Frozen

Now it is time for a review of Disney's newest animated movie, "Frozen". It's based on a book called "The Ice Queen" by Hans Cristian Anderson. Oh boy, I can't wait to start. So why am I waiting? Let's go.

Hans and Anna

One night in the kingdom of Arendelle two little princesses (who are also sisters) are awake at night. One of the girls is named Elsa (Idina Menzel) has the power to create ice and the other is named Anna (Kristen Bell) who has no powers. They are staying up late playing with the ice powers when Elsa accidentally zaps Anna in the head with a bolt of ice. Her parents take them to some trolls (who look like "Chia Pets") which heal Anna and erase her memory of Elsa having ice powers. Elsa is given a separate room from Anna and is isolated from the outside world. We get the song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman", where Anna tries to talk to Elsa but Elsa keeps ignoring her. Elsa and Anna's parents go on a trip over seas but their boat sinks. Years later it's Elsa's coronation day. We get the song "For the First Time in Forever". Anna explores the main city and meets a visiting prince named Hans (Santino Fontana) who Anna falls in love with. Hans also says he has 12 brothers. The coronation goes well. At the reception, Hans proposes to Elsa and she say she wants to marry him. I like this bit because it sort of makes fun of how quickly characters in fairy tails fall in love. Elsa has an argument with Anna about marrying a guy she just met, and Elsa loses control of her ice powers. Which plunges the kingdom into an eternal winter. When her ice powers are revealed she flees the kingdom. Anna decides to go after Elsa and she leaves Hans in charge.

Meanwhile, on a mountain range, Elsa sings the song "Let It Go" about being free from the people who are afraid if her. During the song she creates an ice palace and a snowman. Meanwhile, Anna is off  to find Elsa but she falls off her horse and the horse runs away. She stops by a trading post and buys some supplies and runs into a man named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff). Anna asks him to take her to Elsa and he says yes. But their sled crashes and they have to walk to Elsa's ice palace. On the way they meet a living snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) who was created by Elsa. Now when I saw the trailer for this movie I thought Olaf was going to be that annoying comic relief character that would never shut up. But much to my surprise he was very very funny. They used him just enough so that he wouldn't be annoying and added just the right amount of naivety. Back to the story. They make it to Elsa's castle. Anna tries to get Elsa to come back but she loses control of her powers and zaps Anna in the heart with a bolt of ice. They leave the castle. Anna seems to be freezing up from the inside so Kristoff decides to take Anna to his family for help.



               ***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***



Meanwhile, back in the kingdom, Hans hears that Anna was hurt by Elsa and sends some warriors to capture her. They succeed in their task. Elsa wakes up in the dungeon. Kristoff takes Anna and Olaf to his family and it turns out that his family is the "Chia Pet" trolls from the beginning. The trolls sing another song and tell Anna that only an act of true love can unfreeze Anna's heart. Anna goes back to Arendelle so Hans can kiss her. But when she gets back Hans reveals that he only wanted to marry her for control of the kingdom, and he puts out the fire in the fire place which is keeping Anna alive. Now I have to admit the plot twist about Hans being the real villain seems forced (to me). It just feels like they didn't want Elsa to be a villain. Sorry I went on one of my rants. But Olaf gets in and rebuilds the fire.They go out to find Kristoff so he can kiss Anna. We get the climax in which Elsa gets out of the dungeon and Anna turns into an ice sculpture. Elsa sees Anna as a sculpture and she cries and gives her a hug which breaks the spell. Oh, I get it it's not true love that breaks the spell (like in Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast). It's sibling love, and that's a nice touch. The summer comes back as Elsa learns to control her powers. Anna and Kristoff get married and they all live happily ever after. The End.



                                             ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***


This movie is great.  Most of the songs are memorable. Olaf is one of the best comic relief characters ever. Also the background animation (and animation in general) is amazing. But there are some problems: They try to squeeze three or four songs together in the beginning and I find the trolls to be annoying. See it while it's still in theatres. I'm also getting it when it's out on DVD.
 

CARTOON EVOLUTION