Brenda Chapman Talks About “Brave” In “New York Times”

Now that Brenda Chapman is no longer an employee of Pixar, she is speaking out for the first time about being removed as the director of Brave. This hardly comes as a surprise, but she wasn’t happy with what happened during the production, though she admits to being proud of the results. In a New York Times op-ed, she spoke about the experience:

It has been a heartbreakingly hard road for me over the last year and a half. When Pixar took me off of “Brave” — a story that came from my heart, inspired by my relationship with my daughter — it was devastating. Animation directors are not protected like live-action directors, who have the Directors Guild to go to battle for them. We are replaced on a regular basis — and that was a real issue for me. This was a story that I created, which came from a very personal place, as a woman and a mother. To have it taken away and given to someone else, and a man at that, was truly distressing on so many levels. But in the end, my vision came through in the film. It simply wouldn’t have worked without it (and didn’t at one point), and I knew this at my core. So I kept my head held high, stayed committed to my principles, and was supported by some strong women (and men!). In the end, it worked out, and I’m very proud of the movie, and that I ultimately stood up for myself, just like Merida, the protagonist in “Brave.”