There used to be a time when Frozen was everywhere. You couldn’t escape it; it was like The Lion King of its time. Everybody talked about the characters and sang the songs. Soon the public eventually got sick of the movie. Suddenly the film became what was once a Disney classic into a movie people say is overplayed and not all that good. I admit that I was one of the people who used to really enjoy Frozen at the time of its release. However, Nostalgia can be a deceiving thing. After seeing this more times for almost a decade, some things didn’t quite hold up as much as I thought. Does this movie deserve all the backlash it has been getting? Or is there something beautiful about this film that most of us can’t see?
Two little sisters named Anna and Elsa are an inseparable pair of siblings that live in a castle in the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa, however, has the magical power of creating ice and snow out of nothing. One night while playing, Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the head with her ice powers. Their parents bring them to the trolls to fix the problem by erasing Anna’s memory of Elsa’s ice powers. To keep both sisters safe, the parents separate them, and they grow up apart from each other. To make things worse, both parents are reported dead after sailing off on a boat, leaving grown-up Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) more alone than ever. Three Years later, Elsa is crowned queen of Arendelle, and a coronation is set in place. The sisters reconnect, and Anna finds a man named Hans (Santino Fontana), who is just like her. They decide to get married, much to Elsa’s dismay. After a fight between the sisters, Elsa accidentally reveals her ice powers and runs away, covering the whole kingdom in snow and ice. Now Anna has to travel through the freezing snow to bring Elsa back and stop the winter while also having the aid of an ice seller named Kristoff (Johnathon Groff), his pet reindeer Sven, and a snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad).
The story on paper sounds intriguing. I like the initial idea of two sisters being forced to spend their time apart and growing up much differently in personality than they were as kids. I also like the idea of Anna rushing into marriage and being all open while Elsa is closed off from the world, trying to hide her struggles. The adventure of Anna finding her sister also should welcome many bumps and roadblocks in the journey. This should be an excellent Disney adventure in the making, the only thing that stops this movie from being in the top tier of Disney Animation films is how it’s executed. I’m not taking points off for being childish because that’s already part of the Disney brand. It’s the way that it’s structured that seems to throw a lot of things off. Everything seems to happen too fast, which can lead to some momments that don’t feel reasonably as thought out as this film thinks. One example is the journey to find Elsa, as it seems to happen very quickly, and many of the comedy and adventure elements seem mundane and not quite as engaging as they could be. However, the things that save this story from being okay are some tense moments in the third act and subplots with satisfying conclusions thanks to clever writing that manages to subvert many familiar Disney fairytale tropes. Over the years, many Disney stories have become better with every viewing. While some scenes still hold up to my viewing experience, this movie’s storytelling fell lower on my favorite animated Disney stories bracket. It's nowhere near awful in my eyes.
The characters are simple in their personalities and kinks, but the talent of the excellent voice actors helps give life to their roles. Anna is played by Kristen Bell, and her awkward and constantly quirky nature could have easily been too annoying or stupid, but it’s bell’s performance that makes her irresistible. The great Idina Menzel voices Elsa, and she nails the performance by not only being an engaging character but also having the addition of a lovely singing voice. Anna and Elsa’s relationship is the central heart of the movie. It drives the plot forward into the decisions both characters make to appease or comfort one another. Josh Gad plays Olaf. While some Disney sidekicks get annoying with their louder over-the-top performances to enlighten younger viewers, I give Disney credit that Olaf is very whispery with his words and not as loud as many other Disney sidekicks before him. Kristoff is played by Johnathon Groff, a down-to-earth wisecracker who reluctantly helps anna on her journey with the help of his reindeer named Sven. although my least favorite character, Kristoff, can still manage a few laughs, especially when he finds himself in awkward situations. Finally, there's Hans, played by Santino Fontana. His role seems very small at first, but during the third act, he comes into a much bigger light, not in the way you would think.
The animation looks great, especially regarding the effects of the snow. I've seen snow in animated movies before, but never to this extent, I like how it can be stuck to a character’s clothes or look like it’s been trudged through from walking. They also use Elsa's ice powers, whether she’s building an ice castle or defending herself from others. The character designs look very friendly, and their clothing perfectly reflects each character's personality. Arridell, as a fictional place, is inspired by the locations in Norway, and it really shows how much research Disney put in to make the place feel as authentic to the country as possible. The animation matches well with the music, and the energy from each character is vibrant and lively. Although other Disney movies are arguably more beautiful than this one, this animation gets the job done very well and gives off a great look into a winter wonderland.
The music was composed by Christopher Beck, while the film’s songs were written by Robert and Kristen Anderson Lopez, who would later create more memorable tunes in Disney's library. The score is lovely to listen to, and Beck works his magic to make something enchanting but also familiar. The songs need no introduction because you most likely know them by heart whether you want to or not. My three favorites are “Love is an open door” and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman,” and even though it’s massively overplayed, I still really think “Let it go” is a great Disney song. Even the weakest songs in the soundtrack sound excellent by Disney standards you can tell the songwriters poured their hearts out into this soundtrack. Both the orchestrated music and vocals work well with one another, and they may be the biggest highlight this film has to offer.
Frozen is a Movie that has been overplayed and over-merchandised, but that doesn’t mean that it’s just plain awful, sure other movies have done the subversion of fairy tale tropes a lot better in films like Enchanted. However, Frozen makes proper use of its flawed but engaging narrative, its memorble characters, impressive animation for its time, and music and songs that are catchy and even irresistible. I may have fallen a little out of love with this movie, but that doesn’t mean I think it deserves to be bashed. The good stuff keeps me coming back for many rewatches even if some elements of the movie do seeming fade away from my enjoyment because it still is Disney doing their very best, and I’m all the more comfortable with that.
(Final Grade: B-)