Frozen
Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Starring the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathon Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, and Alan Tudyk.
Backstory
As I’ve blogged before, I once loved animated films so much that I would run down to the local theatre to see the newest ones that came out. But, in the mid-2000s, they got hit with this terrible sameness, that I just kind of stopped. So now, I head out to the theatre to see the newest animated film if it tickles my fancy.
The commercials for Frozen were striking me as typical Disney princess fare, but all the amazingly good reviews it was getting convinced me it was worth checking out. So I went to see it. Was it worth checking out?
Plot
The kingdom of Arendelle is blessed with two princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa, the elder sister, is also gifted with the magical power of mastery over ice and snow. However, her powers do frighten others, and she is raised to always keep her emotions in check and her powers under control. The day comes when Elsa must be crowned queen, but the nervousness of the day causes some mishaps
with her powers, and she decides to run off into the wilderness to live a life of isolation. But, in doing so, she accidentally plunges her queendom into perpetual winter. So it’s up to Anna to go on a quest to reach out to her sister and bring this winter to an end. Joined by ice merchant Christoph (whose business has been thrown into jeopardy because of this everlasting winter), a talking snowman named Olaf, and Christoph’s reindeer Sven, can Anna show the world that her sister is a totally awesome nice person, and not a witch of ice and snow?
What I Liked
Everything is good all around in this movie. I’m always looking for something in animated film that just tries to do something a little different from the established formulas, and Frozen does put a few fresh spins on the Disney princess formula to keep things fresh. I like that they’re playing with the concept of “true love” and what that means. There’s an interesting betrayal leading to an unexpected villain. Olaf is a great comedic sidekick, as a snowman who’s obsessed with idea of summer and finally wants to experience a warm summer’s day, and no one has the heart to tell him what happens to snowmen in summer. And, of course, some
fantastic songs. Almost bought the soundtrack album for the drive home.
What I Didn’t Like
It’s still kind of formulaic. I mean, there are a few unexpected twists, but it does stick close enough to the Disney princess formula that you kinda know what’s coming. It doesn’t stray too far out of the comfort zone, is what I’m saying.
Final Assessment
It’s really good. Didn’t blow my hair back, like it did to lots of other folks, but it’s still a worthy addition to the Disney pantheon.
