It could be argued that most Disney Animated Features could be Broadway musicals, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen one like Frozen, where you can see the show that it’s destined to be. With massive female empowerment for mothers and daughters, Disney smartly packaged this to hit all the right marks it’s supposed to. For fans of Disney movies or not, Frozen is one beautiful movie that will go down as one of the best new animated films Disney has to offer.
Frozen is the story of two sisters, Elsa (Idine Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa has the ability to create snow and ice, but after her traumatic childhood incident with Anna, she decides to hide and suppress her powers. All grown up, Elsa now must become queen, but after her emotions get out of hand, her magical cryokinetic powers plunge the whole kingdom into a frozen eternal winter. Anna then must journey with an extreme mountain man, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer sidekick Sven, and a magical snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad), who must find Elsa and try to save their kingdom before the winter stays forever.
Frozen is inspired by the children’s story The Snow Queen by Han Christian Anderson, who is also the author behind one of Disney’s other biggest hits, The Little Mermaid. Here Disney manages to capture the same feeling of that tale. It stays true to what we have come to expect and enjoy from Disney, but also gives us something new to look forward to. We still get the funny sidekicks, wonderful and colorful songs, the hero, the heroine, and the villain. But the filmmakers take some new roads to make this movie stand apart from others.
One of the big ways is that the movie becomes a huge boost of female empowerment as both the females leads, Elsa and Anna, don’t need a hero to rescue them. Yes, at times when Anna is off on her adventure she needs Kristoff’s help, but only after she tries it herself and sees she needs help from another person, since her journey isn’t a one-person job. She is a fearless and a daring optimist who will stop at noting to help her sister. And that’s really what the movie is about, not the love of prince or princess, as we’ve come to expect, but the love of family. The two sisters really is the love story Disney is telling. Yes, there are heroes, but the movie wasn’t solely about that old cliché we’ve seen before.
Unlike some other animated films of the like, Disney went with the best talented actors for the role rather than the name recognition of a huge star. All the actors in Frozen are people you would know, but they’re not the top billed names, yet another reason why this worked. The whole cast is made up of Broadway veterans from such shows as Wicked, Book of Mormon, Spring Awakenings, and Cinderella. Each actor knows what they’re doing, making each animated character their own and bringing them to life on screen. All should be commended for their work in Frozen.
What should also be commended are the brilliant animators that made this world come to life before your eyes. It looks amazing. Each scene and landscape is breathtaking, making you wish you could visit it. The movie takes place in a Norwegian type country, so the environment is full of Norwegian themes and art.
The amount of detail and research that was done to make everything look and feel right is astounding. You can really tell time and love went into this project from everyone involved. When Elsa creates her Ice Castle, all while singing of course, everything looks incredible. The animation of her ice sculptures coming to life mixed with colors and snow falling is just as astonishing as seeing the camera fly in between the chandler while Belle and the Beast danced below it in Beauty and the Beast the first time. This movie was pure Disney Magic.
The songs are good, not great. Some out-do others for sure. It’s hard for people to embrace new Disney songs when the whole time we keep remembering the awesome ones from the past: Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, etc. So it’s hard not to compare them, and in that aspect, they do ok. The songs here give a lot of exposition and keep the story moving forward in a fun way. They’re all amusing and well sung, but compared to others, are just good.
Kids will love this, and parents shouldn’t be too miserable. If you’re any kind of “Disney Nerd”, this is going rock your world. It’s a beautiful movie with many wonderful aspects. It’s nice to see Disney go back to what makes their movies work to become memorable. And Frozen does just that. It brings an old quality we’re used to, but also works in new themes and elements to make its mark.