Frozen

Alright everyone, the wait is finally over. It’s time to look at “Frozen,” released in 2013, the Disney movie that people are still talking about and making cover songs to their music to this day. Unless you forget among all the noise made by Marvel Studios and “Star Wars” rumors, Disney still does big business in princesses, and they’re aiming to prove it with this great movie for the holidays. This is apparently very loosely adapted from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale, "The Snow Queen," it’s the story of a vaguely Nordic kingdom and the two sisters, Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell), are in charge of ruling it while they’re parents (Jennifer Lee and a great voice actor Maurice LaMarche who has done voice work for “Futurama,” The Brain in “Pinky and the Brain” and “Animaniacs,” two of my favorite cartoons, and Egon Spengler from the Ghostbusters cartoons) leave and apparently die. The spunky heroine and isolated castle hearken back to Disney's recent hit “Tangled.” The sisterly conflict feels like “The Little Mermaid.” The knowing fairy tales riffs are just like “Enchanted.” This is exact Disney hit-making at its best, but with enough charm to get away with it.

Way before Elsa’s powers of making ice and snow from her fingertips goes out of control, the animation is guided by directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee is spectacular – Elsa and Anna’s parents die in a single shot of a devastating storm out at sea, and the stony cliffs surrounding the village of Arrendel are dramatic even before covered in ice. Elsa reveals in her powers as a child, but after a close call with Anna and a poorly shot bolt of ice, she’s clear to hide her powers and withdraw from their close sisterly bond. The passing of the king and queen means Elsa must rule, but the stress of her coronation (and Anna’s love-rush decision to get married to a prince she just met, which will have a scene later that resembles the one in "Enchanted") makes her lose control. Elsa runs up into the mountains, leaving ice castles and blizzards in her path and restraining the power ballad Let it Go. Katey Rich said in her review, “Especially as sung by Menzel it's a shameless riff on Wicked's "Defying Gravity"; that hasn't kept it from sticking in my head for weeks now, and good luck shaking it out of yours.”

Anna’s heroic journey is, which is a relief for this film, not about a boy or even about herself – she travels to the mountains to convince Elsa to come back, and partners up with rugged ice salesman Kristof, voiced by Jonathan Groff, to get there. Kristof and Anna are going to fall in love with one another eventually, of course, and she’ll get rid of her prince fiancé Hans, voiced by Santino Fontana, but the focus stays firmly on Anna and Elsa, as Lee’s screenplay repeatedly challenges fairy tale tropes to make them about sisterly, not romantic, love. The music of the story and the songs can feel little factory-made – funny sidekicks in the shape of mountain trolls show up at the exact right time for a laugh, and the old man villains are made directly from Gaston’s mob in “Beauty and the Beast.” However, “Frozen” has all the right modern touches too, without falling into obvious territory.

It also pulls off a great luck in Olaf, the snowman you saw in every poster and voiced by Josh Gad from “Book of Mormon.” Rich stated, “The goofy sidekick is usually an exasperating pander to younger kids who might get restless after too much story, and even in the brilliant Mormon Gad tended to overplay his schlubby goofball hand.” However, Olaf is consistently, actually hilarious, and even has the film’s best song with In Summer, dreaming of how great a snowman’s life will be in summer (Anna and Kristof don’t have the strength to tell him the truth). Even Olaf’s origin story helps emphasize the sister’s relationship – “Frozen’s” story may sometimes feel machine-made perfect, but there’s happiness in watching a movie this big stay so determinedly on point.

Entering her serious area after making her name on television, Kristen Bell is a honorably spunky and funny heroine, while Menzel’s skillfully shoulders the film’s heaviest drama (and by far the best princess dresses, to be seen on Halloween’s shelves everywhere every year). Both girls are heroines are on the level as Belle, Jasmine or Ariel, and do them one better by choosing family over the usual romance – a nice contrast to say, Bella from “Twilight.” Big animated movies are under ridiculous pressure to teach kids the “right” lessons, but “Frozen” uses that pressure lightly, putting the deserved focus on its beautiful animation, its crazily catchy songs and its well-earned emotional strengths. Especially as Disney attempts to restore older princesses like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella for live-action dramas, it’s nice to see the studio go back to what they’ve always done well and prove they still can do this.

I will have to admit that when this movie was released, I didn’t notice the countless covers made online on Let it Go. It was only after I saw Nostalgia Critic’s “Let it Go Videos” that I noticed it, but you will hum or sing that song after you watch this movie. But that’s not a bad thing since this movie will leave you with a good feeling after you have seen it. I haven’t seen a movie like this get talked about so much since maybe one of the Disney movies in the 90s. I will say it’s nice to see a Disney movie get talked about, which will be talked about forever. The soundtrack is right up there with some of Disney’s best, and this movie is one of my favorite Disney films, hands down, as is "The Princess and the Frog," “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” See "Frozen" if you haven’t because you are missing out.

My brother, sister and mother went and saw this movie without me. They asked what time my class was, and when I told them, they knew they wouldn't be able to drop me off at my college before my class started. So I had to wait until the DVD was released. I had told them that I had the movie on hold at the library, so I felt sad that they went and saw it without me. However, after seeing it when I got it from the library, I didn't feel left out anymore.

Wow, I actually feel great after reviewing this film. Wouldn’t you if you were reviewing this great film? This is not a surprise at all. What will I be reviewing tomorrow for the finale of “Disney Month?” Well, you will have to see for yourself. You might be able to guess, you might not, but all will be revealed tomorrow.