Brenda Chapman

If the Walt Disney Studios logo were the only one on "Brave," this film's impeccable visuals and valiant heroine would be enough to call it a success. But "Brave" is also a Pixar Animation Studios film, and that means it has to answer to a higher standard. Pixar's dozen previous features, including classics like"Toy Story,""Up,""Wall-E, ""Ratatouille"and"The Incredibles,"have used subversive wit and singular characters to set a standard for computer-animated features that is the envy of the civilized world.

Pixar's "Brave," which tells the tale of a spirited Scottish princess who accidentally unleashes an ancient curse on her kingdom and then has to undo the damage, won the Academy Award for animated feature film on Sunday. Co-directors Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman accepted the award, which marked the first Oscar win for both filmmakers. (Andrews was previously nominated for animated short for 2005's "One Man Band. ") A computer-animated 3-D adventure, "Brave" features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters.

Pixar's "Brave," which tells the tale of a spirited Scottish princess who accidentally unleashes an ancient curse on her kingdom and then has to undo the damage, won the Academy Award for animated feature film on Sunday. Co-directors Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman accepted the award, which marked the first Oscar win for both filmmakers. (Andrews was previously nominated for animated short for 2005's "One Man Band. ") A computer-animated 3-D adventure, "Brave" features the voices of Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson and Julie Walters.

In the costly and time-intensive discipline of animated filmmaking, every movie comes with high stakes. Five directors who recently came together for the first Envelope Animation Round Table discussed the artistic and business demands of the medium. In a conversation at the Los Angeles Times, Mark Andrews ("Brave," with Brenda Chapman), Chris Butler ("ParaNorman," with Sam Fell), Rich Moore ('Wreck-It Ralph"), Peter Ramsey ("Rise of the Guardians") and Genndy Tartakovsky ("Hotel Transylvania")

In the costly and time-intensive discipline of animated filmmaking, every movie comes with high stakes. Five directors who recently came together for the first Envelope Animation Round Table discussed the artistic and business demands of the medium. In a conversation at the Los Angeles Times, Mark Andrews ("Brave," with Brenda Chapman), Chris Butler ("ParaNorman," with Sam Fell), Rich Moore ('Wreck-It Ralph"), Peter Ramsey ("Rise of the Guardians") and Genndy Tartakovsky ("Hotel Transylvania")

"Brave," its filmmakers at Pixar Animation Studios would like you to know, is not your mother's fairy tale, beginning with its unruly heroine, Merida. Deft with a bow and arrow and crowned with a massive mane of curly red hair, Merida (voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald), defies her parents King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) and disregards an ancient custom, inadvertently setting off calamity in the lush, fog-shrouded Scottish highlands where she lives.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. - It takes a fearless sort of man to wear a skirt to the office - even when the office is a den of art school grads, the boss is an avuncular guy with a Hawaiian shirt fetish and the skirt is a stylish plaid number designed for charging through the Scottish Highlands. Mark Andrews, originator of "kilt Fridays" at Pixar Animation Studios here in Northern California, has the requisite nerve. So when Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter announced in late 2010 that "creative differences" had arisen on the studio's movie"Brave" - which centers on a rebellious teenage princess in ancient Scotland - and that director Brenda Chapman was being replaced, he looked to Andrews.

Apparently, nobody told Brenda Chapman about outsized Hollywood egos. The first woman to direct a major animated film, Chapman sits on the floor of her modest office at DreamWorks' new animation facility in Glendale. She does a pretzel thing with her legs as she talks about "The Prince of Egypt," which opens today nationwide. An enormous amount is riding on this animated tale of Moses (dubbed "The Zion King" by the wags who do such dubbing).

Crews of hundreds can typically spend years making a single animated feature — and it's not uncommon during what "Kung Fu Panda 2" director Jennifer Yuh Nelson describes as a "messy, creative process" for a director to be fired midway through a production. It happened to Jan Pinkava, who was directing 2007's "Ratatouille" before Brad Bird took over the Oscar-winning Pixar film. And it happened to Chris Sanders ("How to Train Your Dragon"), who was removed from Disney's "American Dog" in 2006, before it was reimagined as "Bolt.

For the second straight year, the movie business fell for itself. "Argo" - in which a Hollywood producer and makeup artist help engineer the rescue of six Americans from Iran - won the top prize at the 85th Academy Awards, one year after the silent film story "The Artist" took the best picture Oscar. "I never thought I'd be back here. And I am," producer-director Ben Affleck said in accepting the best picture trophy Sunday night, 15 years after he won an original screenplay Oscar for "Good Will Hunting" and then saw his career fall into a tailspin that included "Gigli" and "Daredevil.

If the Walt Disney Studios logo were the only one on "Brave," this film's impeccable visuals and valiant heroine would be enough to call it a success. But "Brave" is also a Pixar Animation Studios film, and that means it has to answer to a higher standard. Pixar's dozen previous features, including classics like"Toy Story,""Up,""Wall-E, ""Ratatouille"and"The Incredibles,"have used subversive wit and singular characters to set a standard for computer-animated features that is the envy of the civilized world.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. - It takes a fearless sort of man to wear a skirt to the office - even when the office is a den of art school grads, the boss is an avuncular guy with a Hawaiian shirt fetish and the skirt is a stylish plaid number designed for charging through the Scottish Highlands. Mark Andrews, originator of "kilt Fridays" at Pixar Animation Studios here in Northern California, has the requisite nerve. So when Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter announced in late 2010 that "creative differences" had arisen on the studio's movie"Brave" - which centers on a rebellious teenage princess in ancient Scotland - and that director Brenda Chapman was being replaced, he looked to Andrews.

"Brave," its filmmakers at Pixar Animation Studios would like you to know, is not your mother's fairy tale, beginning with its unruly heroine, Merida. Deft with a bow and arrow and crowned with a massive mane of curly red hair, Merida (voiced by Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald), defies her parents King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) and disregards an ancient custom, inadvertently setting off calamity in the lush, fog-shrouded Scottish highlands where she lives.

Crews of hundreds can typically spend years making a single animated feature — and it's not uncommon during what "Kung Fu Panda 2" director Jennifer Yuh Nelson describes as a "messy, creative process" for a director to be fired midway through a production. It happened to Jan Pinkava, who was directing 2007's "Ratatouille" before Brad Bird took over the Oscar-winning Pixar film. And it happened to Chris Sanders ("How to Train Your Dragon"), who was removed from Disney's "American Dog" in 2006, before it was reimagined as "Bolt.

Apparently, nobody told Brenda Chapman about outsized Hollywood egos. The first woman to direct a major animated film, Chapman sits on the floor of her modest office at DreamWorks' new animation facility in Glendale. She does a pretzel thing with her legs as she talks about "The Prince of Egypt," which opens today nationwide. An enormous amount is riding on this animated tale of Moses (dubbed "The Zion King" by the wags who do such dubbing).

Disney is wringing the pink out of its princess movies. After the less-than-fairy-tale results for its most recent animated release, "The Princess and the Frog," executives at the Burbank studio believe they know why the acclaimed movie came up short at the box office. Brace yourself: Boys didn't want to see a movie with "princess" in the title. This time, Disney is taking measures to ensure that doesn't happen again. The studio renamed its next animated film with the girl-centric name "Rapunzel" to the less gender-specific "Tangled."

Pam Winokur, a senior outside hitter from Chapman College, was named to the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. volleyball team. Senior middle blocker Brenda Read was a second-team pick. Heather Hafner of No. 1 Cal State Northridge was named the CCAA's most valuable player.