The Designs of "Brave" - Slide Show - NYTimes.com In some form or other - toys, monsters, cars, rats and even little boys - male characters have been at the center of Pixar Animation Studio's feature films. But now for the first time in its 17-year history, Pixar has a female lead. The studio spent more than five years bringing Merida, the empowered girl at the center of "Brave," to life. It took a number of designs and two directors to do it. This collection of production designs shows how the character developed and includes thoughts about Merida's continued design evolution. Providing commentary on the designs are the film's initial director Brenda Chapman; the production designer, Steve Pilcher; and Mark Andrews, who took over directing on the film in its last 18 months of production.