Frozen (2013)

Frozen, 2013. Film. Directed by Chris BUCK & Jennifer LEE.
USA: Disney

I don’t normally review animated films however after Frozen’s triumph at the Academy Awards this week I just had to share my point of view.

Frozen is an animated comedy inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale The Snow Queen. It is a funny and exciting adventure based on two sisters, Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) who are young princesses living in a castle in Arendelle. The problem is Elsa has dangerous icy powers that have led to her being isolated from the rest of the kingdom and her little sister. When Elsa comes of age, it is her turn to become Queen however certain events lead to Elsa’s secret getting out and she flees to the mountains leaving the entire kingdom trapped in an eternal winter. Being a fearless optimist, Anna teams up with ice salesman, Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven to navigate the snowy mountain range in order to persuade her sister to bring back summer. Meanwhile, the team bump into Olaf (Josh Gad); a cheerful snowman that longs to enjoy summer, comically oblivious to the disastrous effects it would have on him. This character is fantastic and undeniably hilarious however he is not actually present at all until the half-way point. At first this frustrated me a little bit because he is what makes the film so funny however, on watching it a second time; all the main characters are just as loveable.

Nothing about Frozen seems particularly formulaic which is refreshing in a Disney animation. Similar to the plot of Brave where the mother-daughter bond fuelled the movie, this story is driven by the love Anna has for her older sister.  It teaches the younger audience that true love doesn’t have to involve a prince. It can be found between sisters. This is not the only refreshing moment of the film. There is a very comical moment when Anna runs up to Elsa to announce that she is going to marry a prince that she has only just met and Elsa refuses to give her blessing stating “You can’t marry a man you’ve just met!”. This is later reinforced repeatedly by the character Kristoff, suggesting that true love is not something that happens in one day. Having grown up surrounded by films perpetuating Disney’s Prince Charming/true love ideology, this is something I think is excellent.

During the film there are eight original songs writer by Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. All of the songs are perfect, meaningful and qualifies this animation and a full-blown musical. (I’m sure we can expect a future Broadway adaption!)

Frozen is a film with plenty of laughs and an emotionally gripping plot. Visually, the animation is beautiful with its snowy mountains and ice palaces.  It is a rare example of a Walt Disney animation that reaches the same emotional level as a Pixar film that, I believe, thoroughly deserved 2 Oscars. I’d recommend it to everyone.