Pixar’s Princess Merida is but the latest in a line of cartoon redheads – but could Pixar have done more to confound stereotypes?
IS RED THE NEW blonde? It seems as though Hollywood – or at least the animated side of it – has taken its love affair with redheads to a whole new level. Makers of animated movies and TV series have always had a grá for ginger, from Ariel the Little Mermaid to Daphne in Scooby Doo and Jessie in Toy Story. But this week they’ve ramped up the rouge with their latest animated character, Princess Merida, the flame-haired heroine of Pixar’s Brave.
After years of being the butt of cruel jokes and lazy stereotypes, it’s payback time for this much-oppressed minority. In the film, Merida (voiced by brunette actor Kelly Macdonald) must use her warrior skills to lift a terrible curse that’s been put on her family. But she may also lift the real-life curse that many feel comes with being a redhead. Imagine: no more ridiculous nicknames, crass remarks or terrible jokes. And no more films portraying redheads as bumbling and bashful if they’re boys, or feisty and fiery if they’re girls.
But wait a minute. Merida is feisty, quick-tempered, stubborn, free-spirited – all personality traits attributed to your stereotypical redhead. What's going on here? I'm not the only one to ask. In a recent article on slate.com, LV Anderson accused the film-makers of passing on this tired cultural trope to a new generation, thus condemning redheads to be further cast as "rebellious", "obstinate" contrarians.
“For most of the film, Merida’s hair is a semi-autonomous character unto itself, coiling and drifting around her head like the tentacles of a sea anemone, and functioning like a sticker on her back that says ‘feisty’.”
Anderson’s not wrong there: Merida’s hair had to be treated as a separate entity by the film’s animators, and getting it to cascade gracefully and naturally as she galloped through the gusty highlands of Scotland was a huge challenge for the techies at Pixar.
To achieve what up to now only Wella could do, they had to invent new software (which they named Taz, after Looney Tunes’ loveable furry red rascal) to get Merida’s tresses to tumble in just the right fashion.
Merida’s hair consists of no less than 1,500 curls, each one individually programmed to stretch out and bounce back with every shake of the princess’s stubborn head.
Some will wonder why Pixar didn’t put half as much work into breaking down the hoary old cliches about redheads and deliver a heroine with a cool, calm, even-tempered disposition. But then, who wants a dull, non-confrontational heroine – essentially, a blonde? We want an unpredictable, indomitable heroine who regularly flies off the handle.
But then again, does she have to be a redhead? Why not a dark-haired dominatrix (now there’s a stereotype for you) or a brunette battleaxe? Well, the film is set in Scotland, the country with the largest percentage of redheads (13 per cent) so the makers of Brave can claim some licence there.
The film features lots of Braveheart-style warriors, sporting blue daub, kilts and furry sporrans – and more red hair than you can shake a claymore at. It’s a bit of a defeat for Ireland. We have long harboured the belief that we reigned supreme in the red-hair department, but we actually come a paltry second to Scotland, with only 10 per cent of our population boasting red hair.
MERIDA GETS HER RED hair, and her temper, from her father, King Fergus; her little brothers – triplets Hubert, Hamish and Harris – also sport ginger curls.
In real life, you don’t need red-haired siblings or parents in order to be born a redhead. Red hair is caused by a recessive gene which is carried by 46 per cent of the Irish population but, oddly enough, by only 40 per cent of Scots.
But there’s no doubt that, visually at least, the makers have made the right colour choice – Merida’s hair looks ruddy great. Okay, maybe not as sexy as Jessica Rabbit’s locks, but definitely fuller and better defined. It’s destined to dwarf even Rapunzel’s mane in kids’ movie legend.
Red hair’s rehabilitation will be good news for the people planning to attend this year’s Irish Red Head Convention in Crosshaven, Co Cork, on August 18th.
The annual gathering of gingers is a chance for redheads to meet in a convivial atmosphere and celebrate their redness. Among the events planned for the day are a funfair, farmer’s market, live music, ginger chefs’ cook-off, redhead soapbox and a carrot-throwing championship. I suggest you get down to the chemist, pick up your red dye and join the party. If it lives up to the stereotype, it’s bound to be feisty – and lots of fun.
