Frozen (2013)
86th Academy Awards
5/5 Stars
Nominated for 2 awards, of which it won both.
Won Best Animated Feature Film (Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho), and Best Music-Song ("Let it Go" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez).
Watched May 1, 2014.
Frozen is probably on of my favorite films that I have seen in a long time. While still slightly more childish and more princess-y than the popular Pixar films, this new Disney princess installment makes a giant leap in its franchise. It has a modern take on the typical formula and even pokes a little fun at common missteps in the original princess films.
The animated success is a story about sisters. The girls are princesses, happy and carefree. They love each other and Elsa's (voiced by Idina Menzel) uncommon ability to create ice and snow out of nowhere keeps them entertained for hours. After a freak accident where the youngest, Anna (Kristen Bell), almost dies because of Elsa's powers, she and her parents are forced to keep her abilities a secret. Even Anna has her memories removed and Elsa is confined to her room where she attempts to control her feelings and her powers.
When Elsa comes of age to take the throne, the girls are finally together again, but the coronation doesn't go as planned and Elsa flees the kingdom, turning the carefree summer fjords into an untimely winter wonderland. Anna teams up with an ice salesman named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) to track her sister down and bring an end to the winter.
The film has good humor from the begging, but one of the best characters is definitely Olaf, a snowman come to life as the comic relief. Olaf combined with Kristoff and his personable reindeer Sven make excellent companions as they try to solve first one problem, and then the next.
I saw Frozen for the first time with my sister, so anyone who has seen the film will understand why it made everything that much more special for me. My sister lives on the other side of the country and I rarely get to see her, which is hard when we're best friends. Getting to see an animated princess movie with songs and cute animated boys and ridiculous humor was the best. The end made it that much more sweet.
The most important message of the film, which is a bit of a spoiler so watch out(!), was that the love of family is just as important and powerful as romantic love. In fact, when Anna is so preoccupied with finding The One, especially because she has been alone and dreaming for so long, she and Elsa both take each other for granted. It isn't until the dire end when all might be lost that they find each other again and rekindle a bond they once had in childhood. Elsa has likewise been preoccupied, but more with hiding her true self. She has a personal crisis that most people never experience and her sister is one of the only people who can help her come out all right. While the story has some side plots, its main message is that true love heals everything, and the love of family is just as powerful, if not more so, than other types of love. This is a really big step for Disney and I am exceedingly proud of this film and its message.
I could tear apart the film a lot farther (I tend to do that with movies that I really enjoy), but I will stop here except to say that the animation was stunning, the music was wonderful, the voices were perfect and a-typical Disney corny magic, and I want an Olaf… or a Sven of my very own. If you have yet to see Frozen, do yourself a favor and add it to your Netflix list. Now.
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