Sadly, "Brave" doesn't land on the top shelf of Pixar films next to "Toy Story" and "Cars." But as they say about pizza, even a not-so-great Pixar film is still pretty good.

Fortunately, actual archery skills were not needed for Macdonald's work on Brave, Pixar 's animated tale (opening today) of the Scottish princess Merida, who can wield her bow and arrow with ...