Disney was climbing the pole back to relevance in animation, but they would have a steep hill to climb. After all, Pixar and Dreamworks were at the top of their game. It would take a couple of bad films from both to give Disney the shot they needed. And in 2013, Disney got their chance. The Dreamworks films The Croods and Turbo, failed to capture the kind of comedic gold we'd been used to. Pixar also fell into a slump. While Brave was an okay film for 2012, Monsters University and Planes were very big disappointments, at least from my point of view. If Disney was going to win their audiences back, they would have to capitalize on the shortcomings their rivals had. Along came Frozen, a film a very long time in the making for Disney. To put it in the most honest terms, this film completely blew me away. Not only is this the first time in forever that a Disney film has "wowed" me this much, but it is signaling a return long in the making for Disney. In every conceivable way this film is a masterpiece that should and will be held in the highest esteem, along with classics Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and yes, even The Lion King.
Plot: In the Kingdom of Arendelle, two princesses live in the gorgeous royal palace. Elsa, the eldest, was born with the ability to create ice and snow with her bare hands. At night, her and her little sister Anna often play in the halls with Elsa's powers. But after an accident causes Elsa to hurt Anna, the King and Queen take her to a valley of trolls. The troll leader, Grand Pabbie, is able to heal Anna, but in the process wipes her memory of her sister's powers and warns Elsa that if she had struck Anna in the heart, it would have been fatal.
Despite efforts to control her powers, Elsa ultimately decides to isolate herself in her room, severing the relationship the two sisters once had, while the King closes the gates to their palace. Anna tries for many years to be friends with her sister again to no avail. After the King and Queen die several years later, Elsa is to be named Queen and the gates are to be opened for the first time in 13 years. While Anna is open to the chance at meeting people and finding love, Elsa is very uneasy, wearing her gloves to prevent her from freezing anything. Anna ultimately meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles and the two seem to fall in love with each other. While the two seek to get married, Elsa refuses to bless the wedding, citing the fact that the two just met each other. After an argument ensues between the sisters, Elsa accidentally unleashes her powers. Fearful of the repercussions of her actions, Elsa flees Arendelle, unknowingly causing a permanent winter during the summer.
Anna goes off in pursuit of her sister, with the hopes of mending their bruised relationship, leaving Hans in charge of the Kingdom. Along the way, she meets the mountain man Kristoff, who agrees to take her up the mountain to find Elsa, in exchange for getting a new sled in return (Anna ultimately causes it's destruction). Elsa, meanwhile, creates her own beautiful castle made entirely of ice. When the duo and their new snowman friend Olaf arrive, Anna tries to reason with her, but Elsa strikes back, hitting Anna in the heart with ice. After throwing them out of the castle, Anna begins to grow fatally sick. Kristoff, who had been raised by the trolls, takes Anna to them, but Grand Pabbie only tells them that only an act of true love can save her. While the trolls think Kristoff is the one who can save her, he insists that only Hans can. With Anna dying in his arms, Kristoff rushes down the mountain and back to Arendelle to bring her to Hans, while Hans and his men go up the mountain to arrest the Snow Queen. After several of the men nearly die, she is ultimately arrested and locked in the dungeon.
Anna and Hans's reunion is bittersweet when the prince proclaims he had tricked Anna and will now use her death as a reason to kill Elsa and become King. He locks Anna in the parlor and puts out the fire. Olaf is able to reach Anna and rekindles the fire, while Kristoff, realizing he is in love with Anna, decides to go back and save her. Anna and Olaf go in pursuit of Kristoff, as Anna realizes she finally understands what love is and that she loves him. Hans confronts Elsa, telling her that her actions caused Anna's death. It is now up to Kristoff to make it to Anna in time, and for Elsa to stop Hans however she can.
What's Bad?: Much like Aladdin, if there is a flaw in the film, it is very minimal.
What's Good?: This should be changed to what is amazing. Because that is the rest of the film. The single best part of the movie is the story. It doesn't focus on the romance between Anna and Hans/ Anna and Kristoff. It focuses on a relationship few Disney films do, the relationship between siblings. Much like how The Lion King focused on the relationship between a father and son, and how The Prince of Egypt focused more on the relationship of Moses and Ramses, Frozen's focus is practically fully on the relationship between Elsa and Anna. These two are the only family they have left and Anna's ever loving attitude towards her older sister is only further magnified by Elsa's protective love for Anna, feeling incredibly guilty over hurting her all those years ago. But, as she departs from Arendelle, Elsa becomes more of a three dimensional character, utilizing her magic to create her perfect dream kingdom. And when the two sisters do reunite, Elsa does want to see her and for things to go back to the way they were, but knows all too well that her powers can harm Anna. And how devastated she is when she finds out she may have killed her sister, is an especially powerful scene.
Anna's naivety about love is also a welcome change. Unlike Rapunzel, she is quick to trust the first person she meets in the outside world, who ultimately ends up becoming the villain. And it isn't until she begins spending time with Kristoff and his troll family that "love at first sight" isn't the best way to find your soul mate. But it's her devotion and love to Elsa that makes her character so strong. The first big musical moment "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" almost brought a tear to my eye. You see how much Anna wants to rekindle their friendship, but Elsa is too afraid of her abilities and the chance that she may hurt her little sister to allow it.
Hans is the first Disney Villain that I have grown to really detest. While some could compare him to Gaston, the rogue hunter from Beauty and the Beast at least had the charisma of an absolutely self-smitten jock who actually does love Belle, but for his own selfish purposes. Hans is as evil as he is heartless. He was willing to let Anna, a girl who had a huge crush on him, die while he could become King. Jeez man, and I thought Scar was evil...
And ordinarily, you'd expect the lead male, Kristoff, not to have a personality. But no, he does. He has the personality of someone who spends way too much time with himself and Sven the reindeer. In fact, the two funniest scenes in the movie are when he is talking to the reindeer and starts acting like he knows what the reindeer is saying and gives him a ridiculous voice. The other, is when Kristoff takes Anna and Olaf to the place with his trolls and begins talking to the rocks before they appear, making him look certifiably insane.
The comedy in this movie is also perfect. The side characters, like the Duke of Weselton (they call it Weaselton) is a funny and bumbling old man who tries to be a villain but he's too easy to mock.
The music is the best since Aladdin. Every song in this movie is a gem that should be sung for the next several generations. My personal favorites are "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?" and "Let it Go", which was Elsa's song after she leaves Arendelle. The score is also very detailed and wondrous. It is the best since The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Much like how The Lion King was heavily influenced by the Zulu tribe in South Africa, and how Hunchback was by Latin Choirs in Europe, the film is heavily influenced by the northern European cultures, like Denmark and Norway.
The animation is breathtaking. The amount of scope and detail they use in each shot is the best since Sleeping Beauty or even Bambi. It seems that every particle of snow in movie is different from the others. The snow also seemed more realistic than snow seen in other movies like Aladdin, Mulan, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Overall: A motion picture of almost unparalleled wonder and delight, if Frozen does not follow in Beauty and the Beast and Up and receive an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, I'll be really pissed off. This is the most well rounded, well drawn, well written, and well told Disney film since The Lion King and I'll be sure to see this film a few more times in theaters. I strongly recommend this film if you haven't seen it. Go on guys, it is one of the best animated films ever made. Period.
Report Card
Hero: 95
Heroines: 100
Villain: 92
Side Characters: 96
Songs: 100
Musical Score: 100
Animation: 100
Special Effects: 100
Story: 100
Themes: 100
Final Grade: 98
Planes isn't pixar. Sure its a cars universe, but is made by disneytoon, Creator of Disney awful sequels and Tinkerbell.
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