Frozen (2013) review

Frozen (2013)

Directed by: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Produced by: Peter Del Vecho

Screenplay by: Jennifer Lee

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana

As of this moment, it is January 2022, and I live in eastern Pennsylvania, where the weather forecast typically consists of sun, clouds, snow, and a roughly 95 percent chance of COLD. We’ve had temperatures in the teens this week, so this feels like the time to review one of Disney’s most colossal hits, “Frozen.” After their renaissance era of the 1990s, the studio struggled to find their next game-changer; don’t get me wrong, some of their films were still good—moreso with Pixar for a while—but nothing was matching the phenomenon of something like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” etc. But then “Frozen” came out in 2013, and it simply took off like a rocket; I remember being a little jaded by all the attention it was getting, despite not having seen it yet. But finally I decided to just go watch it with a co-worker—who had already seen it several times—and you’re probably going to be really bored with this response, because I’ve got nothing to do except heap my praises like so many people have already done; it’s one of Disney’s modern crowning achievements.

You all probably know the story, but I’ll give you a fast plot rundown. Based loosely on the Hans Christian Andersen story “The Snow Queen,” in the kingdom of Arendelle, there live two princess sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell). Elsa possesses magical powers that allow her to control and create ice and snow; but she lacks control, and fears she may hurt Anna in the process. So she keeps herself isolated from her and the world, which causes their once-close relationship to become strained. Years pass until Elsa’s 21st birthday, when she is to be crowned as the new queen; Anna is elated at opening the palace gates for the coronation, while Elsa worries revealing herself to the citizens. Circumstances cause her to accidentally unleash her powers in full view, and she flees to the North Mountain, unknowingly engulfing Arendelle in an eternal winter. Anna—accompanied by an iceman named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven, and a talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad)—journeys up the mountain, determined to find Elsa and save the kingdom.

Let’s face it; the Disney Princess Line is one of the most popular brands in all of media. Everyone who’s a fan of Disney properties has a princess they gravitate to, whether it’s due to their personality, story arc, singing voice, wardrobe, or anything else. But in a sense, many of the older ones have similar motivations; Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle and Jasmine are all, in a certain way, trapped somewhere, and seek new, more fulfilling lives. This isn’t me knocking them, as they’re all unique and interesting characters; but in this movie, we get varying perspectives that almost mock some of those Disney tropes, but are nevertheless relatable, especially for current audiences. Elsa is cautious and introverted—more or less a victim of self-isolation—and Anna is the one yearning for adventure, to a fault actually. But their relationship feels very natural, with the exception of the reasoning behind keeping them separated; that type of logic is only bound to create more problems than solutions. However, they have genuine care and compassion for each other, which is something that really drives the narrative, specifically when selling how tragic the situation is.

This was the first time in a long time (forever, if you will) that a Disney animated musical gave us some really hummable songs the way that Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and the Sherman Brothers used to. Don’t get me wrong; “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled” have solid tracks, but the music here is just so memorable and provides so much insight to the characters’ emotions. As much as you’re all probably tired of hearing it, “Let It Go” is a beautiful expression of freedom and self-love, while “Love Is an Open Door” is especially clever with repeated viewings, and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” has a palpable sense of nuanced sadness. They’re written by Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez; they actually started out writing for Broadway shows “Avenue Q” and “The Book of Mormon,” and have since created songs for “Coco” and “WandaVision.”

It’s appropriate because the setting and staging have a Broadway-esque feel; in fact, it hits the same notes as something like “Wicked,” even down to having the voice of legend Idina Menzel as our complex hero. I find it astounding that this is the first time Disney gave her a singing role, after giving her a non-singing role in “Enchanted” and then passing her over for the voice of Rapunzel. Originally, Elsa was going to be the villain, as a closer adaptation of the Andersen tale, but the filmmakers chose to go in a different direction. Nevertheless, the conflict is still circled around her, but more in the realm of personal struggle and lack of honest communication; some of it is rushed at times, but it’s not too distracting. Besides, the environment has such a grand design in terms of scale and stakes; it’s one of those timeless settings that you see in many Disney fairy tales. There’s a great amount of detail in the animation, specifically the shading and especially the winter colors as they reflect Elsa’s mood; they range from calm and peaceful to strikingly foreboding.

Okay, so the songs are outstanding, the animation is gorgeous, and the story is solid; perfect movie, right? Well…I definitely can’t go that far; some of the problems are nitpicky, like the stuff I mentioned earlier, along with some of the scene transitions being a little sporadic. However, there are aspects that I think could’ve done with a rewrite, such as Olaf; for how many times they’ve tried to replicate the Genie with the goofy sidekick, they’ve really never come close to that character’s ingenuity. He can be funny and sweet in the way a little kid is—I’ll always lobby on behalf of “In Summer”—but he just breaks the mood too much; he’s not overly-obnoxious, but I wish I could enjoy him more. I still like him more than the trolls; yeah, I don’t know how popular this opinion is, but I’ve never really liked the trolls in this movie. But the plot thread with Prince Hans (Santino Fontana) is more of an issue; notice how I haven’t even mentioned him, because he feels like a character that was tacked on at the last minute. The way his and Anna’s stories connect is thought-provoking, but his character isn’t developed enough to justify the twist at the end, which features some lame bits of dialogue, by the way; and unfortunately, this seems to have started a trend of making a lot of Disney villains surprise reveals, which is often the weakest part of the movie.

Nevertheless, I like how the film wraps up, acknowledging there are many different methods of expressing love and what kind of power that contains. For a long time, I resisted the shift from hand-drawn animation to computer animation, preferring the honest simplicity of the former; but watching “Frozen” brought me back to that childlike joy of seeing those Disney classics for the first time. I think better movies have come from Pixar in the last decade, but this is still brilliant as a throwback film that also feels very progressive. It became the biggest thing in the world for a while, and the impact is still being felt to this day, as the movie has spawned numerous short films, TV specials, and its own Broadway musical; and of course, there was a 2019 sequel, which had plenty of the same passion in its music and themes, but was not so refined in its story and characters. I know there was backlash for a while, which inevitably happens to anything that’s overexposed, but I say go back and watch it again if you haven’t; it could be better, but it’s still something to behold.

My rating: 9/10