


Yet they've also solved the problem the Pixar way, which means family comes first, whether it's the surrogate bonds of Cars and Toy Story or the close-knit units of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. With the vibrant Scottish adventure Brave, the company sets about solving that political problem by offering a distinctly 21st-century princess - strong and rebellious, swift with a bow and uncompromising in her quest for self-determination. Over the years, the only persistent knock against Pixar is its lack of one thing Disney movies had in spades: female heroines.

Not since Walt Disney's heyday has an animation company enjoyed a creative - and technically innovative - run like Pixar, now on a two-decade stretch that started with Toy Story in 1995 and continued with modern classics like Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, WALL-E, Ratatouille and two Toy Story sequels that took on improbable depth and complexity.
