'We had a wig and I think everyone on the team wore it at some point,' said Chung. Even with a computer-generated head of hair, there were times during production when Chung really needed to see a live Merida hair model. When Merida moves her head, her curls move along the curve, keep their shape and flexibility while maintaining the look of her character. The core curve is like the chain of the necklace and the points, which include the springs, are like the beads. Called a 'core curve and points,' the result bears a resemblance to a beaded necklace. Chung and her team of groomers used a new technique to represent the hair. Once Merida's hair was in place, the next step was making it move naturally. 'There is this weird paradox where a 'spring' of hair needs to remain stiff in order to hold its curl but it also has to remain soft in its movement.'

'We used 1,500 hand-placed, sculpted individual curls,' said Chung. The layers varied the length, size and flexibility of each curl. In order to give Merida's hair volume, the springs were entered on the computer screen in layers.

The Pixar team created many kinds of springs, including short, long, fat, thin, stretched, compressed, bouncy and stiff. Merida's explosion of fiery ringlets started as a series of springs on a computer. 'I have become obsessed with curly hair,' said Claudia Chung, simulation supervisor for 'Brave.' 'It is truly fascinating curly hair defies physics in the way it moves and behaves.' (Inside Science) - Trying to curl hair into perfect spiral curls is difficult enough to do in real life but for the team of scientists and artists at Pixar the quest to create a wild mane of curls for Merida, the redheaded heroine of their latest film 'Brave,' may have sent them from innocent intrigue to full-blown obsession.

Disney brave main character