Movie Review: Frozen

Within the first few minutes of Disney Animation’s latest feature Frozen, I realized we were embarking on a completely different Disney Princess story. At it’s core, Frozen melts the preconceived molds of a Disney Princess movie and creates something universally enjoyable. Throughout the film, I could not help but compare Frozen to Tangled, a movie I enjoy for its departure from the classic fairy tale to a hybrid fairy tale/buddy comedy. While both films are from the same creative team and benefitted from a collaboration with the Pixar Brain Trust, Frozen is not a duplication from the 2010 story mold.

Disney Frozen Elsa Ice Palace Chandelier

The design and look of the film is mesmerizing with it’s inspiration coming from ice crystals and symmetrical snowflakes. The chandelier in Elsa’s ice palace looks like it could be in the atrium of a Dream class ship. One of the first things I did after returning home from the theatre was pre-order The Art of Frozen.

Frozen is the story two sisters Anna and Elsa, the latter who was born with a magical ability to create ice and snow. This heartwarming film builds on the foundation laid by Tangled with an ensemble of characters from the swooning Prince Hans and Kristoff an ice delivery guy who finds himself out of work to the comedic duo Olaf, the snowman, and Sven, Kristoff’s reindeer (think Pascal and Maximus.)

Disney Frozen Main Characters

Kristoff’s family (the trolls with their infinite wisdom) reminded me of the Snuggly Ducking gang from Tangled.

Disney Frozen Trolls

As children, the sisters were inseparable until one day a freak accident occurred while Elsa was creating a winter wonderland which nearly killed Anna. Unable to control her magical ability which are triggered by her emotions, Elsa isolates herself in her bedroom to prevent another incident that could hurt her beloved sister. Years go by with the sisters growing further apart, until the day Elsa becomes the Queen of Arendelle. As events unfold during Elsa’s Coronation, she loses control and creates an eternal winter. This sudden change in season sets off an adventure that will take Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf on a mission to save Arendelle of which only Anna can help thaw through an act of true love. 

Disney Frozen Elsa

The writers found an interesting way to introduce two new Disney Princesses. While it seems like Anna is receiving all the attention, I felt Frozen was more of a story about Elsa, a young princess who must bear great responsibility as she takes the throne, and becomes the ruler of her kingdom.

The soundtrack is a powerful mix of story-telling songs created by husband and wife artists Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and moving score by Christophe Beck who created the spectacular score for Paperman. The deluxe version of the soundtrack (CD) is one of the best releases in the first time in forever as it includes the musical numbers from the film, Beck’s score and even early demo recordings from Robert and Kristen (and even their own children!)

Disney Frozen Marshmallow

I highly suggest staying in your seat for the full credits as there is a final scene at the very end of the Frozen credits. While you wait for the credits to scroll look for the Walt Disney Studio’s disclaimer. It is a hysterical call back to early in the film to a scene with Anna and Kristoff.

Get A Horse Poster

Finally, make it a point to get to the theatre early so you do not miss the all new short “Get A Horse” featuring Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse. Yes, you read that correctly, Disney Animation created an all new Mickey Mouse short using new technology and the original voice of Mickey, Walt Disney! Here is just a taste of the short, that will take you to an unexpected and enjoyable place!

Overall, well… I would say Frozen exceeded expectations, but in reality I really did not know what to expect as a result of the various promotional videos that were released leading up to the opening of the film. We saw the film with my parents, so it was a mix of three generations and we all enjoyed Frozen. The big question is whether to pay the premium to see Frozen in 3D… We did, but honestly, I think it would have been just as enjoyable in 2D. I do think that Get A Horse was meant to be seen in 3D. The short uses 3D effects to amplify the story being told, whereas in Frozen it was used to enhance the overall look of the scenes. If I go back to see Frozen at my local theatre I’ll stick to the 2D, but if you are going to see the film at sea, go for the 3D — you already paid for it!

Finally, if you are into planning ahead, you can already pre-order Frozen on blu-ray from Amazon.

Princess Anna Meet & Greet At Sea

The Disney Parks Blog announced a limited time meet-and-greet opportunity with Princess Anna onboard the Disney Cruise Line fleet throughout the holidays. Inside the Magic has some photos from Anna’s debut appearance on the Disney Fantasy.

What did you think about Frozen?

3 Replies to “Movie Review: Frozen”

  1. Pingback: [冰雪中毒系列一] 解析 Frozen《冰雪奇緣》 | 小瑄子的小事紀 Alice's Space

  2. Serena Milton

    Thanks very much for your sharing , it’s very valuable ,
    I just got a elsa costume from cosplaysky uk, and i am attending the conveinece in MCM lonlon on April 15th; To cos the elsa better, i read lots of reviews to get more knowledge from the apperance and also the personality ,

    Reply

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