles, all dynasties must face obstacles to prove their greatness and in Brave Pixar has clamoured back to their position as top dog of the animation world.

It has not been an easy task. Brave has been in development for 8 years when it was first known as The Bear and Bow, and things got interesting when director Brenda Chapman (credited here as co-director) was replaced with Mark Andrews, a first time director who has been with Pixar for 12 years as a story consultant and technician. Impressively Brave does not feel the brunt of such a massive mid production change with story, animation, voice performances and pacing all in top form and is sure to be the animated film to beat come those end of year awards.

In a first for Pixar Brave features a leading female protagonist in Merida (Kelly Macdonald) a Scottish princess whose defiance of her royal duties – most notably marrying a suitor from one of three tribal clans – fractures the relationship with her mother (Emma Thompson) and sets about a chain of events that threatens to tear her family and kingdom apart.

There is no need to get into a vital plot development (not featured in the trailers) that will surprise many, but what can be said is that Brave is a film sure to make a unique impression of an often overlooked demographic: young girls.

Don’t fear young lads, there is plenty of top quality action adventure and storytelling resonance to make quite the impact. Yet the individual achievements and mistakes made by Merida, to go along with the relationship with her mother will make for inspirational and entertaining viewing for girls whether child, teen or adult, with Brave doing for mother and daughters what Finding Nemo did for fathers and sons.

Everyone else will also take to the central relationship as well as many other elements such as the technical magnificence of the animation design, from Merida’s bouncing red curls to the landscape of the Scottish highlands, shine in exquisite detail. Great to is the rowdy shenanigans of King Ferguss (excellently voiced by Billy Connolly), the varied lords and their clansmen who entertain with their macho swagger and love of a good punch up.

While some moments are sure to scare young tots, Brave achieves its goal of being an accessible and entertaining film that Pixar excels in making. Most importantly it gives Pixar’s competitors a bar to raise their standards to. 2012 was an especially weak year for animation. Hopefully Brave has set the tone for a vast improvement.