Review of Frozen (2013) by Heathercopeland — 12 Oct 2014

Frozen has surpassed the audience’s expectations of a cliché Disney movie. Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee transformed the typical love story into a love between sisters. This is one of many reasons why this movie has done so well in the box offices, as well as in the eyes of the viewers. Frozen’s incorporation of memorable songs only brought this animated film to another level. Unlike most musicals, there was not an overuse of songs. In fact, they were strategically placed to evenly break up the movie. Also, it was easy to follow the plot line, without being predictable. Through out the entire movie, your interest is captured. Although Frozen had an intended audience for children, when people saw the movie it was hard not to fall in love with the characters and the message of sisterhood.

This movie revamped the term “princess” by giving us two independent and headstrong young ladies. Sisters Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell, and Elsa, voiced by Idina Menzel, were in conflict for a majority of the movie. By making the journey of these two princesses the main focus, Buck and Lee made the movie less about the romantic aspect between Elsa and Hans, voiced by Santino Fontana, which I think puts a refreshing spin on Disney movies. Instead of creating another movie about a princess needing a hero to rescue her, we have been given an animated film where the princess saves not only herself, but her sister and the city of Arendelle as well.

While Frozen did teach the audience about the love between sisters, it also sent out an important message about self-acceptance. Throughout the movie, Elsa struggled to come to terms with who she truly was. She was so afraid of anyone knowing the truth about her icy powers that she shut out her friends and family. Anna strived to prove to Elsa that she can conquer what she thinks is impossible. She made Elsa feel like she had someone on her side no matter what happened. This sent a very powerful message to the audience, especially for children at an impressionable age; everyone should learn to accept who they truly are because to live a life in hiding is not a good one.

People of any age could enjoy Frozen. The intended audience for this film was for children, but many teenagers and adults have found this move in their hearts. For the children in the audience, Frozen was a magical movie with fun songs to sing along to and clumsy characters, like Olaf, to laugh at. This movie also taped into the older generations’ childhood and their love for Disney movies. Anyone who loved Disney movies as a child could have seen this movie and been brought back to that time in their life. As for the adults with children, it was hard not to love a movie that taught the importance of family and self-acceptance.

Major criticism for this movie was that the songs were not inspiring and did not leave a memorable impression. I disagree. I found that the songs were catchy, fun, and easy to sing along to. The songs varied in topics, moods, and messages. Some songs rhymed, others did not, but all contained remarkable lyrics. With such a wide variety, at least one song could of found its way stuck inside someone’s head. Going beyond what the songs were about, the placement of these songs played a huge role in the success of them. Each song was carefully placed in order to break up key moments in the movie. Without any of these memorable songs, especially “Let It Go” by Idina Menzel, this movie would not have reached it’s full potential.

Another major criticism for this movie was that Olaf, the talking snowman voiced by Josh Grad, was an extraneous character and did not add to the plot and was therefor useless. Olaf’s role in the movie was very legitimate and necessary. When Anna first came across Olaf, she was looking for her sister in the mountains. Since Olaf was a native of the land, he helped her find the way. For the rest of the movie he was her friend and helped her save Arendelle. He was no more important that Rajah for Jasmine or Flounder for Ariel; they were characters that became the princess’ companion and helped guide them along. Olaf also added a humorous element to the movie; he was by far the most comical character and brought a necessary element that none of the other characters could provide- innocence. He was childish at heart, and therefor had a major impact in the mood of the story. Whenever something started to become too serious, Olaf jumped in and automatically brought the story back to what the audience can relate to. Without Olaf, the movie would of felt very incomplete.

Overall, the directors and the voices behind the characters did a great job with this Disney film. The fact that this was a non-traditional princess movie is what set it apart from the rest. This movie can bring a smile to anyone’s face, regardless of age. Frozen had all of the qualities of a 5-star movie: catchy songs, powerful messages, and personable characters.