Pixar’s latest movie, Brave, looks like a medieval Scottish version of Whip It, where the main girl’s family want her to wear dresses and braid hair, but she’s all like “WHATEVER, I’MA DO TOMBOY STUFF INSTEAD!” But it turns out reminding people of a Drew Barrymore movie isn’t their only problem, as now the Atlanta Braves are challenging Pixar’s attempt to trademark ‘Brave.’ STOP TRYING TO STEAL OUR WORD THAT WE STOLE FROM THE INDIANS AND USED TO CREATE A CRUDE, RACIAL CARICATURE!

It all started back in March of last year when we reported on trademark applications which appeared to have been confirming a title change for what was then known as The Bear and the Bow, but is now known to be Brave.

Fast forward to this past summer when — after filing a number of extensions — the Atlanta National League Baseball Club, owners of the Atlanta Braves,  formally filed an objection to many of the trademark applications. Although trademarks are specific to their singular and plural forms and the Braves do not possess any trademarks for the word BRAVE (only BRAVES), the organization believes that damages will occur as a result of Disney’s trademarks being approved as they have used the singular form before on merchandise and insist it is common for fans, media, et al to use the singular form when referring to a single player, whereas the pluralized form refers to the entire team.

Private negotiations between The Walt Disney Company and the Atlanta National League Ball Club are currently taking place in regards to several of the objected filings with the ball club intending to file an objection against yet another of the registrations. [StitchKingdom]

Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I think the problem here is that “brave” is actually a common word with various meanings, and people probably shouldn’t be allowed to “own” a word that’s already been in use for thousands of years. Except for that Precious chick with “Precious,” that just seems fair.

If you want to trademark a word, you have to make it up yourself. Like “dickfinch.” It’s a small bird that lives in your pants.

The contrarians out there (*cough* Armond White! *cough, cough*) like to bash the Pixar apologists for drinking the Kool Aid every time Pixar puts out a new movie, but dammit, Pixar deserves it. Seriously, if you don’t like Up or Wall E or Finding Nemo or Toy Story 3, I honestly don’t know what the hell is wrong with you. Pixar is my Spielberg, okay? (Except for Cars). Which is why it’s strange that their latest, Brave (from directors Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman), looks so… underwhelming. People are making a big deal about it being Pixar’s first movie with a female lead, but I’m hoping it does something to distinguish itself from Hanna, Colombiana, Haywire, Salt, etc. or all the other “girl badass” films soon. Because female leads are awesome, but not if you’re just going to write a male lead and then pull some Ms. Pacman shit where you throw a bow on him and act like it’s a new game. I’m not stupid, man, I can tell the difference between a girl and a dude with a bow in his hair (I live in San Francisco, it’s a useful skill here).

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I can’t remember if Dug, the dog from Up, ever joined Carl or Russell on a see-saw in the movie, but this dog’s passing resemblance to the Up dog was more than enough for me to dedicate an entire post to it. Come on, the only thing I like more than chubby little kids are fat dogs doing human stuff. Well, actually it sort of depends on the amount of the chubby kid’s swagger. This kid was pretty legit, for instance.

"I was hiding under the porch because I love you."

So, what do you think? Probably not as cute as the real-life Up kid, but the world could always use more fat dogs on see-saws, I’m always saying.

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Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich recently took to his Twitter account, and, on a rare break from vivid descriptions of dumps he just took (TMI, Unkrich! God!), shared some of the titles that got thrown around at Pixar before they eventually settled on Toy Story. He said there had been an open call to studio employees, eventually amassing more than 200 suggestions. Here are 16 of the rejects Unkrich says he selected at random:

• The New Toy
• Made in Taiwan
• Moving Buddies
• To Infinity and Beyond
• Wind-Up Heroes
• The Cowboy & The Spaceman
• Spurs & Rockets
• Bring Me The Arm of Buzz Lightyear
• Wind the Frog
• Rex’s First Movie
• For the Love of Peep
• Toyz in the Hood
• Each Sold Separately
• Wings & Pullstrings
• Some Assembly Required
• The Favorite

Out of these, I’d say “To Infinity and Beyond” isn’t bad, and “The Favorite” makes sense, though it isn’t very evocative. Toy Story certainly seems like the correct choice. If Bruckheimer was producing, it definitely would’ve been “Toyz in the Hood.” It makes you wonder if other titles, like, say, “Knight and Day” also beat out 199 other suggestions. And if so, what could’ve been worse than Knight and Day? Root Canals and Child Porn? Crazy ‘Bout Hitler? Discuss.

[via /Film, AICN]

Disney’s second D23 Expo took place in Anaheim over the weekend, and I’m sad I missed it because I love self-congratulatory industry circle jerks run by the marketing department (especially when they serve sliders!). Luckily, there’s this thing called the internet where the people who did go can SHARE THE NEWS FOR ALL! What an incredible time it is to be alive. Here’s your rundown:

Hot on the heels of the set pictures that hit over the weekend, The Avengers cast was on hand for a sneak peek. One thing is certain: Chris Hemsworth is still tall and handsome with piercing blue eyes and oh god can’t stop imagining what he smells like. So… do these people actually get to film a movie between attending conventions? |Hitfix|

Up co-director Pete Docter is set to direct “The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind.” ThePlaylist reports taht Little Miss Sunshine/Toy Story 3 writer Michael Arnt is writing the script. I’m expecting Inception with less (*braaaahm*)s, and more talking dogs. |/Film|

Up‘s OTHER co-director, Bob Peterson (who also voiced Dug the Dog), will direct a film that takes place in a modern world where dinosaurs never went extinct. It’d be cool if the dinosaurs stomped around wrecking sh*t, but knowing Pixar, they’ll probably just be super cute. |USAToday|

John C. Reilly to voice “Wreck-It Ralph”, a CG-animated feature about an 8-bit arcade game villain desperate to change his image who invades other arcade games trying to become a hero. John C. Reilly is pretty much the best, and if you disagree I’m duty bound to fight you. I also have my fingers crossed for a Billy Mitchell cameo. His hot sauce tastes like America. |CinemaBlend|

Details about Brave, Pixar’s next release, which is still almost a year away. It’s definitely about a “tough girl badass”, but hopefully Pixar will do a better job with it than Salt, Hanna, Colombiana, Haywire, and the other six thousand movies with that same plot. |/Film|

Footage screened from Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s stop-motion, 3D-animated, black-and-white film about a zombie dog. I love dogs, but I think wiener dogs are my least favorite. Is that racist? Discuss. |ComingSoon|