Day 53: Frozen

Frozen (2013)

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciaran Hinds, Chris Williams, Maia Wilson, Paul Briggs, Maurice LeMarch, Jennifer Lee

Songs: "Frozen Heart," "Do You Want to Build a Snow Man?," "For the First Time in Forever," "Love Is an Open Door," "Let it Go," "Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People," "In Summer," "Fixer Upper," "Vuelie"

Frozen is Disney's fifty-third animated feature.  Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen, it tells the story of a Princess Anna who must journey into the mountains to confront and save her sister, Queen Elsa, whose ice powers have plunged the kingdom into an eternal winter.

Disney's first attempt at adapting The Snow Queen came around the time of Snow White in the late 1930s.  Disney planned to team with MGM and make a film with a live action story about Andersen's life with animated segments based on some of his stories, but this fairytale proved to be difficult to adapt as the Queen was a character they couldn't make sympathetic.  Development on the project stopped all together because of World War II.  The idea was brought up again in the 1990s during the Renaissance, and was developed on and off over the next decade and a half, in earnest after the success of Tangled.

Well, this movie.  I have to admit, I'm not a big fan.  It is beautiful to look at, but it honestly doesn't feel worthy of the over the top praise and popularity it has gotten.  The music is okay at best ("Let it Go" is an unremarkable song saved completely by Idina Menzel's stellar vocals) and the plot doesn't always make sense.  The plot twist, I will grant, I did not see coming.  But other than that, everything is recycled and predictable, and for the most part the humor falls flat.  Maybe the movie froze my heart.

Originally the story would have stuck more closely to the original fairy tale and Elsa would have been a proper villain.  This concept art (one from very early development and one from more recent years) shows how lovely it could have been.  Honestly, I feel the movie would have been more interesting this way.

And also for funsies, and because this picture is quite beautiful, here's an illustration of the fairy tale by artist Elena Ringo.

What I Liked: The animation is quite beautiful. But my most favorite part of the whole experience was Get a Horse!, the Mickey Mouse short that played before the film in theaters.  

What I Disliked: Saying there are a few plotholes would be kind.  The "Fixer Upper" scene was obnoxiously annoying.  But mostly, Olaf.  My God how I hate him. 

Should You Watch This Movie: Like you haven't already.