In 108 minutes, Disney tells its own delightful story of Snow Queen, a version much different
from the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
Frozen takes place in the kingdom of Arendelle.
This kingdom is ruled by a kind king and queen who reside in castle with their
two young daughters. The oldest of the two, Elsa, was born with an ability to
freeze things and create snow. She and Ana are very close and Elsa delights in turning
the ballroom into a snowy wonderland to play with Ana.
One night, as the sisters are
playing in the snow, Elsa accidentally strikes Ana in the head with her power.
She calls out for her parents and the four go speeding off to find the trolls.
The chief of the trolls fix Ana, saying “be thankful it was not the heart. It
is very difficult to fix the heart; the mind can be persuaded.” The parents then
close the castle gates. Ana and Elsa grow apart over the next years and in true
Disney fashion, the parents end up dying because of a shipwreck. Several years
later, it is Elsa coronation day. Too keep the story short, Ana upsets Elsa and
Elsa’s powers explode, setting the city off into an eternal winter as she runs
off into the mountains. I could go more
into what occurs, but I don’t want to give anything away!
I have
been a Disney fan since I can remember, but the past few years Disney has
seemed to decline. Tangled (2010) was the last movie that I thoroughly
enjoyed because the music was well thought out; before that it was Up (2009) with its emotional pull, from
even the first five minutes. Frozen is based on a screenplay by
Jennifer Lee (co-writer on Wreck-It Ralph),
who co-directed the film with fellow Disney vet, Chris Buck (Tarzan).
This is
Kristen Bell’s first animated film voicing the protagonist, but she is
successfully able to instill Ana with infectious energy, making the character’s
realistic quirks – like her tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve and the
way she tends to ramble when she is nervous – more charming than irritating like they could
have been. Similarly, Idina Menzel (known best for her broadway performance as
Elphaba from Wicked) is pitch-perfect as ‘Snow Queen’ Elsa, managing to capture
her emotional volatility, whether speaking or singing her heart out to the sky.
If her song “Let it go” does not win the Oscar’s “Best Original Song” then it
will at least be a close second (to what, I have no idea).
Robert
and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Winnie the
Pooh) developed the lyrics and music for Frozen, which tend to take the form of lightweight melodies that
supplement the bold Norwegian music-inspired score by Christophe Beck (The Muppets). For the musical pieces,
they have a mix of different types. The
musical numbers create an atmosphere unique to this movie from the show-stopping,
emotional “Let it go” to the goofy “Fixer-Upper” perfectly sung by the trolls
and even the usual Disney love duet “Love is an Open Door”. The animation in
the movie is just as unique. The production team does well making the
never-ending snow scenes beautiful and spectacular. The scene where Elsa
finally lets her flowing blonde locks out of a bun, smiling, and using her
ability to create an ice castle is jaw-dropping as Elsa is able to relax and
let go for the first time since we first saw her as a child playing with her
sister.
There
is only one thing that I am not sure of in the movie. The talking snowman, Olaf,
doesn’t seem to have a strong or logical part in the movie. With lines like “I
don’t have a skull; I don’t have any bones,” it is obvious that he is supposed
to be the comic relief, but they have enough comic relief with Kristoff and his
pet reindeer, Sven. He is an amusing character, but there are moments where is
seems as though even the writers don’t know what to do with the snowman.
Overall,
I enjoyed the movie. It takes a lot for me to go and see a movie once in
theaters, and I have seen this movie three times in the last week. For those
still on the fence about seeing Frozen,
just watch the trailer.
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