Bunch Family

Finally, a Disney princess with a mom!

Have you noticed the absence of moms in Disney movies? The heroines, with the exception of Sleeping Beauty, either have a wicked stepmother, or their dad just hasn’t found a new wife. But Princess Merida from Brave seems to have a very present and loving mother in Queen Elinor. Could this be why Merida promises to kick so much ass?

We very much enjoyed this new Mother’s Day spot from Brave and June 22 just can’t get here fast enough.

Have you seen the latest trailer for Brave?

Image via YouTube

Trailer #3 for Disney-Pixar’s Brave

We. Are. So. Excited. For. This. Movie!

We’re hoping that Merida is Katniss for the younger crew and that between Brave, Hunger Games and Snow White and the Huntsman, we’re just going to keep on seeing movies about strong, brave young women. Also, this trailer finally gives us a little better idea as to what the movie’s actually about. Previously, we’d figured that each family had to send someone to compete in some sort of games (not Hunger Games games, more like A Knight’s Tale games), but it turns out that the men are competing for Merida’s hand in marriage and she’s like “Um, no, I can beat them all and so I shouldn’t have to marry any of these losers.” (Loose paraphrase)

Can’t wait for Brave and need to see some kickass female-centric movies with your kids right now? There’s a Bunchbrary for that.  Read more...

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. Last week we were talking Mom Wars, and now, naturally, come the Dad Wars. With flexible work schedules and partners who make more than they do, more dads are opting to stay at home and watch the kids and they’re getting flack for it.

2. Pixar’s working on a new movie about Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Between the subject matter and the fact that it’s the same team that did Toy Story 3, we have some seriously high hopes for this.

3. Disney, Target and Julie Andrews are all part of National Princess Week. Andrews says being a princess is not all about being beautiful and elegant and stuff, but still, they kind of want you to buy a whole bunch of princess merch. Actually, we prefer our hand-sewn playclews made from the drapes in our governess’ room.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. One Apple fangirl of a mom says the things she’s most grateful to Steve Jobs for, is Pixar.

2. If your 5-year-old gets something and your 15-month-old doesn’t, your toddler knows something is up.

3. Steve Jobs wanted your kids to be bored sometimes. How else will they get creative?

4. Fabulous headline: I gave birth to Veruca Salt.

5. Lily’s parents surprise her with a trip to Disneyland and she’s so excited she can’t even handle it. We hope she has a really, really great trip:

Photo by Loren Javier via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. Big fan of the outdoors? Here’s how to camp with your baby.

2. Getting even less sleep since that second, third or fourth baby came along? Here are some tips to get the whole family sleeping better.

3. Who’s in charge of monitoring the violent video games kids play, the game designers or the parents? Or the government?

4. Family doctors are an endangered species.

5. Yeah, Disney/Pixar’s Brave looks pretty awesome. We’re always down with a badass rebel princess.

Photo by derPlau via Flickr

What we’re reading about today:

Ryan at Pacing the Panic Room confesses that he hates the playground. But his daughter’s at the age when she needs to make some friends.

GeekMom Kathy got a kick out of the “Barbie Blunders” she found over at the National Museum of Play. Did anyone (besides kitsch-loving gay men) buy Earring Magic Ken? What makes the earring magic?

OK, so we all love Buzz Lightyear and Wall-E and Carl from Up! What makes a CGI character lovable and what makes some of them just weird? Salon talks to a Dreamworks expert who says that too human = too creepy. The Incredibles worked so, so well because the family weren’t too realistic and all of varying shapes and sizes. What are your favourite CGI-animated characters?

Check out this 9-year-old Tanzanian boy reenacting his favourite movie, Commando. Via BoingBoing:

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