Pixar’s relationship with women has always had a slight question-mark over it- after all, its undeniable that they’ve yet to include a single lead female character in their impressive repertoire. However, all that will change with Brave; a film about a Scottish princess who decides to take up – shock horror – archery. And not only that, but the film was to have a female director, Brenda Chapman, who would be the first lady-director at Pixar. However, rumour now has it that Chapman has left the studio after two years; is it simply a case of creative differences, or is there something more sinister at play?

We’re sure that few people possess the skills necessary to take the helm at Pixar, but Chapman’s CV is undeniably impressive. She was a key story developer on Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King and Chicken Run, as well as directing Dreamworks’ The Prince Of Egypt. After two years in the hotseat at Pixar, it appears that she’s been replaced by Mark Andrews; director of the short One Man Band .

Seeing as this story’s still at the rumour stage, we’re happy to reserve judgement. Pixar often chop and change with their creative team to ensure excellence, sometimes dropping entire projects if they feel they won’t meet their incredibly high standards. At the same time, there’s not been a female in power yet – are there simply no women good enough? We’ll wait to hear the official line, but in terms of PR this could turn very ugly very quickly for the world’s favourite animation studio…