Frozen (2013)
Disney Animated Classic Number 53
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad & Santino Fontana
Directed by: Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee
Rating: ★★★★
Another Disney Princess story? That’s a musical?
I was hesitant. I’ve seen enough cheese to last me a life time.
But in my Disney Daze quest, I must watch every single Disney Animated Classic, so I had to see their newest release.
And I’m glad I did.
With the Disney Dip way behind us, it seems that those clever folk over in Burbank now know exactly what they are doing. No more films about Wild West cows or time traveling bowler hats. Finally Disney are doing what they do best: Princess movies.
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| The merry band of intrepid explorers... |
And even though Frozen is by no means the greatest Disney Princess movie ever, it’s still a very good one. It has a Queen, a Princess, a Prince, a dashing mountaineer, a cute animal, a comic relief character and of course: a scary monster. It’s everything we expect from a Disney Animated Classic, but most importantly, it’s done well.
Not like Puke-ahontas.
Frozen is very, very loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, and has been in development since 1943, when Walt Disney himself conceived a biographical movie about Andersen and his famous stories. But, due to many issues, mainly how to characterise the Snow Queen herself, the film has been frozen in development hell, waiting to be thawed out by someone who could make the story and the characters work.
And luckily for us, someone did.
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| Queen Elsa struggles to keep her powers in check... |
That fact that it is almost unrecognisable from its source material just makes Frozenbetter. Sisters Elsa (Menzel) and Anna (Bell) are princesses who are forced to be locked away, separately, in their castle by their parents. This is because Elsa has been gifted with ice powers, and both she and her parents are terrified of them being unleashed. Years later, at Elsa’s coronation, the truth about her frost abilities is uncovered, and so she goes into hiding, afraid that she might hurt those closest to her. But, unknowingly, Queen Elsa unleashes an everlasting winter on Arendelle, so after putting her new found love Prince Hans (Fontant) in charge, Princess Anna goes in search of Elsa to save both the Kingdom and her sister.
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| Can Kristoff and Anna save the Kingdom? |
Along the way Anna meets brave mountain man Kristoff (Groff), his reindeer Sven and talking snowman Olaf (Gad). Together, the motley crew fight giant snow monsters, meet trolls, but most importantly, learn to love.
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| Unusally for a Disney film, the lead female has two possible suitors... |
Although the plot is fairly simplistic, and hauntingly predictable, the third act makes a dramatic U-turn and really helps to make Frozen an exciting, interesting, enjoyable adventure.
There is a huge dip in the middle, mainly because of the introduction of ‘comic relief’ character Olaf- who isn’t funny- but is there to make the kids laugh (although he doesn’t) and to have a ‘zany’ sidekick. In the long line of terrible Disney comic relief sidekicks, Olaf is by no means the worst- because he is just about bearable, as he isn’t in it enough to make you want to gouge your eyeballs out of your sockets.
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| Oh Olaf. No one's laughing. |
It’s a shame that the second act is so weak, because the first and third parts are so strong. Luckily, this doesn’t have too much of an impact of my overall rating or enjoyment of the film itself, as the finale is just so strong and incredibly thrilling.
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| Sven and Kristoff prove their mettle as heroes... |
Elsa and Anna are by far and away the best characters. They are fully fleshed, well developed women who you care about, and it is their sisterly relationship that keeps the entire film together. We’ve already been treated to brotherly love, now it’s all about sisters: and this core is the film’s real heart.
Kristoff, who is there for the young boys in the audience, is also a great character. Unlike in Tangled where the lead man is weak and subservient to the female protagonist, Kristoff is just as strong as Anna both mentally and physically, which makes their romance believable and genuine. His pet dog reindeer Sven is also a great example of a good animal stooge, and Prince Hans is also a very interesting addition to the proceedings…
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| Love at first sight? |
For me, the best parts of the movie were all of the non-musical bits. Some of the songs were okay, the best being the song that the trolls sing (and no- don’t worry- these trolls are nothing like the awful fairies in The Black Cauldron), but some of them are way too slushy. The fact that the entire third act has no songs in it really strengthens the entire film, because we can then focus on the story and the key players instead of being a witness to people inexplicably bursting into soppy melodies.
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| Kristoff is a 'fixer-upper' according to the trolls... |
Queen Elsa’s powers are pretty damn awesome, and I loved the part when she built an ice castle. The animation is absolutely astounding, and the snow and ice is done so well that it makes the audience actually feel frozen. The action and adventure moments are also very exciting and exhilarating, and the finale is incredibly emotional and impacting.
I also loved the ending. And the snow monster.
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| The wonderful snow monster! |
For me, Frozen is, in some ways, reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast. It is in no way as amazing, but the feel of it is very similar. It also has a similar mood to Tangled, but is, in some ways, much better, mainly because it manages to tread the delicate balance between appealing to both little girls and little boys. There is a Queen in a beautiful ice dress- which, by the way, made every girl (and woman) in the audience squeal with delight- and there is a manly hero who gets to fights monsters. Just like Sleeping Beauty.
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| The dress that made every female in the cinema swoon! |
Frozenhas been both critically and commercially successful, and it’s easy to see why. Frozen has, at its core, such a powerful and touching story that it is hard to dismiss it as tacky slush. Anna and Elsa both struggle with such real, such genuine feelings that we are on their side from the very beginning.
Frozen is a Christmas movie that will make you freeze, then thaw you out. It will melt even the coldest of hearts, and you’ll leave the cinema with a smile on your face and a skip in your step.
So to all my readers, if you want to get in the holiday spirit, watch Frozen, and it’ll prepare you for the most sentimental time of the year: Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
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