So bundle up against the cold and SPOILERS!
The movie takes place in the kingdom of Arendelle, which seems to be somewhere in Scandinavia. It is home to two princesses, Elsa and Anna. Elsa has a secret: she has the power to create snow and ice. One night, she and Anna have some fun until Anna gets hit by Elsa’s powers. Their parents rush the little girl to some trolls, who heal Anna and remove any memory of her sister’s powers. The trolls also advise Elsa and her parents to help Elsa control her powers and warn that fear will be her downfall. So her parents separate her from Anna as well as the outside world until she’s no longer a threat. But as Elsa grows older, her powers grow stronger.
When her parents die and she becomes queen, Elsa (Idina Menzel) is scared her powers will be revealed at her coronation. Anna (Kristen Bell) is excited to be around people. She meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles (Santino Fontana) and is in insta-love. When she tries to get her sister’s blessing, Elsa refuses. Anna argues with her and in the course of the argument, Elsa’s powers are revealed. With the people reacting in fear, she runs from the kingdom to an isolated mountain where she believes she can be free and not hurt people.
Unknown to her, she has set off a deep freeze in Arendelle. Leaving Hans behind to run things, Anna sets off to talk her sister into reversing the weather. She meets up with an ice cutter named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer Sven. She hires them to help her get to her sister. They face dangers together and find a talking snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad). Can they stop Elsa? Can anything stop the winter?
It’s hard to talk about this movie without feeling like you’re giving something away. Even though it’s been out for a month and I feel like I’m the last person on the internet to see it, I still feel that way. Like there is still one person out there I could spoil the movie for, despite my warning. But here I go…so another warning that there may be spoilers.
Elsa is amazing. Going into this movie, I thought I’d love Anna. But I came out loving Elsa. She’s a strong character yet so vulnerable at the same time. And she could easily have been the bad guy but Jennifer Lee, the writer, did a great job making her a protagonist as well. She just wants to do what is right and what will keep those she loves safe. But she still hasn’t figured out that hiding her emotions isn’t what will do that. It allows her fear to fester, making her powers uncontrollable. Only when she feels she’s free does she find control. And later when she stops shutting Anna out. Menzel’s voice is a great fit for the character, portraying all these elements of Elsa like a pro.
Anna is a good character as well, the opposite of her sister. She’s the warmth to Elsa’s cold. Where Elsa is aloof, Anna is friendly. Elsa poised, Anna clumsy. But she loves her sister. When everyone reacts in fear to Elsa’s powers, Anna is only concerned about her sister. She proves she’ll do anything to help her. Including braving the snow and climbing a mountain. She can think fast on her feet but maybe trusts too easily. Bell’s voice adds a youthful energy to the princess.
Next is Hans. There is more to Hans than meets the eye. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. I don’t want to reveal too much. But he’s an interesting take on the typical Disney prince. And along with Kristoff, a great deconstruction of our beliefs of what a “leading man” is, beliefs which come from 19th century melodramas. Proper, well-bred nobility vs. coarse, troll-raised commoner. All our melodramatic instincts tells us the former is the love interest while the latter is the comedic relief. But not so with “Frozen.” It’s not reversed, but it is flipped on its head.
Speaking of Kristoff…He’s a great foil for Anna. More down-to-earth than Anna, who is a bit of a dreamer after years of only having her imagination for a playmate. But he is the opposite of the loneliness coin: Where Anna is overfriendly when she meets other people (see: Her and Hans), Kristoff is more standoffish and doesn’t trust people easily (see: “Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People”).
Now, the songs. We’ll start with the only crime—the fact “Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People” is Jonathan Groff’s only song. And it’s 51 seconds long! Criminal, I tell you. Otherwise, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Tony-Award winning musical “Avenue Q”) wrote some great songs for the movie. Menzel kills “Let It Go” and it is a great anthem. I predict we are going to hear a lot of it in future recitals. The troll song, “Fixer Upper,” is classic in the line of “Be Our Guest” or “Friend Like Me.” And there are several tumblr posts dedicated to deconstructing “Love is an Open Door.” (As well as comparisons between “Let It Go” and “Defying Gravity”). These songs will definitely stay with you.
And just to prove it: Frozen topped the Billboard Charts, knocking Beyonce’s album to the #2 spot! Congrats!
As will the art work. “Frozen” has some gorgeous artwork. Elsa’s ice castle is amazing. So is the snow covered tundra and mountains Kristoff and Anna traverse. Go and enjoy!
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