The Legend of Mor'du (2012)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Better Late Then Never

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The Witch recounts the story of four prince brothers to Wee Dingwall. Their family had ruled an ancient prosperous nearby kingdom. The youngest prince was wise, the second youngest was compassionate, the second oldest was just, and the eldest was strong. When the king died, the kingdom was split among the four brothers hoping a blend of their traits would create the best rule. The eldest expected to be the only king and battled the others to take the entire kingdom. He came to the Witch for magical strength. She offered him tenfold his strength but he's also turned into a black bear. Instead of letting go and make peace, he murdered his brothers destroying what's left of the kingdom.This is a 7 minute short from the Brave franchise. It tells a fitting fable that teaches something. It also has a fun joke to wrap it up. It's a well made animated short.

Brian Larsen's only directorial effort so far, "The Legend of Mor'du", is a 7-minute animated short film that features the Witch from Pixar's "Brave". She tells us, her crow and a customer a story about a power-hungry heir to the throne. I must say this was really random. First of all, it would have been nice to have the protagonist from 2Brave" in here, even if I have not yet seen that movie. It's not 100% necessary, but if they do without her, at least they should have made this story all around the witch. Instead we get a metaphoric tale that is fairly generic in terms of the story and has absolutely nothing to do with the "real" movie, so that, with the exception of brief scenes at the beginning and end, this is basically a short film that stands alone. I wasn't impressed. Not really worth the watch, not even for great fans of "Brave".

I watched this short whilst renting Brave on DVD and while it wasn't the best Pixar short combining 2D and 3D animation (this honour goes to Day and Night), it made me learn more about the back-story of Mor'du the bear.The short opens with a clever title card of megaliths forming Mor'du's name followed by the witch inviting the viewer into her shop. She narrates the story of Mor'du's past and how he became a bear. Like the story in Brave, the story here was a tad complicated but the witch's narration was engaging. The first 3D segment of the witch was smoothly animated but the movements of Wee Dingwall trying to escape from the shop in fear in the last segment are blocky. The main 2D segment was beautifully drawn despite the animation being minimal but there were good uses of camera sweeps nonetheless. Other redeeming qualities are the chilling music being played throughout the short and the more whimsical music playing over the end credits.All in all this feature-related short was worth watching and it is on the same level as Jack- Jack Attack and Dug's Special Mission but slightly preferable to La Luna. 8/10.

I don''t understand why Pixar decided to make this one but it surely complements its predecessor BRAVE. Brave had a different story and this one just takes up a point and continues it. The plot is simple and not much of a strainer. Loved it!And it scores some brownie points in the animation which I hear Pixar did by completely changing the animation systems for the first time in 25 years! Well, The Legend Of Mor'du is one of those marvellously created Pixar short films and I enjoyed it.If you haven't watched Brave, then apparently you will not fathom a thing in this 7 minute splendor. Recommended!Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES