There will be SPOILERS so... yeah. You've been warned.
Like a lightning bolt from a clear sky, Disney's Frozen came out of no where to strike gold and leave its mark on the Anerican film landscape. On the surface, Frozen appears to be a typical Disney animated feature (princesses! working song! love will conquer all!), until you dig down and see that in reality, Frozen is a two hour revolution put to music.
Frozen had to be good. It just had to be. Disney had been working on the film for so long , you would hope they had a blockbuster on their hands. Frozen is "based" upon Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, a story about a boy cursed by an enchanted mirror and held captive by the titular Snow Queen, who is rescued by his friend. Sound like Frozen to you? Yeah, me either, that's why "based" was in quotations.
Let's start at the beginning: in the 1940's Walt Disney Productions were in a tough spot. Several of their animators had gone to war and the only work the studio was able to get was from the government making instructional and propoganda films. In an attempt to kick start things, Walt wanted to team up with his friend Samuel Goldwyn to make a biography of Andersen in which Goldwyn and his production company would film the live parts and Disney Studios would animate several fairy tales some of which being The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, and The Snow Queen. Eventually, Disney dropped out of the project. Goldwyn would go on to make the Andersen biopic and receive six Oscar nominations for it.
During the warly 1990's, after the success of The Little Mermaid, Disney entered what is called the Disney Renaissance and were putting out animated features as quickly as possible. In order to do this, the heads of the studio dug into the archives to find any idea they could, including early work on The Snow Queen. Over the next decade, Disney tried unsuccessfully to get a story together. The hang up was the Snow Queen character; no one was able to figure out how to make her relatable. Finally, the project was scrapped in 2002.
During the following decade, no fewer than four attempts were made to get The Snow Queen on film, before John Lasseter made it a priority. A break through came when someone pepped making the protagonist (now named Anna) and the Snow Queen sisters, giving the audience a reason to be compassionate for the Queen.
After the success of Tangled, audiences were primed for a new CGI fairy tale and Disney was prepared with Frozen.
When I saw Frizen in theaters, I found it underwhelming. I was much more impressed with the accompanying short, Get A Horse, than I was in the main feature. I thought Frozen was good and had a great message, but I felt it lacked a true villain and I really wasn't a big fan if the music.
Don't get me wrong, I thought Frizen was cute. The humor made me giggle several times, especially Olaf, who was, quite simply, a laugh machine. But I couldn't get over the fact there was no real villain introduced into the story until the third act. Yes, I know he was there and there was the bald dude, but still, the antagonists nefariousness didn't occur at all until the film was almost finished. In addition, the music seemed too poppy to me, like it was not meant to tell the story, persay, but rather, that it was written to sell an album. It left a sort of bitter taste in my mouth, souring my generally good feelings about the main story itself.
However! My wife and I re-watched Frozen last night and my feelings have changed quite a bit. If you asked me now, I would tell you Frozen is a future classic and a watershed moment in Disney animated history.
Since I saw Frozen in the theater, I have watched The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Both of those are absolute Disney classics, each holding important places not only in Disney's storied legacy, but in film history as well. The structures of those two films, the way their stories are told, and how their songs are integrated into their stories gave me a new perspective on Frozen.
First of all, about the music: being more familiar with the songs this time around, I found them much more enjoyable, especially the love song between Anna and Hans (which is absolutely hilarious). The music erupted from the story without feeling forced or shoehorned into the plot, as I felt it was the first time. Even the bizarre song Olaf sings seemed to fit into what was going on this time around.
Obviously the "show stopper" was Let It Go, which, in my opinion, is a very good song, and catchy as hell. However, I'm not a big fan of Idina Menzel's performance. As my exposure to Broadway, classical, and operatic music increases, I become less and less impressed with Ms. Menzel's singing style. Some parts felt like she lost control of her voice (or came very close), and I found it distracting.
The villain issue still sticks in my craw a bit. I wish there were more clues earlier in the film to foreshadow Hans' true intentions. While I don't feel the twist came out of left field, or anything like that, I still think it could have helped. Even if he were more friendly with the Weaseltownians or just had a grin with a bit more cockiness in it, it could have made a difference. But, hey, that's not to say Frozen needed a villain from start to finish. I guess I'm just a bit of a traditionalist in that way.
For me, what is most significant about Frozen, and what makes it an important film in Disney's history, is the story, specifically, the ending. Anna sacrificing herself holds so much meaning! First, she is able to save her sister by stopping evil Hans' malevolent sword slash. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time a Disney Princess (Elsa) is saved by a sibling's act of true love. In this way, Anna physically saves Elsa's body.
Beyond that, by sacrificing herself to protect Elsa, Anna is also able to save herself. Her act of live for her sister is what saves her from her frozen heart. In doing this, Disney is telling young people, "you can be your own hero," which is a shift from previous films. (Princess and the Frog has a similar message, but goes about it in a more literal manner)
What really sets the ending apart, for me, is immediately before Anna's sacrifice. As Kristoph and Anna race toward each other for true love's first kiss, Anna hears Hans' sword being unsheathed. In that instant, she decides protecting her sister is more important than saving herself and turns away from Kristoph. In that same moment, Disney is turning away from its time-honored tradition of romantic love being what saves all and instead saying any love works. Anna is metaphorically turning from the past and looking toward a bright new future for Disney film-making.
Frozen's story tells us to be ourselves and not to be ashamed of who we are inside. It's topical, appropriate, and a great message overall. It is about love and acceptance. It is beautiful.
I would recommend Frozen to anyone who enjoys a good time and a great story.
