The stones are in a circle on a big, exposed cliff with the sky as their backdrop - it's very striking. 'It felt like the perfect setting for something important to happen in the story. Sarafian also admits the Calanais Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis had a big impact on Pixar.

Yet after visiting Dunnottar Castle, a stunning structure set on jutting cliff-side rocks just south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, the team decided to imitate its staggering surrounds by making DunBroch an outpost by the sea. Initially, Merida's DunBroch family castle was going to be set against a loch in the Highlands. Some of Scotland's landmarks proved so mesmerising for Pixar's Brave team, they actually ended up altering ideas they originally had for the movie to incorporate what they'd seen on their memorable trip. We worked really hard to bring the magic, beauty and ruggedness of Scotland to life in the film through our production design, sets and environments.'

'We brought everything back and spread it all out, loaded it into our computers. 'We took photographs and video, sketched and wrote stories,' says Sarafian.

This helped them capture the spirit of Scotland on film in a fashion that had never been attempted in cinema before.īrave producer Katherine Sarafian admits the team kept journals while staying in Scotland, which proved tremendously useful when they returned to California to begin work on the project. Taking in a breadth of Scottish events, from the iconic Highland games of the Braemar Gathering (that informed much of heroine's Merida's impressive archery skills) to eating haggis on the Royal Mile, Brave's animators fully steeped themselves in the local culture. Where did Brave's animators visit on their Scottish tours?

Real life merida brave